This might be one of the cutest shops in all of Portland for food lovers, but especially salt…read moreenthusiasts. There is an entire wall of salt, featuring every flavor you can imagine. They even have a salt for making tofu taste like scrambled eggs! Along with the amazing salt selection, they also have more craft chocolates than I have ever seen in one place before, including a selection of truffles that even features vegan options! If salt or chocolate aren't your thing, then enjoy a whole section of bitters and mixers that are a home mixologists dream. All in all, this is the sort of store that you head to whenever you need a gift because you'll be able to find something here for everyone. The service is always warm, welcoming, and friendly with fresh samples of popcorn featuring their famous truffle salt available any time I've visited. I cannot recommend you pop by for a visit strongly enough.

I stumbled upon this shop while window shopping as a tourist in the neighborhood, and I'm so glad I…read moredecided to walk in. The store was full of cute and unique items, and it had such a fun, lively atmosphere. One thing that immediately stood out was how happy the employees seemed. They were singing, chatting, and genuinely looked like they enjoyed working there, which made the whole experience even more enjoyable. I also loved that they had four different popcorn flavors available to sample. They were all so unique and made it hard to pick a favorite. The chocolate selection was even more impressive, they had a huge variety of chocolate bars from both local and international makers, and I honestly had no idea what to choose. Thankfully, one of the staff members was more than happy to help and recommended the cinnamon chipotle chocolate bar, which ended up being such a fun and interesting combination. My favorite discovery, though, was the little chocolates by the checkout counter. They were almost too cute to eat! I picked up the raspberry chocolate, and I have to say it was one of the most unique and delicious pieces of chocolate I've ever had. Even if you don't plan on buying anything, I'd still recommend stopping in. It's such a fun store to browse, and I loved every minute of being there.

If you are looking for a unique experience in Portland, you should definitely visit this museum! It…read morewas in a middle of a residential area, as it was inside a residential house structure. From the moment you step inside, you are surrounded by interesting items that catches your attention. The first floor is more like a workshop with few things you can purchase, like really cool looking postcards. The second floor is where you will gasp over and over again. Every inch of the space was filled with oddities and curiosities. It was honestly so memorable and fun in so many ways. The gentleman owner (and creator) of the museum was very welcoming and friendly. We had such interesting time in this museum!

Oddities galore, a very unique museum! It is inside a house on two floors, but I stayed in there…read morefor almost an hour because it was so different from any museum I've ever been to! Some of the displays made me cringe lol (see photo I posted of a skeleton with two heads in a glass dome from artist Kiyomi Hessling). There were other skeletons by her, hair-raising...

Peacock Lane reminded me why the holidays used to feel magical…read more The last few years have been weary since COVID, and it's easy to forget what community actually feels like. Walking Peacock Lane this season brought that feeling rushing back. Neighbors, families, couples, kids, all moving slowly side by side, bundled up, sharing space, sharing smiles, sharing the moment. House after house was lit beautifully, each one with its own personality. My favorite this year was the Home Alone house, playful, nostalgic, and impossible not to smile at. But what made the night truly special was hearing live music from neighbors, joining in caroling with complete strangers, watching families take photos in front of glowing homes, and realizing how rare and meaningful that kind of togetherness feels now. Peacock Lane is a reminder of what the season is supposed to be about. I left feeling happier and genuinely grateful. If you need a reason to believe in the holiday spirit again, this is it.

Night one for the pedestrian-only walk this year was packed with carolers and visitors (as…read moreexpected) but Peaceful for us- year 3! Although we drove around looking for parking for some time we eventually found one. We wore light up gear but husband still couldn't find us when we happened to split up lol We noticed there's a school lot a couple blocks away charging $10/car. Good to now for next time. Thanks to this Starkwood neighborhood for keeping the holiday spirit going, since 1932!?!

On the Eastside Esplanade by the river is this lovely, large ship. This reminds me of one of the…read moreships from a child's story book in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe series by C. S. Lewis. Very unique. This is just north of the Morrison bridge on the walking/ running/ bike path on the East Bank of the Willamette. It is one of the highlights of the walk, in my opinion.

This is one of the better neighborhoods to explore, well at least in Portland. Lots of small shops…read moreand restaurants. And of course the Bagdad theater. One of the things I like is that, at least so far, there arn't many big chain stores. It has a reputation as home to Portland's hippie population. It does but there are a lot of great businesses here.

