Portland Spoke – The Official Blog of Travel Portland

Bert scans the racks at Lodekka, the double-decker-bus-turned-dress-shop on North Williams.

Spurred by an article in the new Travel Portland magazine, Bert and I spent a recent afternoon on North Williams Avenue, a vibrant district of retailers and restaurants — and one of the newer additions to Portland’s rich tapestry of neighborhoods.

Our first stop was Lodekka, a vintage dress shop that’s housed inside a double-decker bus. The rest of the afternoon was similarly stacked with surprises: In the span of just two blocks, we perused the hand-made handbags at Queen Bee Creations; gawked at the letterpress at Lark Press; shared a dozen happy-hour oysters at EaT (hey, I had earned a few points by then); and enjoyed a fine meal at James Beard Award-nominated Lincoln Restaurant.

On tap for our next visit to North Williams: a stop at BikeBar, the latest venture from Hopworks Urban Brewery.

Did you know that some people are caffeine intolerant? I discovered that this was my case during my first internship. I was 14, living in France, and to be like everybody else in the office, took up smoking and drinking coffee on my very first day. That’s when I realized that caffeine could make my heart explode, and that my asthma was deeply aggravated by cigarette smoke. I had to come to the conclusion that I might not have the required French genes, so I left my country …

… To land nowhere else than Stumptown, Oregon. The land of serious coffee. And tea. And drinking chocolate. And Red Bull. I thought at first that I was destined to a life of drinking water (which is very good here, by the way), or wine and beer. The latter might sound appealing, but not advisable when you’re doing your 30-day review with your boss.
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