| Page Views: 3,843 Last Visit to Portland: July, 2000 | My limited experience in Portland by Carmanah - last update: Jul 18, 2007 |
| Downtown Portland in May 2004 |
Portland, Oregon, USA
Location: 45° 52' North, 122° 64' West
Population: 562,690 (2006 Census)
Incorporated: February 8, 1851
My first trip to Portland was when I was 8 years old with my family. We stayed in Portland for a night on our way back home from San Francisco. I don't remember much about Portland from then, other than I remember a lot of bridges, I remember the days being overcast, and I remember an ice skating rink in a shopping mall.
In 1991 we drove through the city again on our way down to Los Angeles. Literally, we drove through via I-5,but didn't plan to stay.
In 1999, when I was 19 years old, I decided to join my family on the summer excursion down to the Oregon coast. Once again, we didn't spend any time in the city other than driving through on our way back home.
In July of 2000 I was invited to join my friends on a little weekend road trip down to Portland to see one of our favourite bands: The Misfits! According to my friend, she had a few friends who lived in Portland who kept in touch with members of the band... so not only did we have a place to spend the night, but there was a really good chance we could meet the band! While I stayed at Jantzen Beach - a neighbourhood just north-east of Portland, I was explored downtown Portland as an adult for the first time.
Finally, in May 2004, on my way back from the Coachella Music Festival in California, we decided to have dinner in Portland. We parked downtown and wandered around. For the first time I really could see the parallels between downtown Vancouver and downtown Portland, and I saw how cool this city really was. We had dinner at a nice casual Italian bistro where our server started to talk to me about his experiences at one of my favourite nightclubs in Vancouver. After travelling non-stop from Santa Monica, Portland was the first sign that we were "home" in the Pacific Northwest. Everything in Portland felt so familiar to us, it was fantastic.
Next time, I'll likely make Portland my actual destination, and I'll explore it more to give it justice. |
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 Comments for Carmanah about Portland | | | | |
ZanieOR Thu Mar 3, 2005 03:08 UTC
Powell's is great isn't! I've lived in Oregon almost my whole life and have yet to visit Mt. St. Helen's. Next time I'm in Portland I think I'll make the trip north. Hope you can return to Portland someday. | cachaseiro Mon Aug 18, 2003 02:24 UTC
i'm going there in a couple of weeks. very good photo of mt st helens. | Guitarist Fri Jun 7, 2002 15:32 UTC
Awesome photos! | dlandt Thu May 9, 2002 05:36 UTC
You know Powell`s!!! You must have class!! |
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