Man, is this about a halo effect or what? Look at all these 5s, meaning "as good as it gets." Is…read morethe major street, Hawthorne Boulevard, and its side streets, running through a trendy, counterculture, and hip close-in neighborhood really "as good as it gets?" I will admit that, coming from Los Angeles, the very name Hawthorne makes for a knee jerk reaction toward the negative. In SoCal, there is also a Hawthorne Boulevard. However, it is very different. That Hawthorne begins near the airport and works its way down through Hawthorne, Lawndale, an actually banal dogleg of Redondo Beach, Torrance, and then up into Palos Verdes. Only the southernmost reaches of that wide boulevard, when in South Torrance and Palos Verdes, are nice. North of there, it is strip mall hell and blight. Even an indoor mall named Hawthorne Plaza in the city of Hawthorne didn't thrive and was abandoned. Visit YouTube. Now, I'm not that narrow minded about the Hawthorne label since there are Hawthornes everywhere, being that it's a name like Springfield and Bloomington. There's a Hawthorne in New Jersey, for example, which is a ho hum town west of and across the Hudson River from Manhattan. However, Portland's Hawthorne neighborhood causes some people's eyes to widen, almost if they're sweeping the pros and cons under the rug, because they're in love! Basically, it's a little hub of culture and, in this case, culture means indie restaurants, diners, coffeehouses, brewpubs, doughnut stores, book stores, thrift stores, and the like. To me, culture would imply museums, theater, art galleries, and, yes, some, but not as many, of the things listed above. The main landmarks are the Bagdad Theater, a branch of Powell's bookstore, Blue Star Doughnuts, eateries like Bread and Ink, and similar venues. But there are really two Hawthorne neighborhoods ... one west of 39th, and one east of 39th. The aforementioned businesses are west of 39th. The only corporate venue is the Fred Meyer store there, on the very corner of 39th. (Good luck finding a parking spot there.) East of 39th, it's quieter and less hyped while still containing indie eateries, bars, and coffeehouses. Not only that, that part of Hawthorne sort of melds with the Mount Tabor area, which is topographically interesting. Hawthorne is in demand and thus priced accordingly. Most of the housing stock is older and newer housing is either infill homes or boxy and trendy San Francisco type new condos like the ones you will find going up on the Eastbank and in the Alphabet District. Another thing about Hawthorne is that it might be cool, but it's not very diverse. If diversity means guys with beards and stocking caps and women who look like Carole King as she did on the cover of "Tapestry," then it's diverse alright. But almost everyone you will see partaking in its offerings is white, young, educated, and progressive, though they can run the gamut from being put together to being frumpy. And there sure are a lot of Subarus ... a lot of them! And it's hard to find a parking spot for that Subaru or whatever type of sled you may have. And you can even still "feel the Bern." In my mind, diversity would mean that enough different types of people and points of view are represented. That's not the case here. I need to cool my jets. However, an in-flight magazine that once featured an article on the City of Roses corroborated the hip and cool enclaves in Portland, showcasing three of them: Hawthorne, Multnomah Village, and NAAD (North Alberta Arts District), so I'm not off base here. To sum it up, I am giving Hawthorne 2 stars: 1 for existing and housing some of Portland's residents and 1 for how conveniently located it is to downtown and not being too distant from the freeways. Stars are missing because of (1) the prices, (2) not enough (of what I think is) culture along with a somewhat ample supply of "groupthink," and (3) the aloof and even surly service and attitude that you may encounter in many of the places you might step into because they seem to believe they have a captive audience. Of these hip and cool villages, I'd go with 3 stars for Multnomah Village on the West Side for being near the ethnic diversity surrounding PCC, lacking a rigid gridded street pattern, and having more topography and trees, 2 stars for the Hawthorne neighborhood, and 1 star for the NAAD, as in "not my cup of tea" ... at all. O.k., I'm done being an ass.

I heard about the grand opening of a funky new event space and I thought I'd check it out. For…read morethose of you who grew up in Portland and remember the super fun and eclectic spaces like Big Bang Warehouse, Church Of Elvis, X-Ray Cafe and The City, this place has a similar vibe and will be sure to bring back lots of memories. The owner (appropriately named Strawberrypickle) has created wacky museum and selfie paradise, complete with giant dinosaurs, unicorns and glow-in-the-dark themed rooms. The space is used as a concert, wedding and event venue at night. I attended a prIvate party tonight and was blown away by the brightly colored walls, the glow-in-the-dark displays, the lighting special effects and bubbles! Rainbow City brings out the inner child in everyone! It looks like the space has a lot of events planned throughout the month. Everything from cosmic dance parties and drum circles, to craft shows. I definitely recommend checking out their calendar of events and stopping by to see the venue for yourself.

This is a pretty great open event space. The staff are pretty friendly. The bartender was great and…read morevery helpful plus a healthy pour is welcome though I did long for more than two vodka choices since it was well vodka or Grey Goose and I don't want either - just a middle road is ideal. I was glad a friend later said I am not alone is loathing Grey Goose and a lot of the supposedly higher shelf vodka's - weird after taste for those of us who actually like tasting our alcohol but a nice mid ground too. Also, I hear the upstairs is neat too but alas, that is a long stair way up - like a lot of the older buildings in Portland, those of us who are not able bodied and have yet to master levitation cannot do it. I had a great time at the Meow Mixer last week an look forward to more events in this space though!

