Best Of Portland & Oregon

Portlandia

May 16, 2011

Late last year, I took a mini tour around Downtown Portland, snapping some highlights of my home town. While a few of the resulting images were shared on another site, many were left out due to length constraints. Since so many of you have asked me about Portland over the years, I thought I’d share some little glimpses of our downtown area. I’ve actually lived in S.E. Portland for many years and maybe I’ll show you of my favorite spots and hangouts sometime — it’s definitely much more quirky!

Portland is one of the most bike friendly cities in the country. Everyone including Joey rides bikes everywhere. Everyone that is, except me.

The famous Portland sign. Classic.

If you happen to get lost, make your way to Pioneer Square (also known as Portland’s living room) for some helpful directions. Hey, Times Square is only 2,443 miles away!

Powell’s City of Books claims to be the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. If you’re visiting, it should definitely make your top 10 list of places to check out.

About a block from Powell’s is Reading Frenzy, my favorite little shop for independent zines, books and other trinkets. Cute overload.

I love the old-timey look of Kenny and Zuke’s. Most of their sandwiches have meat in them but I had a pretty amazing grilled cheese here one time. It’s on a block of great establishments including Ace Hotel, Stumptown Coffee and Clyde Common, a European-style restaurant (with great mimosas).

I never get tired of stopping into the lobby of The Ace. The lobby has a photo booth and an entrance to Stumptown (complete with big windows for some of the best people watching in the city).

For the most part, though I’ve had many extended stays in New York and traveled through a big chunk of the U.S., I’ve always called Portland home. Come visit us sometime!

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Sweet Dreams at the Jupiter Hotel

April 25, 2010

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When people write me and ask what they should do while visiting Portland, the inevitable question of where to stay usually arises. Since I live in the city and 15 minutes or less from most of the hotels I like, I’ve never really had a reason to stay overnight. Until now.

The Jupiter Hotel is a quaint boutique hotel with a mid-century modern feel. Formerly a motor inn, the Jupiter is next door to the Doug Fir, one of my favorite places in town to grab a drink and dinner. I’ve sat around the Doug Fir’s fire pit out back and watched massive parties go down at The Jupiter – it’s definitely earned a reputation of being the ‘rock and roll hotel’ of Portland.

Awhile back, the Jupiter kindly offered me a room for review – I knew the basics but before recommending it to my readers, I wanted to experience it firsthand for myself. On Friday night, we packed our bags, sent out invites to some of our closest Portland friends and drove over to our temporary digs.

The Jupiter provided us with their most popular room, The Metro. According to their site, “The Metro has space to spread out and get creative. These rooms feature 32” flat-screen TVs and modern Tomita Design desks in addition to our standard amenities: Chalkboard door, free WiFi, private bath with eco-bath amenities, queen pillow-top platform beds, down comforters and pillows, and speakers for your notebook or MP3 player.” Nice.

Perhaps the coolest part of the Jupiter rooms are the chalkboard-friendly doors. World famous artists Star and Joey helped us deck them out in some lewd finery.

Star poses in front of our handiwork. In case you were wondering, I’m responsible for the drippy boobs and drumstick.

Isn’t the desk and work area cute?

Erin and I met on our first day of high school in 1995. Still goin’ strong!

Brent, Katie and Erin joined us for the festivities.

Joey and Jason also stopped by….

Star and I compare legwear at 2 AM.

You may be asking yourself…what are some qualities that make the Jupiter unique?

• Each of the 81 rooms feature a unique theme / wall mural. Mine had a floor-to-ceiling portrait of Buddha.

• The Jupiter is very green and uses low-voltage lighting, provides guest room recycling and cleans with environmentally-friendly products.

• Besides having the Doug Fir next door, an on-site hair salon called Wack is perfect for a quick cut and massage.

• There are pet friendly rooms! Read more about the LexiDog Metro.

• The Jupiter is barely a few minutes from downtown and surrounded by a plethora of independent businesses and indie boutiques.

Overall, I was very satisfied with my stay. The room was larger than I’d expected; I loved the modern decor and huge window. And, the convenience is unparalleled since the entertainment is right next door at the Doug Fir, where you can grab breakfast, lunch, dinner and a show all in one stop! If you are hip, love to party and aren’t offended by obscenities scrawled across people’s doors in chalk, this is your place. If you’re old, stuffy and lack a sense of humor, there’s a dumpy Thriftlodge down the road.

To find out more about the Jupiter or to book a room, please visit the website. Last but not least, I should mention that there’s an after midnight $59.00 special if you’re needing a last minute place to crash!

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The Past Still Lingers in Astoria

November 26, 2007

One of the first things I noticed about Astoria is that the downtown area seemed quite large for a population of only 10,000 people. A hundred years ago, it was the second largest city in Oregon. Astoria’s past sometimes overshadows the present; the Lewis and Clark expedition spent time there and it was the first permanent U.S. settlement west of the Rockies. Certain parts of the city feel frozen in time; buildings look like they haven’t been touched in at least 50 years and original signage is everywhere. Beautiful Victorian houses line the steep hills behind the downtown streets.