The Perpetual Tourist

Willi Chevalier, German Partial Beard Freestyle Category Champion

It’s never too early to start planning ahead for an event like this — the World Beard and Moustache Championships are coming up in May 2009. The championships, held every two years in a different location, bring hundreds of bearded men and their friends, family, and fans from all over the world to compete in over a dozen different categories.

The upcoming competition is hosted by the South Central Alaska Beard and Moustache Club in Anchorage, Alaska. Event organizers are anticipating the biggest event yet, following a very successful 2007 championship in Brighton, England.

Bearded and moustached Americans and their friends are invited to join Beard Team USA, which took five first place trophies in 2007. You don’t have to have facial hair to join in the fun, says the team; their only request is “No boring people, please.”

Jurgen Burkhardt, German Sideburns Freestyle Category Champion

BTUSA is planning a couple of different group trips before the competition to maximize fun and team spirit. Option A is a seven-day cruise from Vancouver, British Columbia to Alaska on board the Carnival Spirit, followed by six days in and around Anchorage and all WMBC events. Option B is seven days in and around Anchorage, including all WMBC events.

Jack Passion, American Full Beard Natural Category Champion

These guys really look like they know how to have a good time. The upcoming competition will even feature music from The Australian Bushrangers, who play “songs about beards, for people with beards.” Find the schedule of events for the Anchorage competition here. If you can’t make it to the festivities in person, be sure to check the WBMC website for photographs of winners. These beards are incredible!

Find information on international teams here.

Most people use their vacation time in the summer. They go to the beach, overseas, to amusement parks, on cruises — I go to music festivals. There’s a festival coming up in a few weeks that I’m really excited about.

Hosted by the Steep Canyon Rangers, one of the finest young acts in bluegrass, the Mountain Song Festival at Brevard Music Center in North Carolina is worth traveling for. The one-day event is Saturday, September 13, 2008 in Brevard, North Carolina. The seating area at the stage is covered to protect up to 1800 listeners from the elements, so you’re sure to have a blast rain or shine.

One thing that sets this show aside from others is that it is a benefit concert. I spoke with Steep Canyon’s Woody Platt about the event.

Woody Platt -- photo courtesy www.mountainsongfestival.com

Three years ago, Platt’s mother was the board president of the Transylvania County Boys and Girls Club. She suggested that Woody try to put together a benefit concert for the organization, and the Mountain Song Fest was born. According to Platt, the festival has enjoyed tremendous success since its beginning and has so far raised over $63,000 for the Boys and Girls Club. “Steep Canyon Rangers are the host band and kick the show off every year — we constantly promote the event while we are out on the road. There is a real sense of ownership and pride felt by the Rangers when it comes to Mountain Song,” he says. “Brevard is a great community and the Boys and Girls Club plays a wonderful role — we are proud to help them reach their goals.”

In addition to two sets from the Rangers, this year’s lineup includes performances from bluegrass standouts Cherryholmes, Tim O’Brien, and Sam Bush. The site opens and noon, music starts at 2pm, and Sam Bush closes the fest in the 8:30-10pm time slot. In addition to the great music, visitors will enjoy displays from local craftsmen, non-profit organizations, a kids’ play area, and of course, great food. Woody recommends the BBQ.

What a gorgeous venue! Photo courtesy www.mountainsongfestival.com

You can’t stay overnight onsite, but there are lots of B&B’s in the area, or you can camp at the lovely Pisgah National Forest. For other accommodation information for this area, start here.

Tickets for the Mountain Song Fest are $35 in advance or $40 at the gate. You’ll be supporting a great cause, and it’s the best one-day lineup I’ve seen in the entire summer festival season. Come say hi if you’re there! I’ll be the one crying when it’s over.

For the past two months, I’ve been on the road. I just got word that I’m wanted on the west coast again, so it looks like I’m flying back out there this weekend. For one short week, I get to enjoy being home. I may not be around here much, but of all the places I’ve been, I can’t think of a better place to call home than Charlottesville, Virginia.

