So.... the original point of this trip to Portland was to see my Long-Lost Library Friend (LLLF). We started talking about this trip last fall. Originally we were talking Portland, then the Seattle-Vancouver I-5 Corridor, but a few weeks ago we decided to go back to our original plans. I'm really glad we did. I love both Seattle and Vancouver, but Portland was so much fun for so many reasons.
A little background: LLLF and I met in 1986. I was 16 and she was 17 (we worked out the dates and ages over the weekend). We were both exchange students to (West) Germany. She sat behind me on the plane on the way there. On the flight back we sat next to each other. We both had to spend the night in New York to catch a morning flight (it wasn't nearly as exciting as it sounds--JFK hotels are near nothing fun), so we shared a room. We exchanged addresses. We stayed in touch through college, maybe a bit longer... so at least until 1993 or 1994. Then we lost touch.
A few years ago I was recovering from a nasty case of the stomach flu and didn't have the energy to do much of anything. So I decided to play the "Whatever Happened to" game with Google. LLLF has a unique name so she was pretty easy to find. Little did I know she was a librarian in California. Go figure. So I emailed her. That was two years ago. (For the record, I'm pretty sure I played the Whatever Happened to game with my Recently-Found Facebook Friend [RFFF] as he was a regular contestant, but it didn't work. I was looking for him in the wrong city and wrong vocation.) When I moved to the West coast, I suggested to LLLF that we get together for a long weekend. So we did.
Much fun was had. We've been catching up since we began emailing each other, so there wasn't a lot of that. And because we are both librarians there was some shop talk--we can't help it. She's a public librarian, and I'm an academic librarian--so some of our shop talk was about our different work environments and user groups. But there was plenty of other talk, too. We do have lives. Or at least we think we do.
Saturday we walked to the Portland Saturday Market, and it was pretty cool. Being rainy and drizzly, LLLF wanted a hat with a brim (better to keep the water off eyeglasses--something I have learned since being out here) and a scarf. She found both at the market and they were both nifty. We found food. We looked at lots of nifty stuff. I saw some great jewelry, but I decided to not buy any. Surprised? Me, too! I bought "gourmet" cat toys for my cats and for the cat of the friend watching my cat. She's a librarian, too. Yes......... We all have cats. We all know we fit the stereotype.
Speaking of stereotypes, after LLLF arrived at the hotel, we were standing on the balcony, watching Portland below us. I had been out there earlier watching people leaving work. The central library wasn't far away and I am fairly sure I saw a group of librarians leaving work. Why? As I told LLLF, "The woman had that short late-middle-aged librarian hair cut, long black coat/sweater, long black skirt, sensible shoes, book-related tote bag." Ah, yes, LLLF knew the type well. This comment was followed, ironically enough, by me saying this: "Oh, I was looking in the Portland magazine and you know what I saw? A store full of clogs! That means a store full of Danskos!" And I realized we were both well on our way to being the late-middle-aged librarian I saw earlier that evening. All we needed was some faux-ethnic jewelry.
View north from hotel balcony.
View south from hotel balcony. Fish in building.To add to my librarian stereotype-ness, I bought a bag made out of a book at the Saturday Market. Which book? Where the Wild Things Are, of course. I love it. I mean LOVE it. Each one was different, but I had to get this one because it includes the page that says, "And made him king of all wild things." I love that book. So very, very much.
Awesome.They are made by a woman under the label Mugwump, she had other bags using Dick and Jane books, Dr Seuss, old board games, etc. But nothing she had can compare to the illustrations of Maurice Sendak. She started telling us that her school librarian friends really liked the bags, and I told her to get herself signed up for the next PNLA conference. Those librarians would lose their minds over these little bags. We gave her some other organizations to hit up for booth space and were on our way to see some of the other Portland tourist spots.
So... Powell's. I'm not a big bookstore person. I like them and all, but I guess since I work in a building full of books I don't get all horned up over other buildings full of books. But, it's a Portland thing. We saw the pile of little bikes outside Powell's. I didn't take a picture of it, but I saw another pile when I was with RFFF, and he told me they were part of the Portland Zoo Bombers. Um... Okay. But, Powell's. Yes, books. Great. However, LLLF and I found a bunch of plates from old atlases and old advertisements in the travel book section. So very awesome. LLLF found some vintage ads that were spectacular. I found maps of Mississippi and Washington ca. 1910 (from the same book, I'm sure). I also found a Nixon-Agnew bumper sticker that was ready to frame. I bought all of them. Even they hipster kid at the check out counter couldn't get over the Nixon-Agnew bumper sticker. He totally wanted to keep it.
From there we went to Clogs 'n More. Yes, that is what it was called. I wanted to see if they had any of the vegan Sanita (formerly Dansko) clogs, but they didn't. Oh... but I found these amazingly awesome shiny cherry red closed-back clogs. I loved them. I tried them on. But they were patent leather, and I had decided when I went vegan that I was giving up leather. But I loved them. LLLF had to keep saying, "Back away from the clogs." And I did. I am such a walking stereotype. But it was the first shoe challenge I have faced. And I won.
The rest of Saturday was us wandering around and looking for Saint Cupcake. A few things seen on the way back to the hotel:
Fantasy: Your local 24-hour lingerie store
Not a big Brian Jonestown Massacre fan, but they played that Friday night. If I'd known they were there, I would have gone. If you've seen DiG, you'll know why. RFFF was telling me this is a great place to see a band, though. The floor bounces.I was heading out Monday afternoon. LLLF was meeting another friend and staying in Portland a few extra days. I had hoped to find some big vegan breakfast while there (like, say, pancakes or French toast), but we never got up and out in time, so we grabbed lunch instead. We wandered through the Pearl District looking at flyers for homes we could never afford while talking about how we both needed to move there. I live in a town that is a smaller Portland--at least in attitude, so that's cool. But Portland has a vibe I have yet to find in any other city.
LLLF and I made it over to Union Station so I could catch my train up north. We decided we need to so this annually. Coming back to Portland would be great, but we both like to travel. So, next year we're gonna look in into short trip to the Bay Area. I've never been and have always wanted to go.
I slept very little Sunday night. I could not turn my brain off at the end of the night. It was in the middle of the night that I decided that my five-year plan would include moving to Portland. Normally, when I make decisions in the middle of the night, they are bad ones, because I do and say really stupid things when I don't get enough sleep. But when I made this declaration Monday morning, it felt right. I don't know how I will do it, but I've got a few years to figure it out. Because when I say I did not want to leave, I meant it 100%. I was ready to chuck it all, send for the cats, and stay.
I'm very glad I went. It was a weekend away I desperately needed. LLLF and I had a great time. Seeing RFFF was amazing. It was an uplifting trip that reinforced that my move out here was the right thing to do.
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