Really Nice Day

I had a very pleasant if confusing day.  I spent the whole morning wandering around Portland.  At first I would up in the Cultural Center of town which wasn't terribly interesting.  There were some interesting buildings but mostly it  ran into the usual financial and commercial center that looked like every other center of a big city.  I walked up and down hills looking in stores until I found a charming park called Pioneer Park.  It had a waterfall, statues, fancy gates and of course a Starbucks.  Whatever, it was really well done.  I walked around some more and discovered sign that pointed to the Old Town and Chinatown.  I tried walking for a while but didn't see another sign so I went back for my car.

It took a while but I finally located the Old Town and Chinatown.  It was a hoot.  It reminded me so much of New York that I had trouble not laughing too loudly out loud.  Old Town is on the verge of gentrification and of course it runs smack into Chinatown.  You see lots of young yuppie type people on the streets as well as derelicts.  It is so SOHO in the 80's.  There are lots of lofts as well as their equivalents of brownstones.  The bones are there it just will take a few years and more pioneers to make the change happen.  Chinatown is tiny.  It may have been 4 blocks but I didn't really investigate.

After lunch I headed off to Hood River which is North East of Portland.  It is on the Columbia River, which is very impressive.  It is quite wide and looks like it flows rapidly.  The banks are tree lined and taken all together makes a beautiful impression.  I checked into the hotel and then headed downtown.  Hood River is a charming town without being cloying and overly touristy.  There are real stores as well as  shops that cater to tourist types of goods.  None of it is in your face commercial, none of it looks fake.  The town only has one main street so  it is very compact and locals are stopping at cafes as well as the tourists.  All in all I had a very pleasant afternoon as opposed to Carmel and Monterey.  I saw the tackiest chandelier that I so wanted for my entry hall.  But I didn't even ask the price.  One I didn't think it would make it home without breaking and two this trip is costing enough as it is, so no tacky chandelier.