Forward Thinking and Chinese Gardens in Portland

After the redwoods, we stayed at a hotel a little south of Portland. In the late morning, we drove into the city to check it out. Our first stop was the visitor's center in Pioneer Square - it's a neat hub in the center of the city right across from its historic courthouse. Right now, there's a flower exhibit that's plotted out like a world map (far right picture below). Every country is a different color flower. It's so neat! We got a map and some tourist tips from some friendly folks and were on our way.

We decided to make our first stop the courthouse because it was right across the street and offers a bird's-eye view (sort of) of the city from its third floor. We could tell from the visitor center employees and the staff at the courthouse that Oregonians are quite proud of this landmark. It's still actively used as a district courthouse.

After the courthouse, we walked over to another square and got burgers at a place called Violetta. Best veggie burger I have EVER had (not including the falafel burger from Las Vegas - that still wins overall, but it's in a category all its own). Tom's burger was really good, too. We sat outside in another downtown square and people-watched while we ate. There's a fountain in this square called Teacher's Fountain, "dedicated to all who educate and inspire." Nice to see some support for education these days...

As we've gotten into the northwest U.S., we've seen much more of an emphasis on recycling and composting. Portland and many other cities around here are liberal and environmentally conscious, and it's nice to know that they're actively making strides to take care of the planet. Many of these cities also have electric buses, even further reducing their impact on the environment. If only the whole country was taking these measures!

After lunch, we walked around the city's different neighborhoods. For as big as it feels, Portland is surprisingly walkable, and we covered a good amount of ground in the five hours we were there. We walked through the warehouse district, Chinatown, the waterfront, and parts of the financial district. Everything was very cool, but I'll let the pictures do most of the talking:

 

We also stopped at the world-famous Lan Su Chinese Garden. Portland's sister city was once one of the wealthiest provinces in China, and they sent plants, buildings, materials, and art to Portland to create this utopia in the middle of the big city. Their mission: "to cultivate an oasis of tranquil beauty and harmony to inspire, engage, and educate [their] global community in the appreciation of a richly authentic Chinese culture." To read more about the gardens, go here.

After exploring the city for the afternoon, we decided to keep moving and head north toward Seattle, our next destination. We stopped in Longview, OR, and caught a movie at the local theater. It may seem like a waste of time to go to the movies when we're in these new places, but we don't want to miss all the summer blockbusters, and it also helps give us a sense of normalcy. The few times we've gone to a movie on this trip, we've forgotten where we were and just settled into the movie. It's a strange feeling to come out of the theater into unfamiliar surroundings and have to think for a second about where we are!

We called it a night and set our sights on Seattle next...