Wanderlust: The Requisite Vacation Snaps

We're back home and a bit comatose from the 650-mile drive back from Portland yesterday. I've been spending the morning going through our vacation snaps, and thought I'd share a few. (I didn't take a ton of PDX shopping pix this time around because, well, I've done plenty of that before. Plus, something about dragging along two bickering, sulky kids made me a little shy about introducing myself to shop owners and asking permission to take photos -- go figure.)

Far Northern California's Mount Shasta, as seen from a moving car.

We stopped over at the Rail Road Park Resort outside the quaint mountain town of Dunsmuir, California, where a group of real train cabooses have been turned into a motel. Our room had the most uncomfortable beds we've ever slept on, but the setting was gorgeous and the kids seemed to enjoy the novelty of it.

Laurel begged us to take her camping on our next trip. This girl loves the great outdoors. (Honestly, I don't know how she wound up in our family of avowed non-campers ... )

Soon after hitting Portland, we went for dinner at Cava. Art from hometown boy Evan B. Harris adorns one wall, and I'm pretty sure the handpainted details on another wall are by local artist Amy Ruppel, who owns Cava along with her husband, Randy Montgomery. (It's an absolutely lovely restaurant, but the location -- a few doors down from a strip karaoke joint and an auto body shop in a relatively desolate part of town -- is a bit random.)

Locals cool off in the fountain at Jamison Square in the Pearl District.

Don't even think about trying to hop this fence at Pistils Nursery.

Cool metal shingles at the offices of Our United Villages on North Portland's Mississippi Avenue.

Thrifting at House of Vintage on Hawthorne.

Clowning around at the Ace Hotel.

Art by Ryan Bubnis and Ryan Jacob Smith at Fifty24PDX.

Hokey as it was, the pirate-themed 3D mini-golf at Glowing Greens was a huge hit with a certain 13-year-old I know. (Thanks to Jewelie at the lovely Flora for the tip!)

Simple Scandinavian goodness at Clinton Street's Broder. (If you go, you must try the Danish pancakes!)

Somehow, this Bettie Ford seems like a lot more fun than the other one ...

Our house-swap partners have a beautiful collection of vintage Bauer and other pottery. (By the way, the house swap worked out great. The worst part was simply trying to get our own home spic and span before we left. But we were overdue for a deep cleaning, anyway.)

Austin checks out the action at Burnside Skate Park, the setting for Gus Van Sant's recent film, Paranoid Park.

The Hollywood Farmer's Market, where we picked up delectable artisan cheeses, bread, juicy cherries, and fresh pasta and pesto sauce for dinner one night.

The movie theater at the Kennedy School. (The couches here looked way more luxe than the IKEA specials at my beloved Parkway in Oakland ... Plus, microbrew!)

Hot dog.

Go, Beavers!

Oaks Park was a fun respite for the kids from all of the tedious shopping, museums, art galleries, and cafe-sitting we forced upon them. (Repeat after me: "Yes, I am the boss of you ... Why do I get to decide what we're doing today? Because I am The Decider ... " Uh-huh -- just go ahead and renew your birth-control prescription right now.)

Alas, time to go home. Nick took to Portland almost as quickly as I had on my first visit there, and even the kids seemed to think it was OK. It'll be interesting to see if they continue to howl in protest every time I joke about moving north ...

Anyway, bye for now, Portland. I like you -- I really, really like you.

(P.S. Thanks so much for your patience with my light posting during our trip. I'll be back on a normal posting schedule next week. Have a lovely weekend!)

Wanderlust: Arty Portland

I think there must be something in Portland's water. What other explanation could there possibly be for the fact that so many artists whose work I really like happen to live there? Just off the top of my head, there's Amy Ruppel, Jill Bliss, Evan Harris, Hadley Hutton, Trish Grantham, Heather Amuny-Dey, Joe Futschik ...

Needless to say, experiencing a bit of Portland's hopping homegrown art scene was high on my agenda during my most recent visit. But -- aaack! -- there was so much to see, and relatively little free time in which to do it. Still, in addition to checking out some of the amazing murals at the Ace Hotel (blogged here), I did manage to swing by a few art spaces during my whirlwind jaunt through the city.

I arrived in town just in time for the Pearl District's monthly First Thursday Gallery Walk. Much of the art showing in the galleries I hit that evening wasn't exactly to my taste -- it was pretty polished and very high-end, with a few pieces costing more than the down payment for our house. But I was intrigued by some of the work from artists such as Susan Seubert and Mia Nolting, up through the end of March at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, above.

Over on edgier East Burnside a couple of days later, I popped in to Grass Hut to check out the Balls Out! show. The exhibit features contributions by more than 50 artists (many of them local), and I was blown away by the awesomeness on display. Some of the work is reasonably affordable, too, starting at $80 (though a few pieces are priced at more than $1,000).

Pieces by Dave the Chimp, Apak, Jill Bliss, Oliver Hibert, and Jeff Soto, among others.

