Exploring Portland, Oregon

The Silver Cloud Inn is a new, well-run, super-clean four-story motel located about 2 miles northwest of downtown Portland. My room was unusually spacious and had most of the amenities that business travelers appreciate: hair dryer, a coffee maker, iron and ironing board, free local morning newspaper delivered to your door, and an ice machine and soft drink machine down the hall. My room had a free broadband connection (too bad I left the laptop at home). The motel also offers a complimentary breakfast bar starting at 6am that offers cereals, danishes, bagels, muffins and fresh Belgian waffles that you can make yourself (the Silver Cloud supplies the batter and waffle machine, so all you have to do is pour the batter). They serve a local coffee (Tully’s) that is just wonderful. There are laundry facilities – 2 Maytag washers and matching dryers -- on the second floor that guests are free to use. You’ll need to buy laundry soap at the front desk for 75 cents. (It does a very nice job.) There is ample (free) parking, much of it covered. The staff is cordial and very helpful. There’s a bus stop immediately outside the Inn where you can get the #15 or #17 to downtown Portland. There is also easy access to US 30 and I 405. You can even ride one of Portland’s streetcars if you don’t mind a 4-block walk to the stop on NW Northrup near Linfield College. One of the very few downsides of the Silver Cloud Inn is that it’s located right on the cusp of Portland’s industrial district. When you exit the motel there’s often a chemical odor in the air (yes, Portland has pollution!). However, having spent many years in Northern N.J., it hardly bothers me. Not only did I have a very pleasant stay here, but it was economical – I was even able to get the government rate, which isn’t all that easy in Portland. If I ever visit the River City again, I would definitely head back to the Silver Cloud Inn.

Portland is inundated with trendy and not-so-trendy restaurants, so you would think it would be easy to find a good meal here. Not so. This is not Atlanta or New Orleans. However, I lucked out one evening--while strolling down Morrison St. in Downtown Portland, I discovered Bleu, a formal restaurant run by the students at the Western Culinary Institute. You can have a five-course meal here, including coffee, tea or soft drink, for just $24.95. A glass of wine is a few bucks extra. It’s a prix-fixe menu, but each course has two to five selections that you can choose from. I had an excellent seared rare Ahi as an entrée and a superb chocolate cake for dessert (calling this concoction chocolate cake is like calling Big Ben a clock). The service was impeccable and was a refreshing change from the laid-back, haphazard service you often tend to get at Portland eateries. With crisp white linen tablecloths and fresh flowers on the table, there is no more pleasant and satisfying dining experience in Portland – or elsewhere.

This massive garden devoted solely to roses stretches across a hillside giving the visitor a bird’s eye view of downtown Portland. With nearly 10,000 rose plants taking up 4.5 acres of Washington Park, it is one of the largest and oldest rose gardens in the country. The Rose Garden is arranged in formal plots with ready access to benches for those tired of strolling through the colorful, fairy-tale garden paths. Every one of the rose bushes is vigorous and unbelievably free of the black spot, rust and insect pests that plague my own pitiful roses at home in Virginia. In fact, Portland seems to have a perfect climate for roses. Many of Portland’s residents take advantage of this unique climate by cultivating roses in their own home gardens that look just as healthy and vigorous as the roses in Washington Park. Portland calls itself the “City of Roses,” and it’s no empty boast.

I came upon this "Place of Solitude, Peace, and Prayer" entirely by accident. Late one very hot weekday afternoon, exhausted from fighting gridlock on US I-5, I exited on Sandy Blvd. and decided to stop here to rest a bit. The Grotto is a Roman Catholic shrine dedicated to the mother of Jesus – the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is essentially two private woodland parks. You enter and park on the lower level. There is a man-made Grotto – 30 feet deep, 30 feet wide, and almost 50 feet high – on the bottom of a 125-foot plus cliff. Inside, the dimensions of the cave dwarf a replica of Michelangelo’s Pieta. There is an outdoor altar in front of the Grotto. You will also find on this lower level 14 fine European cast bronze plaques representing the Stations of the Cross. Soaring Douglas firs – well over 100 feet tall – and countless Rhododendrons and ferns line the paved paths between the shrines. The woods seem to be almost untouched since the shrine opened in 1924. You will also find a small but well-stocked gift shop on the lower level. Here, you can buy a token for $3 that will admit you to an elevator tower at the foot of the Grotto. The elevator will take you 125 feet up to the top of the cliff, above the Grotto, to the upper level gardens. As you exit the elevator, you will be drawn to a modern Meditation Chapel at the edge of the cliff. From this vantage point, you can see the city of Portland sprawled below with Washington State and Mt. St. Helen’s in the distance.

There is a stunning life-size statue of the Madonna and Child in the Meditation Chapel that is so realistic it’s almost eerie. The sculptor, American artist John De Andrea, created the statue from polyester resin and fiberglass. He wanted his creation "to breathe," and he succeeded – perhaps too well! The statue is surrounded by a thick, see-through plastic "cage" (probably necessary because so many visitors would be tempted to touch it, if only to satisfy themselves that the lady and baby weren’t real and breathing).

There is a monastery on the edge of the upper gardens as well as a convent – both, however, are off limits to the casual visitor.

There are benches along the winding paths throughout the upper and lower garden levels, perfect for rest and meditation. The upper gardens especially must be spectacular in the spring, when hundreds of rhododendrons and azaleas are in full bloom.

Even for non-Catholics, the serene beauty of these old growth Oregon woods and carefully tended gardens are worth a visit. I left the Grotto refreshed in body and spirit. (Check out their website at www.thegrotto.org.)