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.

According to the Mental Floss website:…read more Portland's newest and most fashionable neighborhood was nothing but warehouses and industrial buildings until the mid-1980s, when it started to get the urban renewal (and gentrification) treatment. Formerly known as the Northwest Industrial Triangle, it was given its new name in 1985 by a gallery owner named Thomas Augustine, who told a magazine writer that the neighborhood's artists, toiling away in old, crusty buildings, were like pearls inside oysters. But it had a double meaning: Augustine had already taken to calling it "Pearl's district," after his friend Pearl Marie Amhara, an Ethiopian Christian polyglot who traveled the world raising money for the poor. The Pearl District is the number one most walkable neighborhood in the city. Most residents don't need a car for day to day errands. Beautiful sights, trendy restaurants and shops. Anthropologie, West Elm, Free People, Williams and Sonoma and so much more. We loved walking around here! A must see place to stay and visit while in Portland, Oregon.

The Pearl District is just amazing... Nice shops including…read morethe Powell book store which encompasses probably a block!

There's definately some sketch-tastings people and things in this area of Portland. The further…read moreyou travel east, the worse it gets. 52nd: My friend lived on 51st, and while his house wasn't to be confused with a time-share in Palm Springs, I didn't have a bad vibe parking my truck there, and I didn't get any bad vibes of Felony Flats beings it was a block away. 72nd: I forget the cross strett here (Flavel?), but I'm thinking an off-brand grocery store. Right across is a laundromat that looks supplanted from Bronx or Brooklyn, and a video store with a promo poster for that Samuel L. Jackson/Eugene Levy movie from a few years ago. I wouldn't be inclinded to visit any 3 of those establishments, I'm sure if we Yelped them, they'd be a 2/5 stars. 82nd: Tweakers galore. Afraid to be outside the comfort of my car when it's late and/or dark out.

I'm gonna give this area a whopping 2 stars as well. It's trying to gentrify, but it's just not…read moremaking it. It's still ghetto. Way ghetto. Fortunately, I spend most of my time hanging out on the Avenue of the Roses, which has a whopping 1- extra star's worth of ghetto-tainment.

SSSSSS!!!!! Stellar! Sensational! Sensual! Scintillating! Stimulating! So-ssssss! Words can only…read moredescribe the beauty and profoundness viewing the mural by Faith47, South African artist! See it sizzle your emotions. Next-door is the new Stumptown coffee shop. Sit with coffee. Emotions sizzle sizzle with the kiss of ecstasy and wonderment - who is this mysterious lady and why are you here? You question - lost in your own muse!

The architect for the new building has been able to design the new building to preserve views of…read morethis mural! Thanks ZGF and developer! http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2017/07/eleven_west_tower.html and http://www.nextportland.com/2017/12/13/eleven-west/

I lived near this street for more decades than I care to admit (not in terms of living nearby, but…read moremore in terms of my own age). The best part of it was my grandparents lived one block down on 83rd and Flavel. It was a beautiful residential neighborhood at the time, and they kept an immaculate yard full of roses and dahlias. We even got to do the classic American thing of walking to the ice cream store with grandpa for cones. Memories like that can't be beat. After my grandparents died, my mom sold the house. The new owner rented it out and let it go to hell, and the surrounding neighborhood got pretty rough. I got to where I couldn't bear to drive by and see it. And that's pretty much the story of 82nd to me; rough and rougher and too much to make fun of. I haven't spent a lot of time over there for many years, but recently I've had to be out there for several reasons, and I've seen promising signs of change. PCC has built a new-ish campus on 82nd & Division that is very handsome. A lot of young couples have bought homes there as well, the most promising sign of all. There has been a lot of business development also. 82nd is never going to be anybody's idea of beautiful, but there's a lot of pride of ownership that can be felt. I was very sorry to hear that their Rose-Festival-sanctioned community parade was canceled because the Oregon Republican Party members were threatened with harm by opposing groups. That's so wrong. However, I think with all the changes I've seen lately that this is a community that has the strength to rise above. As for me, I got brave enough to drive by my grandparents' old house. One of those young couples (I would guess) had bought it and brought it back to its old glory. For all the good and bad and all the history, I had a good cry. The young woman in the front yard probably wwondered who that strange woman was, but I hope she somehow understood how pleased my grandparents would be to see all their hopes and dreams still being worked on just a block from 82nd.

