[Historic Columbia River Highway]
[Multnomah Falls]

By far, the cheapest and most convenient way in and out of the Portland airport is taking the red line on the MAX light rail. A dirt cheap 30minute $2 ride, wisked us from the convention center to the door of the airport. The train cars even have a decent amount of space designated for luggage and even bicycles. Obviously, the train won’t get you to the door of your hotel like a taxi will, but for $2 as opposed to around $40, I’ll gladly walk the couple of extra blocks.

[TriMet: MAX Light Rail]

[KEXP 90.3FM]

Portland isn’t one of those velvet ropes and limos type of places. It’s a pretty sleepy, laid back town. With the exception of the gardens, there are absolutely no sights of interest within city limits. There are pockets of gems all over town and you will just have to go and find them. There wasn’t that feeling of local versus out of towner. The general feeling I got in the half a week here is to come as you are. That’s not to say that there aren’t total douchebags lurking around town and I’m pretty sure there are a few hardcore residents who are against the gentrification and overall hipster-ization of Portland. The atmosphere is similar to mid-90s Williamsburg before the influx of trust fund babies, and the ungentrified parts of 5th Avenue in Park Slope towards Sunset Park. Small shops lined the post-industrial streets. Tattooed kids on bikes share the coffee shop with older residents. Folks drink and be merry while chowing down a burger at the local McMenamins joint. The Manolo Blahniks and designer handbags set are probably somewhere around town, but they’re probably just visiting from out of town anyway.

Pho Cyclo , 406 Broadway East, Capitol Hill, has a very basic menu of pho, rice, and noodle dishes. Add an order of spring rolls to any of the entrees, and wash it down with a Vietnamese iced coffee to stuff yourself silly.

Than Brothers Restaurant, multiple locations, is a family-run chain of bare-bones pho only restaurants. Seat yourself, then choose between chicken, beef, or veggies to top off your bowl. If you opt for beef, you get to choose again from a long list of edible cow parts that include Vietnamese specialties like tendon and tripe. Pho’ Shizzle!

Kwanjai Thai, 469 North 36th Street, Fremont, is near the end of the main drag or North 36th Street in Fremont. It’s housed inside, well… a house. You might even feel like you’re a guest at the house. The menu is the usual pad thai, pad see ew. Seafood items are market prices so expect to pay more for those. For about $10, you’ll have a decent meal and plenty of cash leftover for a pint or 2 at the many nearby bars.

[photo by: Federico Mena-Quintero]

I admit it. I made my way downtown, walked down Pine Street to seek out that Public Market market sign. Not for nothing, it’s a great piece of typography. Having snapped the requisite photo, I went inside to have a look-see. The place is nothing more than a tourist stop as there were more tsotchkes shops selling tourist junk than grocery stands. Was there anyone there actually buying fish for dinner? We made our way out and went to seek out the first Starbucks across the way. I don’t hate Starbucks, but it was pretty interesting to see the place where their world domination started. The queue was outrageous so I skipped out on trying the Pike Place blend. Taking Lonely Planet up on a recommendation, we hit Pirotsky & Pirotsky to for a yummy mozzarella and broccoli pastry. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t filling either. In search of more food, we hit the corner cheese joint Beechers Cheese for their $5.75 flagship jack cheese sandwich made of jack cheese, tomatos, and Beecher’s spread. It was extra small, but the flavor was ginormous, and the best tasting grilled cheese I’ve ever had.

[Beechers’ Handmade Cheese, 1600 Pike Place, Seattle]

[photo by: donotgiveup.net]