I’m not the only one who feels this way. Every year, Charlottesville is named on various top ten lists, mostly having to do with being the best place to live. It has its negative qualities just like anywhere else, but I feel like this big small town has enough charms to make up for any of its failings, the worst of which are the humidity and the pretentious UVA students.

I’d like to embark now on a virtual tour of my favorite part of good ol’ C-ville — the Downtown Mall. This is not some giant shopping complex where all the kids hang out after school. It is where the cool kids hang out, but it’s not known for the shopping. The Downtown Mall is an open-air pedestrian mall in the heart of the city, six blocks long from end to end, packed from first to last brick with great food, entertainment, and even shopping.

Summers are a great time to enjoy the mall, because the city hosts a weekly party called Fridays After Five. Every Friday, street vendors, activists, and entertainers fill the bricks of the Downtown Mall, and at the Pavilion on the east end, professional musicians put on free concerts lasting well into the evening. There’s beer, there’s wine, there’s dancing, and there are lots and lots of friendly people. It’s a great way to unwind after a long week at work or school, and you’re sure to bump into old friends and make new ones.

On top of the Fridays After Five festivities, if you come to the mall on the first Friday of the month, you can partake in the First Fridays celebrations as well. On the first Friday of every month, all the Charlottesville art galleries — many of which are right on the mall — open their doors to the public for free receptions. You can meet and mingle with the artists and chow down on free refreshments while taking in a rich variety of art.

It’s true that the best things in life — even the things that are usually quite expensive — are free, right here in C-ville.

Of all the storefronts and restaurants on the Downtown Mall, only one that I know of is a true chain (Five Guys) — so don’t go there. You have literally dozens of fantastic restaurants all within a 2-minute walk of anywhere you’re standing on the mall. For lunch, I recommend Himalayan Fusion, and Indian restaurant near the Pavilion end of the mall. They have an inexpensive all-you-can-eat buffet that changes daily, but always includes rice, naan, four vegetarian dishes, three meat dishes, and a dessert. I could eat there every day, and when my office was on the mall, I did. For dinner, Himalayan Fusion is still a fine choice, but my top pick is Zocalo. Featuring an eclectic Mediterranean menu, Zocalo has been consistently voted the best restaurant in Charlottesville since it opened a few years back.

Sticking with Best of C-ville winners, I like to spend my evenings at the Gravity Lounge. It’s an intimate music venue with a great wine and beer list, comfortable seating, and the best music that comes through town. Because of its size, Gravity doesn’t draw a lot of big names, but I’ve never had a bad experience there. The music may not be popular, but it’s excellent.

For the finest hotel in Charlottesville, you don’t even have to leave the mall. The Omni Hotel offers luxury accommodations at the west end of the mall. I’d argue that you could have a fantastic vacation week in Charlottesville without ever traveling more than six blocks away from your hotel room when you stay at the Omni. It’s true, but then you’d be missing out on all the other great things my home town has to offer. More on that another time.

When I was in second grade, my class “adopted” a whale when we were doing our ocean lessons. Researchers sent us photos and information about our class pet, and we watched a lot of slide shows of whales. I think we all thought of them as sort of mystical creatures that only folks with the absolute best connections would ever have the opportunity to see for themselves — you know, people who were tight with the president or something.

I guess this notion sort of stuck with me over the years, because I had no idea that regular people could go on whale watching tours and see real live whales in their natural habitats, until my friend Amy, self-proclaimed Whale Geek, started talking about all the whale watching she does. I grilled her on the subject so that I could pass on some information about what could be a fascinating hobby, or just a one-time adventure — great for individuals or family excursions.

