5 posts tagged “portland”

What was the highlight of this past weekend?

Hanging out with friends I don't get to see enough while in Portland, Oregon, having great food and coffee and talking.  I did not want this trip to end.  It was too hot, but had great Thyme iced tea at StumpTown roasters, many great iced americanos, incredible Hot Lips Blackberry and Raspberry sodas, and fresh Blackberry Gelato.

I have had a great stay in Portland again.  This one may have been the best in a long time.  Today I essentially walked from 9:30 am until 5.  I bounced around the Pearl District then up to Nob Hill walking both areas from Burnside to Lovejoy or beyond.  I had great coffee and amazing baked goods.  Lunch at Ken's Artisan Bakery on 21st was fantastic.  I looked around Kitchen Kaboodle, which was my parents favorite store when we lived here, was one of the better cooking stores I have been in (the Sur la Table) in the Pearl was one of the better versions of that store I have been in.

Oh yes, I did go to Powell's, but did not go overly nuts.  I found good deals on some things I have been wanting for a while and picked up a new cookbook.  I wandered up around Pioneer Square and then back to Stump Town roasters on 3rd.  It was a little cooler today, but I found many stores and cafes that I want to visit on my next trip or many next trips.  Now I just need to get back again.

I am going to miss Portland deeply when I leave tomorrow morning.

I have been in Portland the past few days.  I was hoping to escape the Summer heat of the East Coast.  But, it was 103 yesterday here in Portland and should be about 100 today.

Part of the problem is Portland is a cool city and air conditioning is around, but not quite optimized for 100 degree temperatures.  At night the temp in the hotel room has not been below 72, even when I have the temp set for iceberg.

I had a quasi-similar issue in Amsterdam a month ago when its temp was in the high 80s, but there is little to no air conditioning there. It rarely needs air conditioning.

I really like cooler temps and the lack of a need for air conditioning, but this Summer has gone all wrong.

I left the Washington, DC area with its quite hot and humid weather (yes, I loathe talking about the weather) to escape to Portland, Oregon for cooler and more moderate weather that is much more to my liking.

It is supposed to be 100 degrees (of course Ferhenheit) tomorrow and Saturday.  What the hell is that?  Ug!

Yesterday started at 3:30am for me just out side of Washington, DC and ended at nearly 11pm in Portland, Oregon.  Yes, 22.5 hour day (this is for me to help me realize how long these days are when I travel so I understand why I am a wee bit tired after a few days of it).

I spent time growing up in Portland and it is one of my favorite cities. Yesterday it became a little more enjoyable.  I hung out with some locals with what I thought was going to be a quick visit at Platial world HQ.  It turned out I spent the afternoon with a few other locals and had a great afternoon geeking.  I am huge fan of Platial and they are going to be a great product to watch.

Following that I went and dropped the bag at the hotel and went to meet some of the folks in town for WebVisions, like Jered Spool, Brian Oberkirch, Nick Finck, Kit Seebold, (please excuse spellings it is early) etc.  It was a very good time to sit and chat over food and beer at Henry's Tap Room, in the old Henry Weinhard's brewery.

I did not last too much longer when I got back to the hotel (Lucia).  The room is not big, but it has WiFi, it has a nice moden (Dwell-ish) design, and a killer bed.  Did I say killer bed?  The bed flat out rocks.  Not only is the mattress comfy, but there are layers or duvet which made the slightly chilly room really enjoyable. I could stay in that bed all day.