But where are the Roses?…read more Last Monday, I was southbound on the #72 bus, after transferring from the Max Red Line at the NE 82nd Ave Station. And when I saw the sign for the "Hung Far Low" Chinese restaurant, it was time to get off at Division and transfer to the #4 bus. After this experience, I take it all back about occasionally needing a cab in Portland. I can really do public transit here! When I visit Portland, I try to explore a "cute" new neighbourhood each time. On this trip, that was NE Alberta, Nob Hill, and a huge chunk of Division (between 25th and my bus stop). On the other hand, the "Avenue of the Roses" is Portland's longest continual commercial strip (from the Clackamas County line to PDX). Every City has one, and even Sustainable Portland is no exception. Judging by my fellow bus travelers and the scenery going by, there's a lot going on here. And it's probably best that I was just passing through....

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.

I love murals, but the most annoying thing about them can be cars in the way of getting a good view…read moreor picture of them. I stumbled up the Keep Portland Weird mural while out walking around on our first morning while Ben was sleeping. It was during the week so cars were already there parked to be able to work. I wasn't thinking about the day/time at first until I was walking around the same area (close to our hotel) during one of the weekend mornings and realized how the day/time comes into play while trying to take photos of the different murals. There are several other murals close by that are also worth the few extra steps

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.

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.

I've seen this water park dry and running with water. It's pretty neat! Kids play in it during the…read morewarmer months and people sit on the stone waterfall any time. It was off yesterday, so a little less interesting but it's still an open space in the city. Plus there's a public bathroom on the corner.

A popular place for kids and adults! Can't believe I haven't reviewed it! Only lived in the Pearl…read moreover 10 years so I walk by the fountain "umpteem" times a day! Anyway, the park opened in 2002 and cascading waters did not gush over the square rocks. The waterfall was an afterthought to deter skateboarders. Water surges at random over the rock steps and creates a tidal pool. After a few minutes the water recedes. The water recirculates and flows out of the rocks again and again and again! Small kids love to play in the water falls, wade and splash in the urban tidal pool. Adults love to baby sit and watch their kids play while sitting on a blanket in the grass under a shade tree. Or get a little tan and free vitamin D from the sun. Note: Our bodies manufacture vitamin D from direct sunlight (no clouds)--best time at solar noon (or a time when your shadow is shorter than you). Only 15 to 30 minutes per day is all you need to optimize the "D." Important / from Dr. Joseph Mercola's website: "The sun emits two types of wavelengths at different periods in a day: UVA rays and UVB rays. Your body requires UVB for vitamin D production. UVA rays, on the other hand, have longer wavelengths and can penetrate the ozone layer, as well as clouds and pollution. Frequent exposure to this type of wavelength increases your risk of skin cancer and photoaging." UVB rays occur when sun is direct (or your shadow shorter than you). UVB is when sun is lower in the sky (bad time to be sunning). So be safe when getting Vit. D naturally--amazing health benefits--ask your primary care Doc to take a blood sample and test your "D" for sufficiency--simple! Goggle "Dr. Mercola" read all about Vit "D," (don't take it from me, I read it). Now, I step down from my soap box, back to the fountain. I digress! So there you sit with kids also playing in grass and sprawling out on your blanket. Note: the grass and trees are visited "umpteem," yes indeed, "umpteem" times by our best furry friends, "wuff, wuff, wuff" who like to "squat, squat, squat" there too! Just be careful where you sit! Get it? I digress again! Back to the fountain. The fountain is a gathering place--soothing and relaxing--for one and all! There is way more than the waterfalls in this park (day or night) to see and enjoy! Check it out!