Amy does most of her whale watches in the Gulf of Maine, off the coast of New England. She says that this is one of the best places to go whale watching because these waters are highly productive feeding grounds, with one of the best researched populations of humpback whales on the planet, because they are so easy to reach and study. And these humpbacks, Amy says, tend to be the most dramatic at the surface, giving onlookers quite a show as they eat, play, and go about their daily business. For a photographer like Amy, the North Atlantic is a great spot to take roll upon roll of film (or fill up a memory card).

All whale watching tours will have naturalists on board. Usually these are professional researchers who are there to give information and answer questions you have about the whales. If they have been working in the same area for a while, they will often be able to identify specific whales and give lots of details like the animal’s age, how many calves it has, and more. Sometimes the naturalist may just be a college intern, who won’t be able to give you as many details. When researching different companies for a tour, Amy suggests asking them about their naturalists, and going with the more seasoned scientists.

A typical whale watching tour will last 3-4 hours. Since you are going out into the animal’s natural habitat and not a large tank at an aquarium, there is no way to guarantee what you will see. Check with the company, as most offer coupons for another trip if you don’t see any whales your first time out, or if the trip is canceled for bad weather.

Here are some of Amy’s tips for a first time whale watcher:

• Bring a jacket, a hat, and sunscreen. It’s almost always cooler out on the ocean than it is on shore, as well as windier. You need to protect yourself from the sun — but be sure your hat has a chin strap, or you might lose it in the wind!
• Book your first whale watch with a smaller company; not someone with giant boats. The more crowded a ship is, the harder it is to get a good look at the whales, which can be frustrating.
• Be patient. It can take a while to get to the whales. Maybe you want to spend this time talking to the naturalist, asking questions.
• If you are prone to sea sickness, take something before you go out on the boat.
• Keep an open mind. When you go into it with lots of expectations, you are bound to be disappointed. Remember that these are wild animals, not Shamu doing tricks for you at Sea World. You don’t get to see a whale breach (leap out of the water) every time, but when you do, it’s really magnificent. Just enjoy watching these beautiful animals in an environment that not many people ever get to see.

Thanks, Amy, for all the helpful information as well as all the photographs used in this post! Visit Amy’s brand new whale watching website here, and check back regularly for photos from her latest trips.

Obviously, I’m someone who travels a lot. With this lifestyle comes a lot of traditions. In my case, it’s usually annual bridge tournaments or a family vacation somewhere each year, but there’s only one thing on my calendar that’s written in ink. Permanent marker, in fact. That event is Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, held every July in Hillsdale, NY, and all the gold in the world couldn’t persuade me to skip it.

Falcon Ridge, or FRFF, is a four-day music and dance festival where attendees can camp onsite in tents or RVs. Most people camp in groups of some sort — college alumni, geographical groups, or fans of the same band. I’ve been camping in the Pirate’s Patch, AKA Camp Edhead, AKA Lower Camp Fruvous, AKA Shantytown(e) for the six years that I’ve been attending the festival. We all come from different places, and we see each other for about five days out of every year, but the feeling of community in this group is incredible. For some people, the camping and hanging out is as much of a draw as the performances — which are fantastic, by the way.

FRFF organizers try to keep a core group of favorites on the lineup each year, while at the same time bringing in new and different acts. Festivals are a great place to discover new favorites, but also a great place to schmooze with the ones you already love. Unlike stadium concerts or even coffeehouse shows, there’s much less of a wall between artists and fans at a festival, and you often get a chance to hang out and even sometimes jam with the musicians you love. There’s always someone performing somewhere, and even in the wee hours of the morning, there are song circles and jam sessions carrying on from the evening before. But don’t worry — if late night tunes aren’t your thing, there are designated quiet camping sections for those who need their sleep, as well as many local bed & breakfasts if you prefer indoor plumbing.

