Showing posts with label portland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label portland. Show all posts

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Portland(ia) Prep Digs - The Nines

BEST. (PORTLAND) HOTEL. EVER

The Nines is located in downtown Portland, Oregon, USA. It's a stone's throw to the Willamette River and the requisite waterfront arts & crafts fair encampments [read "hippies" here].  It's also a casual walk over to one the best bookstores this Cascadian prep has ever patroned - Powell's Books. Nearly every book you ever wanted - new or used - is available at Powell's Books. Prep, Trad, and Sartorially-themed books are well stocked here, too. I don't know if that's because no one buys them or if it's just the opposite (probably because no one buys them - this is the land that gave us Nike and Columbia, after all).

The Nines is close to Portland Streetcar stops, where one can hop on and be whisked over to the Pearl District. The Pearl District is nice because of its many art galleries, boutiques, restaurants (try Oba), and gelato shops (try Mio Gelato on NW 11th... and for the love of God, do not try the blue cheese or french onion gelato, like I did.)

If you live in Washington state or Vancouver, BC, take the train (Amtrak Cascades) down to Portland and then cab it over to the hotel.  If you live further away, fly in and cab it to the hotel. You really don't need a car in this pedestrian-friendly town. And if you want to tour the burgeoning wine country an hour away, van tours are a good way to go.

Also, remember, thrift is a virtue to the prep and while in Oregon you won't pay sales tax.  Take the money you save and spend it on a nice Oregon Pinot Noir.

Alert: many locals pronounce their state, "Ory-gun," as they have a nice, folksy nature about them. But be advised - never, ever call it "Oreh-gone." You will be summarily tarred and duck-feathered for not doing your homework on its pronunciation.

(So you missed going there this Mother's Day... there's always Father's Day... hint, hint.)

Portland train station
Lobby of  The Nines
a room at The Nines (my kid not included)

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Major League Soccer in Cascadia, U.S.A.


  

The 2011 season is going to be fun!  For the first time in several years, these three teams and these three cities - Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver - will compete for best sports team in Cascadia. Football Soccer, in this instance, is the sport to be competed - one of a few chosen to be played and observed by the Cascadian prep.

Cascadians love soccer (or "the idea of soccer") because it harks back to their suburban youth and the happy days of picking grass and gazing, slack-jawed, at the adjacent soccer field in anticipation of the CapriSuns and Granola bars which awaited them. They (we, really) equally love the sport for what it was not - basketball, baseball, and American football. Soccer is also a versatile sport and Cascadians love versatility.  This sport, watched at the professional level, can become a cherished family outing and it also can be a sport that the guys and gals from the office get together to watch at the "Pub" - don't even utter the words "Sports Bar"!

Soccer is also filled with nuance and Cascadians love nuance.  Example, the group of players don't actually make up a "team." They make up a "club." "Club" is a far preferable choice of words to the Cascadian or classic prep because of the sense of belonging it conveys. And all we ever wanted was to just belong. [See tongue planted firmly in cheek.]


Qwest Field - Home of  Sounders FC (and that other team that has to wear helmets)


Sunday, February 20, 2011

Portland's The Decemberists

BEST. (Portland) BAND. EVER


A must-have band on any Cascadian prep's iPod. Smart, quirky, self-aware, and at times, classic (can all be prep/trad traits) with equal parts "Portland Bohemian" (we'll let that one slide.) A perfect microcosm of Cascadian people. 

castaways
from Castaways and Cutouts cover