Re: Portland, OR -- what to see and do

[Simon Favre <simon@domain.elided>]

Chris Prael wrote:

>No discussion of seafood and Portland is complete until Dan & Louis' Oyster
>Bar on SW Ankeny (just south of Burnside and very close to the west bank of
>the Willamet River) has been mentioned.  Dan & Louis' has been there since
>190something and is the retail outlet of the Oregon Fish Company, who own and
>operate the oyster beds in Yaquina Bay near Newport.  The grow oysters as fine
>as any you will get from Willipa or Tomales Bay (in other words, very fine,
>if you can't get the West Coast native Olympic oyster).  The kitchen is old 
>fashioned, and very good.  

You're right, I should have mentioned Dan & Louis'. I was wondering when they
will hit the century mark. If you like raw oysters and lots of them, go there.
If you don't mind not having any beer with your oysters, go there. It's not 
because they can't get a liquor license, they don't want one. If you like
tons of American nautical memorabilia, and lots of fried food, go there. It's
a wonderful place for an oyster lover. For haute cuisine and truly fine
seafood, I'd go somewhere else. Dan & Louis' Oyster Bar is something of a 
novelty. I prefer Jake's, which is not far from there. Yes, certain times of
the year (summer), Jake's DOES have crawfish. Apparently the little mudbugs
are gaining in popularity. There are several places in Northern California that
have major crawfish festivals/banquets planned. There's one in the Sacramento
river delta that has a 2 or 3 day festival in June, if memory serves. The
last time I was in New Orleans, the crawfish were a disaster. The locals were
talking about it like it was a crop failure. I had better crawfish just the 
other day at an Olive Garden in Vallejo!

>Also worthy of note in Portland is the largest book store on the North
>American continent (and probably the second biggest English language bookstore
>after Foyles, in London).  I speak of Powells.  It is on Burnside and occupies
>a complete city block.  They sell both new and used books, side by side. It's
>very easy to spend half a day (or more) in there.

I've been there. It is certainly a place you could get lost in. I wasn't that
impressed with their automotive offerings, tho. I think there's an exotic car
dealership nearby, however. ;=)

All this talk of the convention is leading me to the conclusion I really should
go this year.

------------------------------