I learned about this museum from an article I read and had this placed bookmarked for ever. It's…read moredefinitely worth a visit. Their collection of vacuums is really quite stunning. I asked and most of them have been acquired through donation. I found the history of vacuums really interesting. It was remarkable to see how the very first vacuum is still reflected in our current vacuum use, the Bissell. Visiting this museum is also free so absolutely no reason to pay them a visit. **NOTE: if you try to find this place on google it will try to take you to NE19th street. This is incorrect and the address on Grand is the correct one. Instead of typing into your gps Stark's vacuum museum, just type in Starks vacuums.

No longer here but, as it turns out, a better use of the space than a disco Instagram bakery…read moreflorist that was only open about half the time. This room simply held old vacuums and lasted about five times as long as the shop that followed. It required a base level of Portland knowledge to know why the city valued weird old vacuums it could stare at for free over $17 bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches it was asked to stand in line for.

Drive by Colonel Summers park on Belmont on the right day or a few other select Portland spots…read morewhere hipsters are likely to converge in the pursuit of alternative leisure and you'll catch a glimpse of America's newest and most insane sport--Bicycle Jousting. Mostly driven by riders of tall bikes (think someone who has welded an extra bike frame on top of their already tall bike) the bike jousts run like what you would imagine bike jousts to be. Two guys hurtling at each other carrying long poles usually with something soft on the end--a pillow or stuffed animal. What's especially interesting is that unlike their Medieval predecessors, these jousters aren't competing for territorial dominance but rather just for the fun of it. I'm sure that Bike Jousting is sweeping the nation but I like to think of it as being particularly Portland. And just a little bit crazy.

We keep coming back, and here is why: there are few restaurants that invoke the sort of on going…read moreconversation that Ava Genes does. Well after our latest meal, we're still talking about it. The service, the meal, the experience. That's why we keep coming back!

We just moved in a few blocks away and really wanted to like this place but it's just off on too…read moremany things that make a spot THE spot. First try, we walked in at 10:04 on a Friday night and were happily (Disney villain like) turned away by the hostess. It says on the outside they close at 11 and we saw quite a few tables who were just sat and hadn't ordered yet but she said last seating is at 10. If I were the owner I'd be mad bc the food isn't cheap so having a gatekeeper turn away $100++ over being 4 minutes too late is wild. We finally got to try it and it was a big letdown. We did a walk in and were only given the option to sit at the bar or outside. Outside tables can't be pushed together so if there's more than 2 people you sit adjacent to each other. We sat at the bar and were mostly ignored. My water glass stayed empty (had to ask for a refill). Beyond the lackluster service, the food wasn't good either. The meatball appetizer was the saddest, tiniest 3 meatballs for $16. If they tasted great, I'd be ok with the price but they had a watery flavorless tomato sauce and they were tiny and tasted like vinegar. I've never had vinegar meatballs so I'm not sure if this is normal? We also tried 3 different pastas. The spaghetti dish tasted like what I imagine a children's menu butter noodles at an Olive Garden might taste like. It was literally butter on noodles with a hint of lemon. For almost $30. The farfalle with lamb was salty and the noodles were overly Al dente. I appreciate Al dente noodles but not when it's hard in the middle of the bow tie. Our friend got the tagliatelle and it was bland. Not much veggies. My husband was still hungry after eating his whole plate of spaghetti so he finished our friend's tagliatelle and a quarter of my farfalle. It shouldn't take 2+ plates of pasta and an appetizer to fill someone up. I ended up making food when I got home about 2 hours later bc I was still hungry. On top of it all, 20% gratuity is included so I don't think the servers are trying like they would if they had to earn their tips. Overall, one of the biggest letdowns in SE so far. If you want to pay a lot of money to be ignored and leave hungry, you will love it here.

Great spot to get a photo and have a donut as across the street from Vodoo Donuts. There is also…read moreone of the world famous painted Portland Crows.

I tried to avoid coming to "Keep Portland Weird" because I'd heard it is overrated since it's just…read morea wall in a parking lot, but honestly, I just couldn't resist not checking it out. FOMO, here :) It's basically just that phrase (haha) on its own without any fancy graphics, but I wanted to share my reviews and be part of the Yelp community. So, I added a little twist by including a collage of interesting trash bins. I guess this is one way to keep Portland clean, too. I have never seen so many trash cans throughout the city. Hahahah :)) Classic tourist trap move, but honestly, you cannot be in Portland without acknowledging this area.