What's happening

Saturday, September 6


Main Meet-Greet


6 PM Kells Irish Bar Cigar Room - reserved private party until 9PM

112 SW 2nd Avenue between Ash and Pine.

Full bar and lots of local brews on tap plus food, other surprises

After 9, we can elect to stay in the room, head upstairs to listen to an Irish group (free cover w/our room reservation) or go bar hopping. Downtown Portland has short blocks and there are several bars with and without live music in the area near Kell's. There is a rock/punk/metal/? festival all over the city including venues 2 blocks from Kells, http://www.musicfestnw.com/. There are also some excellent jazz clubs downtown as well. The next post will include hotel suggestions. The owner of Kells suggested Embassy Suites and also said that The Benson often gives great deals at the last minute on weekends.


Friday, Sept 5
5 PM Prefunction Barbeque/jam/karoke/ping pong/croquet

@E's house, send email for details and address to nwatriot@gmail.com. Location: Close-in suburbs close to transit ctr/bus/max, 15 minutes from downtown Portland.



Other possible activities for Thurs-Sun:

We can take people to the coast and back in a day and/or Multnomah Falls.



To receive full information, send an email to nwatriot@gmail.com

Biking Portland

When I was visiting Ericka a couple months ago we rented bikes and rode downtown and around the waterfront. It was quite lovely and a lot of fun, so ErinPDX asked me to do a post on riding in Portland.

The city is extremely bike friendly. There are dedicated lanes and new "green boxes" in much of the heart of the city and paths all over the place. If you want to explore by bicycle, first grab a map that shows all the different types of roads and even indicates hills and such at the Office of Transportation. Oregon Online also has information on 5 suggested rides, from easy to difficult and covering a variety of terrain.

If you don't have an opportunity to bring your own ride, Waterfront Bicycles rents bikes, including tandems! There are also several other establishments scattered about the city that are indicated on the map linked above.

We think it would be awesome if we could get a gang together to go for an EschaConNW Ride. Maybe a midnight ride, or just a tour of The Pearl, or whatever. Anybody game?

ntodd

Walking in Portland

Well, it ain't #5 Philly, but Portland, Oregon rates #10 of 40 major US cities in walkability according to this link posted by Atrios. www.walkscore.com/rankings/Portland.

Number one on the walkscore list is the Pearl District, a refurbished industrial area of art galleries, restaurants, shops and loft housing. It is adjacent to the number 2 China Town-Old Town zone which stretches East to the Willamette River.

West of the Pearl are Northwest Portland's 23rd and 21st Avenues, which also offer many shops, restaurants and galleries.

Cross the Willamette River to the funky Southeast Side and you'll see the DFH's hanging out on Hawthorne Blvd, Belmont Avenue. or Division. As with the other areas, SE offers lots of wifi coffee shops, restaurants, clubs, and people-watching. SE is just a five minute ride over the Hawthorne or Morrison Bridges.

For more information about Portland and its neighborhoods, see http://www.portlandguide.com/

Transportation

Portland International Airport (PDX) is served by Portland's MAX light rail system. The airport is approximately 20 minutes from downtown by car, or slightly longer by MAX. Information about MAX and city buses are available at http://www.trimet.org/. MAX runs through the East side and past the Convention Center, then across the Willamette River to downtown Portland. There are also plenty of cabs.

Amtrak schedules and information are available at http://www.amtrak.com/. A one way ticket from Seattle is $32, and Ali discovered that for an extra $5 you can bring your bike. The Amtrak station is in downtown Portland, close to everything including hotels and our Saturday night venue. (Details soon). Trains depart from Seattle to Portland several times daily and the trip is 3 1/2 hours through some beautiful Washington State countryside. There are also regular trains from Eugene and points South.

Car rental is available at the airport as well as downtown.

There are also several bike rental places which will be detailed in an upcoming post on biking in Portland.

Save The Date

We're on for a meet and greet in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, September 6th. Everyone is welcome, specifics on the way. If you have ideas, email me at nwatriot.gmail.com