City of Roses

Call It What You Will

So many nicknames, how could one ever choose? For this blog titles’ sake, I love the sound of “City of Roses,” but when I talk about beloved Portland, Oregon in nickname form, I almost always use “PDX.” And if we’re using the flower slang, then I say “Rose City” over “City of Roses,” (although both are an option). On some other, rarer occasions, I’ll go with “Bridgetown.” But those are just my personal top picks of the many endearing names Portland has acquired.

So this is a little appreciation post for good ol’ Stumptown… did I not mention that one before?

I lived in PDX from July 2016 to July 2017. By the end of my stay, I was anxious to get back to LA, (where I lived from 2014-2016), and back into the film industry. I initially left because wanted a change of scenery, a change of people, and a blank slate to focus on my solo creativity. Portland was the perfect place for that. But I was still in the Hollywood headspace for much of my time there, and by the following summer I was ready to return to the City of Angels… That is not what happened, but that’s a story for another time.

Ever since leaving Portland, I’ve wanted to go back. I recently read back through a handwritten journal I keep which had entries from my stay in Portland. My thoughts then are mostly the same as they are now, except for the obvious fact that I was anxious to get back to LA (regardless of the positives I was experiencing in Portland). But the wonderful parts are just as tempting as ever.

• 

• 

• 

Lay of the Land

Portland is split down the middle by the Willamette River. That’s will-AM-it for those taking notes. There are several places/names in PDX that have unexpected pronunciations like that. The river runs south to north separating the east and west sides of Portland. Downtown is located on the west side.

Most Portlanders refer to the city by their five quadrants. Yes, you heard that right. It defies math. And logic. But that’s how they phrase and they’re sticking to it and so am I. At the very least, we refer to the main four: NW, NE, SW, SE. The last quadrant is North Portland, up at the top and for some reason I feel like that part barely counts, which is entirely unfair, I know. I lived in Northwest, in the alphabet district, or Nob Hill. Each quadrant has several of it’s own little districts with their own unique styles and personalities–an amusing little characteristic of Portland.

I did lots of research before moving and I definitely picked the right area for me. I was close to cafes and little shops with pretty lights decorating the streets, as well as within walking distance of an amazing hiking spot that I visited on a nearly-daily basis. I really didn’t explore the city (or the state) as much as I should have, but there are so many little places and memories I constantly reminisce about, some of them slightly outside of Portland, as well. I’ll take you through a few lest this post go on for days.

Good Coffee

I visited the Richmond location several times, although I wish it had been more often. I didn’t cross the river nearly as often as I should have, but there were also delicious coffee spots close to me and I didn’t come close to trying all of them! Good Coffee always had unique combinations and delicious, rich roasts, and I wish I could get my hands on a cup like that now! Since the last time I visited Good Coffee, they’ve added at least two new locations in. There’s a fourth as well, but I’m not sure if it existed when I lived there or if it came about later. Either way, Good Coffee is undoubtedly pretty great to have expanded like that in just a few years. And at least I know that if I ever move back to Northwest, I can easily get over to their Slabtown location! Tempting as ever!

Multnomah Falls

• 

• 

Talk about an Oregon classic. I feel like there are a handful of places people always tell you to visit if you’re traveling to the Portland area. Multnomah Falls is certainly one of them. It’s located about 30 miles due east of Portland and what. a. stunner. The drive itself is actually quite lovely despite it being mainly highway. You travel along the Columbia River Gorge. Mountains scale along the edges and everything is green and blue as far as the eye can see. Even better, if you’re willing to take the time, is the Historic Columbia River Highway Scenic Byway that weaves through the edge of the mountains while moss walls and tree canopies guide you onward.

The air is always cooler near the falls and the mist makes the forest shine with life. There are also several other falls in the same area including Horsetail Falls and Wahkeena Falls. And, as standard Oregon nature demands, there are tons of hiking trails.

The entire experience is unforgettable. Just a few moments at Multnomah Falls and you will feel different. There is a wonderful refreshing magic that happens here and an unexplainable feeling of singularity despite the tourists and hikers. The sounds of aw and chatter are cushioned by the roar of the falls and everything blends into one. There’s a lovely parallel between snowflakes and waterfalls. No two are identical, making every waterfall a unique experience and a new little magic.

