Portland Spoke – The Official Blog of Travel Portland

… Thank God I live in Portland. I have these moments when it hits me how lucky I am to be here. Now that spring is springing it hits me all the time. I drive up my street and it is so beautiful with flowering trees and flowering flowers that I arrive amazed in my own driveway.

On Saturday my husband and I went for a hike in Forest Park. It was so easy — ten minutes in the car and two hours in the forest. Last night we decided to go for a walk somewhere we’d never been. Five minutes from our house, we were on Terwilliger (of Simpsons fame), then on a short trail in another forest, discovering a new neighborhood with fantastic views of Mount Hood and the Willamette River.

Image courtesy of BodyVox

Tonight we are going to BodyVox for the opening of “Smoke Soup.” BodyVox consistently blows me away with humor and creativity in modern dance. I will forever be grateful to them for turning my son (then in high school) onto modern dance. I get the same hit of amazement from Portland when I sit in the audience at Portland Center Stage, Artists Repertory, White Bird Dance or the Oregon Symphony — all of which I’ve been lucky enough to experience in the past couple of months.

Finally, my husband and I have this game we play a lot. It’s called “Let’s count how many cars it takes ’til they let us in.” This is usually played when we imagine we are going to be stuck trying to merge with traffic. The magic answer is usually one or two and every time we turn to each other and say, “Thank God we live in Portland!”

Teamaker Steven Smith blends several different ingredients while experimenting with tea flavors. Visitors can stop by the facility and enjoy a pot of tea while watching the teamakers blend batches.

The people of Portland never cease to amaze me. I can’t think of another city where so many people have found a way to make their passions their careers.

Take Steven Smith, for example. His common name notwithstanding, you’ve likely never heard of him – but you still know him all the same. If you’ve drank much tea in the last couple of decades, chances are you have come across the creations of the founder of both Stash and Tazo tea companies.

Today, Steven Smith continues to follow his passion for tea with his new company, Steven Smith Teamaker. (more…)

I love road trips. It’s not always about the destination itself, but the fun stops along the way – for photos, a snack, or to check out a quirky roadside attraction. The places found are often memorable and offbeat. Mt. Hood Territory, the area east of Portland all the way up to Mt. Hood, is full of these hidden finds. A few of them are highlighted in the new “Secret Sweet Spots” videos, giving you a taste of what you might find out there. Take a look and enter to win a 3-night vacation with travel allowance and a digital camera! Sweet, right?

A small sampling of the many things worth trying at Olympic Provisions. Though best known for sandwiches and sausages, the kitchen's vegetable creations are equally impressive.

Hello. My name is Marcus and I am a meat eater. I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember and I don’t see kicking the habit any time soon, especially since Olympic Provisions opened recently on Portland’s east side. Olympic Provisions is the first USDA-certified salumeria in the state – making artisan sausages, pâtés, dry-cured salami and other meaty creations by hand – but that’s not all. The restaurant also features delicious sandwiches at lunch and creative entrées for dinner, balancing the tasty meats with fresh vegetables and other ingredients. Though they’ve become known for their sandwiches, don’t discount the dinner menu. Olympic Provisions is located in the Centennial Mills building close to downtown, and their meat products are also beginning to show up at other specialty retailers in Portland.

My lovely wife Bert and I (and the pooch) went downtown last weekend to see the cherry blossoms at the north end of Waterfront Park, where we were joined by walkers, joggers, bicyclists, shutterbugs, families and Saturday Market shoppers.

This cell-phone image doesn’t do justice to the gorgeous scene: The two rows of trees – so choked with blossoms that they appeared almost snow-laden — formed a beautiful, if temporary, boulevard of sorts. 

So, do you have any springtime shots to share? Post yours on the official Portland fan page on Facebook for everyone to enjoy.

So many restaurants open in this town. So many close. Some we never cross paths with: the economics and logistics of dining out can keep us away from worthy establishments for the life of their run.

