Oregon: Portland

I wish we had a longer trip so that we could have done more in Portland, which is one of the coolest cities in the US. There are so many breweries, great restaurants and funky shops there. We stayed in a little place by Hawthorne Street and spent a good chunk of our time there (mostly at the Back Stage Bar at the Bagdad Theater). I had this one song stuck in my head while we were there....



Portland was founded way back in 1845, back when this was near the end of the Oregon Trail. It has since grown into the second largest city in the Pacific Northwest. We did head into downtown Portland one afternoon and walked around some. We passed by Pioneer Square, which has this view of the Pioneer Courthouse. The courthouse was built between 1869 and 1903 and is the second oldest federal building west of the Mississippi River and the oldest in the Pacific Northwest.



I dodged people on the sidewalk and tried to get a shot of the trees and buildings that line the square.



Next to the courthouse were fountains which were adorned with statues of local wildlife. Here are some frolicking otters enjoying the dry fountains.



One night we stopped at one of the most iconic places in downtown Portland - the White Stag sign. The massive sign was first built in 1940 and greets people crossing over the river on the Burnside Bridge. It's such a neat thing to have downtown that I wish Little Rock could copy it and make our own version (if I won the lottery or was an eccentric millionaire I would totally build one and donate it to the city).