A hot day in Portland

My day in Portland has arrived! I was so excited the whole morning... I couldn't wait to get going! Our start was delayed however, by me! I decided that I had to get some maple bars since it was my last day in Oregon. Also, Brian told me to eat some maple bars for him... and boy did I! If you have never had maple bars, you have not lived... these things are delicious!!! Very sweet, but declicious all the same... once you get past the pure sugar part ;D

Anyway, after our Maple Bar run, we were off! UDW and I drove to the MAX station on 122nd street and bought our all day tickets for $4.75. The train arrived shortly after and we hopped on. It was quite a ride to Skidmore Fountain, but definitely a less frustrating start to our adventure.

At Skidmore Fountain


Skidmore Fountain is the central landmark of Saturday Market. The market is a arts and crafts fair that opens up in downtown Portland every Saturday and Sunday. The market is amazing! You can find so much cool stuff there!!!! After walking around for an hour or so and seeing many different artists, photographers, sculpters, wood carvers and massuers (of all things)... I settled on one artist and purchased two paintings for $30.



I have no idea why that came in sideways...


We wandered for a little while longer and then decided to go on to our second stop... the Japanese American Memorial Plaza. The plaza was only a block away from the market and was filled with people. Essentially, it's a memorial park for the Japanese that were place in internment camps during the war. There were rocks with poems and others with government decrees. There was also one large rock with what we assume are the names of the internment camps. The plaza is definitely worth a stop if you find yourself in Portland.




One of the Japanese poems...


Sculpture inside the plaza...


After the memorial, we headed to the entrance to Chinatown. At the official entrance, there is a massive gate... called the Chinatown gate (hmmm...). The gate was beautiful!! And I still can't believe how big it was! Anyway, don't take my word for it, pics below.

Lion at the gate...




After the gate we headed to Powell's City of Books. The bookstore was in the Pearl District and by far the biggest store there. I don't mean big, I mean huge, gigantic, massive, monstrous... this place was ridiculous. I have included a picture of a directional sign from inside the store. The rooms are color coded based on genre... and each room is the size of NC State's bookstore (including the gift section upstairs). For those of you who know my love of bookstores... you know I could have spent DAYS in that place, just looking... I was astounded.

Just TRY to understand that sign...


After wiping the drool from my face, we headed to the central library as our last stop. It was recently renovated and let me tell you, they did a good job. When you walk in, you are confronted with an ornate staircase that turns and leads to all three floors. The children's library on the first floor contained a copper tree with animals "carved" into the trunk. The top floor contained unique art that I'm assuming was donated to the library. To sum it up, the library was beautiful... and a good stop for book lovers.

Library...


After the library we hopped on a MAX and headed to my aunt's and uncles place. Early dinner/ late lunch at Shari's (3rd time this week... I think the waiter remembered me ;D). Back to 'home' for movie watching and an early night. Train to Portland at 8:30am.

Day in Seattle tomorrow!
-Britt