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Written by Keith Sheffield/Tahoe World
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Tuesday, 20 February 2007 |
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 Mt. Hood towered above the clouds blanketing Portland two weeks ago. Everytime I fly into PDX, I never know what views I’ll have. More than half the time the plane comes through a soggy cloud bank and all I can see is the Columbia River below, and then … touchdown.
On this trip though, Mt. Hood stood watch over northern Oregon and the sun filtered through the clouds putting a glint of silver on parts of the city. I caught myself grinning. Man, I love this town.
 In the past 10 years, many friends from my Humboldt State days moved to Portland. I’ve been visiting this part of the Pacific Northwest a couple times a year for the past seven years. It’s my escape from the Pinecone Curtain of the Sierra. Sometimes, I just hang out with my friends Christy and Steve in Beaverton. And lately, we’ve spent more time around Downtown Portland, or the hip Hawthorne district, where a couple more college friends ended up.
The few days I had this time were spent following Christy on her newspaper assignments, following a family’s struggle with immigration reform on Pioneer Square, catching up with another college newspaper friend, walking the hip strip of Hawthorne, and of course, hitting up the best damn bookstore in the nation.
We packed a lot of little adventures in a short time, and now I can’t wait to go back for more.
PLACES TO GO
Pioneer Courthouse Square: It’s the heart of downtown Portland. According to www.pioneercourthousesquare.org, “With more than 26,000 people passing by the Square each day, and thousands more visiting the Square directly, it is the single most visited site in Oregon’s most visited city.”
 Meet friends, listen to live music (more than 300 events each year) or people watch. Pioneer Square is centrally located in the city and is a major downtown trainstation stop. Easy to get to, easy to launch your downtown adventure from.
Powell’s Books: 1005 W Burnside, Portland — Powell’s is the mother of all bookstores. Looking for a book that’s out of print? Forget Amazon.com, go to powells.com. The Burnside location takes up an entire city block, has its own parking garage and four levels of seemingly endless aisle of books. A trip to Powell’s is always in order on every Portland excursion.
 Sabala’s (Mt. Tabor): 4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, (503) 238-1646 — A club for varying tastes with themed rooms. Friends of friends rented out the main room for a birthday party and karaoke. Great place for cheap drinks and cutting loose with friends.
Bagdad Theater and Pub: 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, (503) 232-6676 — Owned by the McMenamin brothers who’ve bought up classic haunts throughout the city and the burb and brought them back to life as brewpubs. At the Bagdad, you can get great tasting pub food, a fine brew and kick back in the theater and watch a second-run flick. On this latest trip to Portland, we hit the Bagdad for dinner and a chance to catch The Departed.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 20 February 2007 )
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