City of Books

White Stag Sign

I was in Portland last week for a work related conference, but managed to take in some of the sights in my free time.

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Portland has a nice public transportation system, but when I first arrived, it didn't register with me that I had to punch my ticket at the kiosk before I took the ride from the airport to my hotel.

Change is dispensed from these machines in dollar coins, so Portland seems to be one of the few places in the US where use of the dollar coin appears to be fairly common.

The main place I wanted to visit in Portland during my free time was Powell's City of Books, which touts itself as the world's largest independent seller of new and used books in the world.

The store has shelves that are 10 feet tall and was filled with people of all ages.

Manga and Graphic novels

Science fiction and Fantasy

Rare books

Book culture seems to be alive and well in the Pacific Northwest.

I also took a walk across the Morrison Bridge to visit a nearby game shop.

Guardian Games is located in a large olive green building in an industrial zone.

It was large and well stocked, but didn't really have anything that I couldn't find in any of my local game shops.

I apologize for the blurry photos, but I ran out of batteries and had to switch to an old iPod to take pictures.

Board games

GW stuff

Reaper and WizKids stuff

Some of the other places I stopped by included the world's smallest municipal park.

Mill Ends Park

The original Voodoo Doughnut shop.

The doughnuts are really tasty, and in my hotel and at the airport, I saw many people toting around big pink boxes of Voodoo doughnuts for the trip home.

I also visited Burgerville because of various claims of people who somehow preferred Burgerville burgers to In-N-Out burgers. I'll admit they have a lot more burger options, but from a comparison of equivalent burgers they are not better than In-N-Out. By a huge margin.

I also ended up being shortchanged by the cashier, and didn't get a receipt after asking for one so I can't even expense the meal.

Despite the one negative experience at Burgerville, I really liked Portland. It is really a beautiful city.

Mount Hood

Mount St. Helens