The port-a-potties are sort of a bummer, but you’re hardly roughing it when you camp at a place like Falcon Ridge. There are showers — sure the festival is crawling with hippies, but we’re clean ones — and when you camp in a group, everyone can bring a couple of things that give the campsite more of the comforts of home. For example, everyone at the Pirate’s Patch brings a couple of camp chairs and/or tables, and then someone brings cooking supplies, someone else brings food, and other folks contribute labor, like setup and teardown of the camp, cooking, and the all-important 7am tarp run, where campers line up at the stages with tarps to secure their seats for the day’s concerts.

If your group of campers doesn’t include a chef, don’t sweat it. There are tons of food vendors, some that are open 24 hours, where you can get great food. Some of the most delicious meals I’ve ever had were at this festival — I highly recommend the Traveler’s Kitchen and their Colorado Wrap. Yum!

Oh yeah, there’s great music, too! The term “folk” spans such a wide spectrum, and the festival organizers do a great job every year of getting a nice variety of performers. There’s always great dance music in the dance tent and great dances for dancers of all skill levels. There’s a family tent, which specializes in children’s music, and then two other stages — the workshop and main stage — where each set lasts about an hour and you can see dozens of different performers each day.

Recent festival performers include Ani Difranco, Arlo Guthrie, Shawn Colvin, Richard Shindell, Girlyman, and Greg Brown. Some highlights of this year’s festival are Dar Williams, Eddie From Ohio, Patty Larkin, Crooked Still, Tracy Grammer, and Railroad Earth. For a complete list of this year’s performers, check the 2008 FRFF schedule here.  All performances include feature sign language interpreters for the hearing impaired and there is special seating for people with disabilities and their companions.

Tickets are on sale now for $120 — that’s for four days of music and camping. It’s like a hundred concerts for the price of four, and don’t tell the ticket salespeople, but it’s worth way more than that.

Look for me there — I’ll be the one in tye-dye.

Ashland, Oregon is perhaps the most romantic place I’ve ever been. The small town doesn’t sell itself as a couples’ destination, and I certainly recommend visiting the place with or without a significant other, but for a newlywed couple on their honeymoon, I can’t think of a better place to be.

The town is featured in the latest edition of 1000 Places To See Before You Die. So what is there to see? Ashland is a popular tourist destination because of its plays. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival lives in Ashland, and on any given day, you can see a Shakespeare classic or some other genre of performance from musical to comedy to experimental theater at one of Ashland’s three main theaters, including the gorgeous outdoor Elizabethan Theater, open in the summertime.

Getting around Ashland is easy, and you won’t need a car to see the sights here. Everything is within pleasant walking distance from each of the town’s many places to stay. Ashland has only one major hotel, which is a nice place to stay for sure, but for a slightly higher price, you can stay in a truly delightful bed & breakfast. A friend introduced me to the Peerless Hotel, which is really a boutique hotel/bnb, in an old and beautifully decorated house. Each room is different and uniquely wonderful. But good luck snagging a room here — that will be difficult now that the Peerless is recommended not just by some travel blogger, but also by the 1000 Places To See book.

As you walk around Ashland, you’ll pass dozens of boutiques and shops selling things like handmade jewelry, Buddhist accessories and decorations, and lots and lots of artwork. The town has a very hippie feel to it, and shopping here is about as far from mall shopping as you can get. Perhaps the most beautiful part of the town is Lithia Park, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s a gorgeous place to take a stroll and soak up some sun, but don’t leave without drinking from the Lithia water fountain. Water from Lithia Springs is rich with minerals and drinking from the fountain is said to improve your health. In truth, the water is rich with sulfur and smells just like a wet fart. It tastes only slightly better. Still, it’s part of the Ashland experience, so hold your nose and drink up!

This tiny mountain town has plenty to see and do that you could enjoy an entire vacation without leaving the town limits — but you simply can’t do that. With Ashland’s proximity to Crater Lake National Park, it should be a crime to visit Ashland without making at least a day trip to Crater Lake. The park is open year round, and park employees work hard round the clock to keep the roads paved up to the visitor’s center, but there are points in the year where the actual lake itself is only accessible by snowshoe or ski. I visited on May 2, while most of the park was under 11 feet of snow. Still, the roads were plowed all the way to the rim (but not around it), and it was not a cold day, so it was relatively easy to get up to the rim, and the weather was actually quite enjoyable.

