A friend of mine and I have a long weekend coming up, so we're thinking of heading down to Portland, OR. We know we want to hit Powell's books, but does anyone know of anything else to do there?

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2001

Answers

I am origionally from Portland. There is tons of stuff to do there. What is so special about Powell's books? I would hit saturday market down town, 24 hour starbucks is always fun, THey have a huge cynco de mayo festival (sorry I cant spell in spanish or english) on the waterfront. It is a blast! They also have the rose parade comming up sometime soon with carnival rides and such downtown. The dinner ferries that run on the columbia are amazing and there are tons of sights to see if you are into that type of thing.

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2001

Well, Powell's is supposed to be one of the biggest (if not the biggest) independent bookstore in the country. Plus it's a union shop that was organized in no small part by Wobblies, and that alone makes me want to check it out.

Also, it's the only thing I know of in Portland, so it's an excuse to get out of Seattle for a bit.

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2001

Powell's is great and well worth a visit. They have several locations around town, and while the original is the best, the others are also cool. One of the branches is on southeast Hawthorne, which has quite a few interesting and cool shops. Saturday Market (also open on Sundays) is nice. If you like cheap movies & good beer, you might want to check out one of the several McMenamin's brewpubs. Northwest 23rd Avenue has some nice stores, but it's quite yuppified, so that's a downside.

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2001

24 HOUR CHURCH OF ELVIS!!!!!!

And aren't there some rhodedendrom gardens over near Reed?

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2001

NW Portland is a fun place to wander around and there are a bunch of cheap eats around there too. Beau Thai is particularly good.

I was in Portland less than a month ago and the Rose Garden is spectacularly barren at the moment which was really disappointing.

Take a drive up to Pittock Mansion just for the great view and you can take a tour of the house as well, check out the wild shower in one of the bathrooms.

Uh...I can't think of much else at the moment. Enjoy your trip!

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2001

Tell me more about this 24 hour church of elvis.

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2001

The 24-hour Church of Elvis is a little storefront down near 1st Ave (sorry, I forget exactly where. . . I haven't lived in the Rose City in a while). It's actually an avant-garde art display rather than a church--but it's way cool and definitely worth a look. Bring a couple of quarters for the viewer thing.

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2001

The 24 Hour Church of Elvis is at 720 SW Ankeny, Portland, Oregon 97205,(503) 226-3671. Their website is http://www.churchofelvis.com/. Best luck and have fun!

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2001

Unfortunately the 24 Hour Church of Elvis is no longer a coin-operated storefront. It was forced out of its old location a couple of years ago. (The address H X gave looks right to me for the new location.) I say unfortunately because the coin-op stuff was cool & funny, but now if you go there you have to deal with the woman who runs the place & she's rather strange in an unpleasant sort of way.

Just last weekend I went there with a friend who recently moved to Portland. The proprietor wouldnt let us in because we had my friend's dog with us. Fair enough. But the way she told us we couldn't come in was so snotty that I never want to deal with her again. But then, I've seen her presentation before. If you've never seen it, it could be worth seeing. Just leave the pets at home.

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2001

Powells is definately worth it. Plan to spend *hours.*

Don't bother with any of the gardens yet. It's too early. We just got leaves on the trees this week.

The new hot spot in town is Mint on N. Russel. A little out of the way but cool. Near the Church of Elvis is Sauce Box, another good night spot. On SW Stark between 2nd and 3rd is Mother's, voted the best restaraunt in PDX. If you're there on a Friday night after 5:30 come to the bar and say hi. I'll buy you a drink.(Or, during biz hours, come up to the 3rd floor of the building to Tweak Interactive in 307. Ask for Kat ;)

If you want to feel like a 3rd grader again go to the Grossology exhibit at the OMSI. Lots on how farts and poop are made.

In all seriousness, all we 20-something Portlanders seem to be doing these days is eating and drinking and gossiping about the media industry. Last night I tried to go see strippers but was foiled (long story). Check out the Willamette Week at http://www.wweek.com to find something more interesting to do. Let me know what you find.

-Kat

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2001