International Rose Test Garden

Put a Rose (me) in a rose garden and she’ll be right at home.

I am truly at home with the flowers. And oh my goodness does the International Rose Test Garden have some serious flowers. The roses begin blooming around May and are in full bloom by June, with many continuing to bloom into early fall. There are 10,000+ rose bushes with around 650 different varieties of roses. It’s hard to imagine that there are even that many kinds of roses to begin with!

The garden is a rainbow of color and history. Portland has been wild for roses for years before the test garden came to be, but since its initiation in ~1917, the Int’l Rose Test Garden has been a staple of the city and beyond. The garden was created as rose lovers, experts, and hybridists feared that the WWI bombings in Europe would destroy much of the flora there. Roses were sent to Portland from Europe throughout the late 1910s & into the 1920s, culminating in what would become the unparalleled International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park.

• 

• 

• 

What a gift for the eye and the nose as fruity to floral perfumes drift through the air. With so many varieties, there is always something new to see regardless of how many times you return throughout the season. What I wouldn’t give to be a little sprite running beneath the rose bushes as if they were a rainbow forest.

Salt & Straw

It’s a dangerous thing to be just a couple blocks walking distance from one of the best ice cream shops ever. But goodness knows I was glad to be there. There are always wild combinations, new monthly/seasonal flavors, and vegan options. Although I question some of their crazier flavors, I do appreciate the fact that they are sourcing their seasonal ingredients locally, whether it’s berries or coffee beans or otherwise. Salt & Straw was one of the first places I tried when I moved to Portland, before I even had an apartment locked down! I sat in the car with my dad, delighting in their Bourbon Coffee flavor and the thought makes me smile.

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm

One of my absolute favorite memories of living in Portland doesn’t actually take place in the city, but 30 miles south in Woodburn, OR at the annual Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival. The festival runs for about a month in the late spring and people come from all over to wander through the tulips. It’s honestly like being on another planet. A rainbow-dipped planet. A true fantasyland as long as you don’t slip in the wet mud that is. (I highly recommend wearing old boots or something with grip for this trip.)

• 

• 

On my visit, a massive storm was brewing in the distance, creating an intense contrast between delicate tulip and violent storm. The tulips are surprisingly resistant, though. Even this year with a late snowfall, the tulips were unaffected. Resilience in the loveliest of ways. And a good reminder for the odd times we’re currently living in. For now, I’ll keep dreaming of petal-strewn fields and floral perfumes until I can return.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Pittock Mansion

I love a house with history and Pittock mansion is full to the brim. Henry Pittock came from London, England, and grew up in Pittsburgh, PA before heading west to Portland [at age 19] where he would eventually meet his wife, Georgiana, and they would remain the rest of their lives. Henry worked for The Oregonian, (a newspaper that is still in existence today), and eventually took it over entirely. It is always fascinating when something as simple as a newspaper can stand the tests of time. For 170 years The Oregonian has been in existence and printing daily for nearly 160 of those years. I love writing–the act and the result. And this bit of history in itself give writing a story of it’s own. Like a time traveler who has molded itself to fit each era and never lose itself in the present.

In 1912, years after Henry Pittock took over the paper, construction of his home, Pittock Mansion, began. The mansion still sits on the top of a hill in King’s Heights and looks out over the entire city of Portland with Mt. Hood off in the distance. It is covered with windows so that nearly every one has a different view of the city. There are flowers all over the grounds which, of course, include roses as Georgiana was an avid gardener and founding member of the Portland Rose Society. Whether it’s the house or the gardens, or the cityscape views, the grounds at Pittock Mansion are a breathtaking sight.

• 

• 

• 

Henry and Georgiana only lived at Pittock Mansion for about four years before she died in 1918 at the age of 72, and he in 1919 at the age of 84. Other members of the Pittock family lived at the mansion until 1958 when it was put up for sale. In 1964, the city of Portland purchased the estate and it has been open to the public since 1965.

A beautiful bit of history and glamour, Pittock Mansion is not to be missed.

1