I always thought the phrase “take your breath away” was hyperbole, but my first live glimpse of Crater Lake quite literally stole my breath. Pictures simply do not capture it adequately (still, here’s a picture). The lake, which, at over 1,900 feet deep is the deepest lake in North America, is fed only by rain and melting snow, and is allegedly the cleanest body of fresh water in the world. The water is a stunning deep blue, and the mountain and clouds above it reflect so clearly and completely off the surface that it’s like looking in a mirror, only somehow even clearer.

If you visit Crater Lake in the summer months, you can drive around the entire rim and stay at the Crater Lake Lodge, a resort hotel overlooking the lake 1,000 feet below. If I were to write a book called 1 Place To See Before You Die, it would contain one entry, and that would be Crater Lake. It is absolutely stunning, and you simply cannot understand the experience until you see it for yourself. So go, see it for yourself!

The drive up I-81 from Virginia into Pennsylvania is fairly pretty, as car trips go. The traffic is never too bad, and there are mountains and rivers to admire all the way there and back, but when you’ve made the drive a hundred times or more like I have, even the four or five hour trip can be pretty miserable.

When I was a kid on family trips to visit my aunt in Philadelphia, my parents would break the monotony by stopping for little side trips, mostly educational like Civil War and Revolutionary War battlefields, historic houses, or the occasional detour that made them simultaneously the best parents ever (in my opinion) and the worst parents ever (in the opinions of anyone who had to deal with me afterward) — a trip to Cinnabon for ooey, gooey, goodness — in a box of twelve!

I’m quite a bit more health-conscious now than I was when I was eight, and I’ve seen those battlefields plenty of times now — the stories haven’t changed much in two hundred years, so I’ve grown out of that kind of pit stop. Still, I haven’t grown up enough to handle a multi-hour drive gracefully, so I need something to break up the journey, lest I become an unbearable travel companion.

My solution is live music. McKenzie and I are really into folk music, which is perfect because the venues that host these shows tend to be cozy and usually have tickets available on short notice. We always build some flexibility into our plans in case we find out that one of our favorites will be making a stop somewhere along our path to or from our destination. We’re familiar with lots of concert halls all up and down the east coast, but you don’t have to know the areas to find a good show. Pollstar is a great tool to find a show near where you are or where you will be, and you can search for all your favorite artists at once.

As we were trying to decide on our plans for our return home from this week’s Philadelphia Flower Show, we got an email from the Steep Canyon Rangers saying they’d be in southeastern Pennsylvania for two weekend shows. Perfect! A quick internet search found hotel reservations for us for one night in York, PA, and plans to see tonight’s show and the Sunday matinee in Mt. Holly Springs on the way home. (This is definitely a band worth seeing twice in one weekend.)

I wish I had the experience to recommend the best venues anywhere in the US, but I do know a thing or two about Virginia music halls. The best ones are easily accessible from the major interstates and quite possibly along your route as you travel up and down the east coast. Off I-95 near Richmond is Ashland Coffee & Tea, a venue I’ve heard many artists profess to be their favorite stop on a tour. When the artist loves the venue, you’re sure to get a good show. Off I-64 in Charlottesville is my home away from home, the Gravity Lounge, featuring an extensive beer and wine list to go with all the best acts in the folk world today. And in the DC area, my top picks are Jammin’ Java for intimate shows and Wolf Trap for larger shows (and not just folk music; also a good mix of theater and other music genres).

