The characters introduced me to the term "reaching out". According to one interweb source, it "can mean anything from just contacting someone to trying to convince them to help the cops to seeing if they need help". But if you watched the show, you innately understood that it was more. It was a very personal and sensitive attempt to connect with another person.
Look, I know I can be rude. And that I almost fired you one time. But there's no one else I can turn to on this. I've been looking for some kind of angle, any kind of angle, that would make it seem like you owe me, so I can somehow preserve my pride. But it's a lost cause. So I come to you in humility, asking for your help. It's a form of reaching out. Just don't get too used to it.
Anyway, here's the deal:
Patty and I are planning a long-weekend bikey getaway to Portland. We'd like to drive there, park our car at some bike-friendly hotel in or near downtown and not even have to look at it (the car) for the next four days. We're not sure if we should take bikes or rent them when we get there. We've been checking out hotels and shit on the internet, but we want more personal advice.
So if you know anything firsthand about Portland, shoot us the place that we have to stay and the one bike ride or bike shop or bike-only drive-through espresso stand or bike boulevard that we cant't miss, or the bike that we have to rent. Or your top three. Or your top three non-bike activities that we can get to by bike. Or your top ten anything. Whatever. Go crazy. We'll be happy to sort it out.
(Thanks to streetwise.org and streetsblog.org for letting me shamelessly rip these pics. My blog relies heavily on graphics to survive.)
So anyway, I'd like to express my appreciation in advance. And just so we're clear, I'm not saying this will make us BFF, but it will certainly go a long ways toward hot-patching some of the potholes in our relationship.
7 comments:
Pat, if you're gonna drive, you might as well take your own bikes. We did something similar last summer in PDX and I even worked with SpoParks&Rec about setting up a PDX BikesBeers&Gear tour. I'll send you the link. The wife and I stayed at the Paramount and it was very bike friendly and central. So many good shops for bikes and gear. River City comes to mind. You probably should check out Voodoo Donuts and Otto's for homemade sausages. We hit a few brewries in NW PDX, Deshcutes had great beer and food. Service..well the beer and food was awesome. It was so easy to get around, it felt like I was always peddling downhill. Wade
Eat at Montage, a really unique place.
Lodging: Bluebird Guesthouse
Food: Tin Shed (breakfast); Higgins (dinner if you feel like splurging and can get a table)
The Jupiter rents bikes and is in a great location. Just over the burnside bridge from downtown. You can get anywhere from there.
Thank you guys for all the great ideas.
Wade, I'm a little worried about taking our bikes because of theft - if you rent, those worries go away, but OTOH, you're stuck on a bike that's not yours which means that nothing fits/works very well. I don't want theft worries to interfere with where we go and what we do, so I'm leaning towards hauling ours down and just deciding not to worry about it. Life is short, and it's just material shit. But I don't want to be stupid, either, so I'm still trying to figure out the whole deal about how to securely park them at a hotel. Thanks for emailing the awesome link, it totally got my head around thinking about the downtown core and how to plan and map some loop trips and how well our tax dollars are being spent when you can go to parks to help plan a beer crawl. I'm generally not a huge vacay planner cause I like to wing it a little (okay a lot), but I think that for this trip, huge planning is in order. Because an all-day loop that involved only breweries and totally cool bike shops could end up costing me thousands. Voodoo donuts, BTW, was already on my list, potentially the highlight of the whole trip. A maple bar with bacon on top??? Bury me alive. Also can't wait for that always-pedalling-downhill feeling.
Thanks, Alan, I checked out the Montage website. It's now on the list.
Ken, the Bluebird looks killer. I think maybe it's a little far away for this first trip where we're just trying to get the lay of the land starting from downtown. Think we'll stick that in our back pocket for the next trip. The Tin Shed is happening on this trip, however. And maybe Higgins, will have to play that one by ear. Appreciate the great suggestions.
Big Sky, we stayed at the Jupiter the one other time we went to PDX, when I rode the STP. I did it in one day and so I was pretty much toast by the time I got there and then we left the next morning. It was obvious we were in a pretty cool spot, but we never really got the lay of the land. I thought we would probably want to try someplace different, but hearing that it's so central, we may have to re-consider. Thanks.
If you are going to PDX, you should go to Hopworks Urban Brewery. The beer is all organic, the pizza is amazing and the decor is all bikes, all the time. I went there last time I was in Portland and it was awesome. You can check them out here:
http://www.hopworksbeer.com/
Hope you guys have a great trip!
Lucas, you are speaking my language. Just watched the video on the bar bike. Holy krap, that rocks. Thanks for the great tip on Hopworks, we're all over it.
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