Through incarnations, permutations, and recreations, though, one joint keeps on keeping on with a quality and vibe that still satisfy. It exists outside the orbit of the hype of the new or the staidness of the tried and true. A balanced world beyond the reach of food-fad gravity.

Saucebox on a recent post-Blazers-home-game weeknight was quiet, but not too quiet. Service was gracious, but, more than that, contained a quality so inexplicably hard to find these days: It was genuine.

The food is continually creative Asian-influenced local fare. The winter menu may be a tad limited, but Saucebox doesn’t have to wait for deep spring to do what they do best. Word to your mother: Crispy. Crispy potatoes, crispy chicken wings, roasted beet salad, and, if available, hamachi (the latter most definitely NOT crispy).

Yummers. (That’s what “oishii” means, more or less.)

The 2010 Portland Jazz Festival just finished. We’ll let the winners of a trip to the 2010 festival explain why you should visit Portland next February for the experience. Chicagoans Jonathan and Melissa won an Alaska Airlines non-stop flight and full festival passes; here’s an excerpt from Jonathan’s e-mail about their visit:

Tracing Lewis and Clark’s expedition as our plane followed the dramatic Columbia River east yesterday morning, we left PDX (and PDX Jazz Festival) with the sounds of Dave Douglas’ Brass Ecstasy still in our heads.  Different sounds than Meriwether and William heard some 200 years ago, but perhaps with the same appreciation for the grandeur of Oregon and its resourceful peoples.

 60 hours in Portland is certainly not enough but in that short time span, you welcomed these Chicago visitors with groove, verve, and voice and gave us an unforgettable weekend.  

Portland Jazz Festival is impressive not only for its innovative programming, its focus of educating its listeners, and its wonderful venues but one clearly gets the feeling that all of Portland is connected to this festival.  Banners, hotel lobbies with music, clubs, restaurants, and streetscape sound their proverbial instruments.  As I once heard Dizzy say of the Bird’s music, “it’s deep”.   And you do it all with smiles and warmth. 

Portland itself is a gem.  As we mentioned, we toured Portland the way Portlanders travel — by bicycle.  My transit interests also took us on the MAX and streetcars, which are frequent, clean, and fast; with a great information system.  We sampled three of your four liquids:  Coffee, pinot noir and beer — the fourth, rainwater, stayed away.  Restaurants were memorable not only for their food but also for their artwork.  Powell’s, Pearl District, Japanese Garden, Northwest, Nob Hill, East Side, riverfront; we riffed on your city and we dig it.

 I couldn’t have said it any better myself!

There are people who love deals (Pretty much everyone, right?) — and then there’s Cheryl VanClacken. The host of the fictional morning show “Perk Up Portland!” lives to “help” local celebs sniff out bargains. Check out her videos for the lowdown on savings, Portland-style. One note: While Portlanders do enjoy saving money, few of us are quite as … enthusiastic … as Cheryl.

We will confess to being excited about this offer, though: Book at least two nights at a participating hotel and you’ll receive $50 cash at check-in to get you started on your shopping and dining. (Another bonus: no sales tax.)

In addition to $50 in cold, hard cash, you’ll get all the Portland Perks that Cheryl is so crazy about:

• great rates at Portland hotels;
• complimentary overnight parking (avg. savings of more than $20/night downtown);
• continental breakfast for two; and
• the discount-packed Portland Perks coupon book.

What are you waiting for? Book your stay by April 25, 2010, for travel by May 9, 2010.

Here’s a promotional video for Lean on Pete, the forthcoming novel by Willy Vlautin, the frontman for Richmond Fontaine, my favorite Portland band.

The book, which will be released stateside on April 13, has already picked up some good notices in Europe. “Vlautin’s characters . . . become a sketchbook of America,” writes the Sunday Herald. “There’s music in the stark writing, the urban clamour of Portland giving way to the keening twang of the open spaces.”

Lean on Pete is Vlautin’s third novel, following The Motel Life and Northline.