Not only is live music a fun diversion from a long, boring car ride, but it gives you a much needed burst of energy, and you have the opportunity to pick up some new tunes for the car CD player as well. If you have the flexibility to take a few hours off your drive or add an extra night in a hotel somewhere, stopping for a concert can be the best way to keep from getting road weary.

I am not a flower person. I’m not a girly girl and I have bad allergies, so I generally keep my distance from anything that blooms. But there is one event that is so spectacular that I will brave a runny nose to see up close. The Philadelphia Flower Show is just a few weeks away, and I intend to be there.

The week-long expo is held from March 2-March 9 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philly. My mother dragged me there against my will a few years ago, but as soon as we were there, I didn’t want to leave (despite the sneezing). The exhibits are not just collections of bouquets from local florists — they are larger than life works of art put together with the most beautiful flowers you’ve ever seen. There were colors I didn’t even know existed — not just in flowers but in the whole visible spectrum.

A black tie gala kicks off the festivities on March 1, featuring entertainment by the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra Allstars Quartet. The theme of the show this year is New Orleans itself, and the title will be “Jazz It Up.”

The displays are put together by professional landscapers, horticulturists, florists, clubs, and hobbyists. You can read about this year’s entries here. In addition to the displays, you can enjoy live jazz performances throughout the week and attend gardening lectures. It’s a fantastic excursion for any garden enthusiasts, and the displays and entertainment are enough to captivate even cold-hearted flower haters like myself. It’s also a great place to go for wedding inspiration if you’re planning to tie the knot sometime soon.

If you’ve got tots in tow, you can take a breather in the Family Lounge, where the kids can play and get the ants out of their pants, or just sit down and rest for a while before going back to the big event.

Tickets are available in advance for $22 for adults and $13 for children age 2-16.

There is so much to see and do in New York City that you cannot possibly do it all in one trip. In fact, most of the people who spend their whole lives in the city don’t ever do it all. That’s what makes this place such a great destination for first time visitors and those who’ve been there many times before. It’s also one place you can take a family or group of people with widely varied interests where no one will get bored.

Since you can’t do everything, you should make a list of a few things you’d like to try on your first visit to the Big Apple. For lots of folks, seeing a Broadway show will be high on that list. Broadway plays are unlike any show you’ve probably ever seen. They are big-budget, spectacular productions, usually with lots of music and choreography. Most Broadway shows are quite well-known, and you can probably make a list of at least 5 that you’d like to see without even looking up what’s showing. They’re all good, or they wouldn’t make it on Broadway. It’s hard to go wrong.

But for a more New York experience, I like Off Broadway or Off Off Broadway shows. I feel like the audiences at Broadway shows are almost 100% tourists, while these smaller productions have more of the true local flavor of Manhattan. In fact, my favorite show experience ever was an Off Broadway production called De La Guarda. This is not a play in the traditional sense — there aren’t even seats in the theater — I would describe it as a performance art experience. Before the show begins, the audience walks into a large dark room. There are no windows and no stage, and no one knows what to expect — so I won’t give it away. The performance takes place all around you, and the audience is very much involved in the show, but not at all in the traditional cheesy audience participation sense. It’s never the same show twice, and the only thing more I’ll say about it is that you won’t want to be wearing a skirt.

As far as the Broadway shows are concerned, I’ve seen a wide range of these, from the classics like Phantom of the Opera and Cats to Rent and The Rocky Horror Show, and I’m dying to see Avenue Q the next time I visit. I tend to prefer the quirkier shows, so my favorite of these has been Rocky Horror. With an all-star cast including Joan Jett and Dick Cavett, and more of the fun kind of audience participation, it was a wild and unforgettable night. Sadly, this show ended its run a few years ago, but Rocky Horror wasn’t the only show with great celebrity cast members.

If you liked the movie version of Rent, you’ll recognize many of those cast members on stage, but you’ll have to act quickly — this show ends its Broadway run in June 2008. Lots of popular screen actors make their way to the Broadway stage, and you’re sure to find some of your favorites in these constantly rotating casts, like Molly Ringwald, the 80’s teen sensation who has seen a career revival on the stage.

