Of the 50 states, Oregon is another one that while it fit into our rule of one night and one meal, it kind of got short shrift. Our night was spent in Portland which is a delightful city which I fell in love with long before the show Portlandia started gently mocking it. The point of going to Portland was to visit Powell's Books, one of the contenders for the greatest bookstore on earth. Inexplicably, I have no photos of that Mecca, but on the way into town we stopped off at the Horsetails Falls area along the Columbia River. These are gorgeous waterfalls along a beautiful hiking trail.
I notice from the photos that I was wearing a tee shirt from The Strand, an enormous bookstore in New York City which is probably the only rival in size that Powell's has. I doubt this was a coincidence.
Oregon is on the return trip list because there is so much more to see, both in natural beauty and urban fun.
2 comments:
I lived in Oregon for 2 years and made several lengthy visits before that. There's lots to see, though Powell's is definitely at the top of the list. (Pity you don't have any pictures. It looks like you were there before 1999 and they did a huge renovation that year.)
Portland is, of course, a great beer city and it's also pretty livable. Other things to see would be Astoria where Lewis and Clark camped before heading back east and Tillamook, where they make cheese. If you head south, then Ashland has a big Shakespeare festival and, on the nature side, Crater Lake is a must see. Oh, and the Spruce Goose is in McMinnville. I was never west of the Cascades, so I can't really offer any tips there.
We were there in 2004, so Powell's would have already done the renovation. It was just huge.
I want to get to Oregon to see Crater Lake.
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