Anyways, I took a 2.5 hour train ride south and was ready for my close up, so to speak. I guess before I begin the tales of my adventure, I should say a little about the city itself. Some "fun facts" if you will. And because it's early and I'm lazy, I Googled the question "what makes Portland special?" Here are my top 5...some of this I knew, some I didn't. Oh, and FYI...I'm not working PR for the city, most people just don't know much about it.
1. "Ranked #1 Best City for Public Transportation"
*I will definitely agree with this...buses, link rails, extremely friendly for bicycles, etc.
2. "Greenest City in America"
*Portland is home to a lot of hipsters and younger populations and takes things very seriously on issues pertaining to the environment...i.e. public transportation. There were also tree's everywhere. I was actually surprised because for it being a large city, it was really lush with parks, trees, and
various nooks of forestry all over.
3. There is no freeway that goes through the city. It's actually raised and cuts up and around. Plus, it's 2 stories....sort of. Cars drive on top and through the covered section...one-way each direction. I thought it was cool.
4. They have the WORLD's largest independent book store...new and used. 68,000 square feet of reading material...an entire city block. I was in heaven and spent far too much time in here. Any true nerds dream--over 1,000,000 volumes on the shelves.
5. Voodoo Doughnuts...as made famous by the Food Network. It's this doughnut place with a weird assortment of handmade specialty doughnuts. Such as--the Bacon Maple Bar (bacon on top of a cake doughnut with maple frosting), Captain my Crunch (yeast doughnut covered in frosting and Captain Crunch cereal...also done with Fruit Loops and Coco Puffs), Mango Tango (doughnut filled with maple jelly and topped with vanilla frosting and Tang...yes, I said Tang), etc etc.
For your entertainment...http://voodoodoughnut.com/menu.php
There...now you know a bit about Portland. Stay tuned for my adventures.