Paintings and collage by Chris Ryniak, Lisa DeJohn, Colin Johnson, and others.

Tough Case #4, by Meredith Hamm.

Work by Arbito, Maija Fiebig, Bwana Spoons, Cupco, Kristin Cammermeyer, and others.

Balls Out! will be up in the Grass Hut Gallery through March 31. Available work from the show can be purchased here.

Two doors down from Grass Hut is Redux, a little shop where Portland native (and San Francisco transplant) Lisa Congdon was showing a collection of collage work called Little Souvenirs. (By pure chance, I actually saw Ms. Congdon at the Portland airport the afternoon I flew in, and went over to say hello. I'm pretty sure she thought I was a stalker. Anyway -- Lisa, fabulous as you are, I promise I don't like you in that way.)

Little Souvenirs will be up at Redux through the end of March.

This painting by Rachel Ann Austin (whose work I also saw at Portland's Crafty Wonderland) was on display at Flutter, in North Portland's charming Mississippi area.

A large fiber collage made from recycled sweaters by Portland's Woolie Originals (aka Jenna Robertson), at downtown's Flora boutique.

And -- arrrgh!!! -- here are three shows I wish I'd known about while I was still in town: Locks of Lore, a collaboration between artists Evan B. Harris (who I am stalking) and his girlfriend Sarah Jane, at the Grassy Knoll Gallery in Old Town Portland. It'll be up through May, and works from the show are available for purchase in the Grassy Knoll online shop. Prices start at $195.

At the Together Gallery, in the upstart Alberta Arts District, Ryan Jacob Smith and Mark Warren Jacques' Influence of Matter will be open through the end of March. Check it out here. Prices for original works start at just $50.

And at Compound Gallery in northwest Portland, Alice: Art from the Rabbit Hole features Alice in Wonderland-inspired work by more than three dozen cutting-edge artists, including Ina Takayuki, below left, and Yagi Tomoko, below right. The show will be up through March 30, and prices start at $30.

On the art agenda for my next visit to PDX: First Friday in the hipster/industrial LoBu neighborhood just across the Willamette from downtown, and Last Thursday in Alberta Arts. I hear that -- unlike the established (and often super-pricey) galleries in the Pearl -- these are the places to catch one of Portland's many rising art stars.

Wanderlust: A Tale of Two Portland Hotels

In just about every way, the Ace Hotel and the Monaco Hotel -- only a handful of blocks apart in Portland, Oregon's compact, easily walkable downtown -- couldn't be more different. One is spare, almost utilitarian; the other is opulent. One is modern; the other hearkens back to a different, more glamorous age. One is industrial chic; the other over-the-top elegant. One caters to the young, hip, and creative; the other, to the sophisticated and well-heeled.

Both hotels are breathtaking, albeit each in its own way. Stay at the Ace when you're feeling edgy, and at the Monaco when you want to nestle in the lap of luxury. (Can't afford to overnight at either? As long as you behave yourself, nobody will stop you from nursing your cup of Stumptown Coffee in the casually chill Ace lobby, or from sitting by the fire for a spell at the Monaco.)

Here, a photographic tour of the Ace Hotel (all photos by moi):

Left: The vintage photo booth in the Ace Lobby still works; right: the beautiful salvaged filing cabinet in the "business lounge."

The Army-style blankets on the beds are custom-made by Oregon's own Pendelton; you can nab one of your own for $175 at the front desk (or find something similar on eBay for about a fifth the price).

Mural by Brent Wick in room 415; the rough linen upholstery on the ornate, antique settee creates an intriguing juxtaposition.

Military surplus is used to kit out the Ace's guest rooms; many have turntables and a selection of vintage vinyl.

Mural by Ryan Jacob Smith in Room 404.

Mural by Evan B. Harris, in the 4th floor stairwell.

The Ace's owners had the room number signs made up by Portland's longtime street sign supplier; the floor tiles in the lobby are original to the building.

Across the street from the Ace is the Living Room Theater, one of Portland's many "brew and view" (or "ciné and dine") movie houses; around the corner is this, um, interesting piece of public art, as well as Portland's legendary Powell's Books.

And here, a look at the Monaco's luxe lobby (again, all photos taken by yours truly):

These chairs are so Kelly Wearstler, aren't they?

The raspberry color on the walls is amazing in person.

Somehow, the color explosion totally works.

I love everything about this vignette -- from the decorative white panel to the glossy black lampshade to the pink-and-gray chinoiserie upholstery on the chaise. I'd kill for a reading nook like this ...

I honestly can't decide which hotel I like better -- I think it depends on which day you ask me. I love the Ace's chic simplicity and arty uniqueness, while the Monaco appeals to the old-school, glamour-loving girlie in me. (Bonus random celebrity sighting at the Monaco: Actor Tim Robbins, silver-maned and quite tall, wheeling a bike into the lobby.)

Which hotel's decor better suits your style?

P.S. More on Portland hotels here.