Skip to main content

Activity Review: Portland Walking Tour

Revised 4/2021

Dear Polite Traveler,

My husband and I chose to spend a few days in this land of weird—our first visit and decidedly, not our last.  We began our first day with a city tour.  In this tour, our guide Kat taught us quite a bit about Portland’s history and the city’s values, such as environmental sustainability plans and publicly-funded art.  I wholeheartedly recommend a city tour, as it gives the tourist a better understanding of the city.  (Please read my post on Portland)


During this tour, we found that Portland has a deep devotion to renovating downtown historical buildings.  Many of the older buildings have a European flair, in fact, much of the city does.  The city founders were straight from various European countries, so it makes perfect sense.  We also learned about Portland’s, er... most interesting mayor: former pub owner Bud Clark (in office 1985-1992).

Note: Follow CDC and county guidelines when visiting.  Always wear your face mask when in public.   Also, during the pandemic, some amenities may not be available.  Please remember, this is only temporary.

Copyrighted poster of Expose Yourself to Art

Copyrighted poster is available through Amazon 

Not long before becoming mayor, he began the “Expose Yourself to Art” movement in Portland with a poster of him posing as a “flasher” opening his raincoat and “exposing” himself to statue of a naked lady—a bronze statue named Kvinneakt by Norman J. Taylor.  He also created the 12-Point Homeless Plan, grew mass transit and many other large projects, all with a limited budget due to the previous mayor nearly bankrupting the city.  In fact, he grew the city’s till from a couple thousand dollars to $20 million in reserves at the end of his term. 

One of the many stories Kat shared sticks with me, not just because it was a tiny slice of interesting history, but because it was downright hilarious—at least to me. 

In the early day of Portland, the disparity between men and women grew as quickly as the city grew.  Women were sorely outnumbered.   As such, the city proclaimed a lovely park as “Women Only”.  Great idea, huh?  Perhaps.  Except that this park was directly across the street from a “male-only” jail. 

Just imagine scads of hungover men being released early each morning from an overnight stay with all those women just out of reach across the street, it must have been quite a contrast. Due to my odd sense of humor, this story caused me to laugh so much our entire tour group stared in my direction.  I suppose they didn’t get the irony.  

Please share your experiences!

Please Read 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa Review

Art, Excellent Service & Penguins...Oh My My Dear Polite Travelers, Maui has experienced some horrific natural disasters, including a devastating fire and, more recently, torrential rain that caused severe flooding.  However, none of that was visible during my last visit.  The Hyatt Regency Maui Resort is a huge, richly landscaped, multi-building beauty.  It includes a 40-acre oceanfront lagoon and a waterslide into a children’s splashpad.  However, I saw many more adults enjoying the splashpad than children.  It did look inviting.   Directly adjacent to the lobby is a penguin den.  Guests are invited to watch a daily penguin presentation.  I enjoyed watching them play.  They are quite adorable.     Dining & Shopping In the main building, you’ll find multiple shops, including a gallery filled with unique and quite excellent art.  My favorite shop was actually Honolulu Coffee .  As a family-owned,...
1 comment
Read more

A Few Days in Palm Springs

Palm Springs Activities Hello, my Polite Travelers, As an older couple, we often just want to relax and enjoy our favorite places at a leisurely pace. This was the case during our recent revisit to Palm Springs. For the most part, we explored downtown, stopping for coffee and chatting with the locals. Additionally, we embarked on a few other excellent adventures. Agua Caliente Cultural Museum As a Smithsonian Affiliate, I found this museum to be outstanding.  This museum is a mixture of immersive video, sound, and visuals (including lifelike exhibits) to tell the story of America’s rich—and many times heart-wrenching—indigenous story.  The permanent gallery begins with the 360-degree immersive video of the Agua Caliente “Creation & Migration” story.  The quality of their digital animation and sound is impressive—there’s even a screen on the floor.  I found their creation story to be fascinating. Don’t Miss! For the Love of Art! Don’t Miss The Palm Springs Art M...
Post a Comment
Read more

Did that really happen at this Hampton Inn?

Hampton Inn & Suites Palm Desert, CA—Hotel & Room #330 Review Hello, my Polite Travelers. We are now in sunny Palm Desert, and it is a grand place.  Everything looks clean and new.  Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the Hampton Inn.  It pains me to say it, but this hotel needs some love…and perhaps a good handyman.  Our room is an accessible room for hubby.  On first glance, it’s adequate, with space between furniture and grab bars in the bathroom.  That’s only the first glance.   Blink once more, and there are a few issues for both the mobile and mobility-challenged .  First, although the bathroom features plenty of grab bars, the toilet is too low, and accessible toilets require taller seats.   The shampoo bar is too high, and there’s no pull-down seat in the tub.  Those in wheelchairs would require a different room, and most mobility-challenged people can’t reach up to access the shampoo bar.   ...
Post a Comment
Read more