I’m playing a little bit of catch up…at the end of April my brother and I took a wonderful trip to Portland OR. We’ve both decided to live there one day, soon we hope.
As soon as we landed we visited The Grotto, a national sanctuary dedicated to Our Sorrowful Mother. What a great way to sink into this new city, calm our minds, and smell the pine! I’m so glad we started the trip in this peaceful retreat.
We stayed in a beautiful eco-friendly hostel in the Hawthorne District. I’ve never stayed in a hostel and this place was a great way to break into that kind of experience. At first Bro and I felt awkward, but by the end of the week we were totally integrated in the system and missed our fellow travelers as they left throughout the week.
The main objective of the trip was for me to visit with faculty and grad students in the Studio Practice and Social Practice MFA programs at Portland State University.
On our last full day of visiting Bro and I decided to have a doughnut showdown between the kitsch of Voodoo Doughnut and refinement of Pearl Bakery. It was a tie!
In a week we hit a majority of the must-sees in Portland; The Grotto, Powell’s, Voodoo Doughnut, Rogue Brewery, the Japanese Garden. There’s so much we didn’t get too see or do–like hike the mountains or drive to the ocean. The people we met in Portland were by far the friendliest and easy-going I’ve ever met–loved everyone! The weather was immaculate!! Can’t say enough positive things about Portland and that’s a BIG deal for a cynic like me.
Sam Dorgan 