A day in Portland

Old friends from another city were here for a quick visit. They hadn't seen the house since we were working on it before we moved in, so we brought them out for lunch and the quick tour, then into the city to see what we could see. The old standbys—Powell's Books, The Japanese Garden, the Rose Garden, Saturday Market—were all old hat. Been there, done that. The weather was undecided. Rain by the bucket load, then sun and blue sky and then all of it over again. Seemed like our friends might enjoy a stroll down N. Mississippi Street, a bit of the old, a bit of the new and a small sampling of Portland culture.

We went into this store, restored to its elegant bird-free state.

The birds, well chickens, were actually here at Pistils Nursery, roaming among the plants and flowers.

Sunlan Lighting is a light bulb store. Any kind of light bulb you would ever need or not need. Our friend Monte got just what he needed for an antique fixture that won't handle a modern light bulb. The owner, sitting at her desk as you come in the door greets you with, "good afternoon. How may I enlighten you?"

We walked on. The sun came out, the sky turned blue. We browsed the gourmet salt shop. We found just the exact tiny piece of hardware Monte needed for another project at the Rebuilding Center, we marveled at the curiosities in the shop windows, and admired the lovely old buildings that house them.

Note how the color of the sky has changed since the previous photos. Really, it was a crazy weather day.

We finished the day with an excellent Portland micro brew, before heading back across town.

Great to spend the time with Monte and Janet and fun to play tourist in our own city.