You can purchase tickets in advance for the show of your choice online or by telephone with the production’s box office, but if you’re flexible, I recommend the TKTS booths in Manhattan at Times Square and South Street Seaport. These booths sell day-of tickets (or day-before tickets for matinees at the South Street Seaport location) at deep discounts. There’s no availability guarantee, so you’ll have to have a plan B lined up in case the show you want is sold out, but with everything showing on any given day, you’ll surely find something good. Don’t be scared off by the long lines you’ll find at these booths. They move quickly, and there are usually street performers providing entertainment as you wait in line.

Seeing a Broadway show is a theater experience like no other, and definitely something you should try to do next time you’re in Manhattan. All of the shows I’ve seen have been spectacular, but there are far many more that I haven’t seen, so of course I can’t say which is the best. If you have a favorite show, comment and let us know about it.

What do you call two days of rain in Oregon?

A weekend.

I got that one from a local in Portland who then assured me that it doesn’t always rain in Oregon.  Sometimes it snows.  Nevertheless, I still say it’s beautiful here and there are lots of things worth getting a bit wet for.

When you come to Oregon from far away, the only easy way to get here is through the Portland International Airport, which has a lot of tourist appeal itself.  With art and unique architecture filling every part of the building, it’s certainly the most interesting airport I’ve ever seen. 

Once you’ve landed, you won’t need a car to experience Portland.  The city has a great public transit system that runs on biofuels.  Take the light rail or a streetcar to the hotel of your choice, and then plan to take in the rest of your vacation on foot.  The mostly flat geography and the numbered streets make the city very pedestrian friendly.  Just be sure you have a good raincoat, and don’t bother blow drying your hair.

The first place I visited in Portland was Powell’s Books.  All the locals told me I had to check it out, that I’d never seen anything like it.  Well, I have seen something like it, but I admit you don’t come by a bookstore like this just any day.  Powell’s is a three-story sprawling mammoth of a new & used bookstore, and they claim to have everything.  They didn’t have the two titles I was looking for, so no, they don’t have everything, but if I had been in the market for something a little less Virginia-regional-history, I probably would have found it at Powell’s, so I won’t let that sour my impressions of the place.  It’s great.  Go there when you go to Portland.

Aside from the rain, I can’t think of a good reason why you would possibly want a car in Portland.  As you walk the streets of the city, you’ll find some of the friendliest locals in America, a plethora of cafes and pubs at which to rest your walking legs, and best of all, the Horse Project. 

The sidewalks of Portland date back to the nineteenth century, and hundreds of iron horse rings remain from days when folks used to park their horses instead of their cars.  A local artist started the Horse Project as a way to get people to take notice of this piece of history by securing tiny plastic horses to the rings all over the city.  They’re not so numerous that they’re obvious — you still have to look for them — but there are enough of them that pedestrians who keep their eyes peeled will surely spot a few of them.

As a big city, much larger even than Oregon’s capital city of Salem, Portland has plenty of things to see and do, from professional sports and museums to fancy restaurants and nightclubs, but it’s Portland’s beer that separates the city from other metropolitan centers. 

You can’t walk two blocks in Portland without passing a pub, most of which are independent and many of which offer unique microbrews.  The local king of beer is McMenamins, which also makes its own wines and distills its own liquors, but the locals I met directed me to Hedge House, a pub that is literally a house, right in the middle of a residential area, which serves New Old Lompoc brews and some of the tastiest pub fare I’ve ever had.

With everything to see and do (and eat and drink!) in Portland, it’s a great city to visit for a few days.  But when you’ve had enough of the big city, it’s only a short trip to one of Oregon’s many natural wonders.  Wherever you’re headed in Oregon, though, don’t just fly into the airport and skip town immediately.  Portland is definitely worth some of your travel time.