A Clogged Shower Drain, A Silver Lining

My first shower post-train, which should have been endless hot happiness, turned out instead to be a pressure-cooker situation as the dirty drain water gathered around my ankles, threatening to overflow the shower basin. Hmm.

Not happy, but we reported it with a smile to the ever-friendly front desk, which promptly upgraded us from the Inn portion of the Park Lane Inn and Suites to the suites.

Hey now: living room, kitchen, and bedroom

You all know I love to shop for food and cook--the perfect antidote to eating out every day all day. We are so happy to have this tiny kitchen.

This hotel sits smack dab in the middle of a beautiful old neighborhood on hilly rises, with some exceptional destinations (Powell's, Whole Foods, tons of eateries and brew pubs, Portland Art Museum, the soccer stadium--hah, that last one for Marc) within brisk walking distance.

Take a look at the buildings right next door to the hotel, a perfect location for us and free parking, which is how I found the place initially.

 

A short walk away is a hotel I considered when I was searching in Chicago: McMenamins Crystal Hotel. Click here for a bunch of cool photos of its interior. I ultimately nixed it because we have a damn car here for a few days and I didn't want to hassle with parking.

McMenamins apparently own a bunch of boutique hotels, eateries, and breweries in Portland. Their website seems to be down, but do at some point google "Kennedy School Portland" to see their amazing hotel converted from an old mansion-y school. 

Today I need to finish some work on the paper version of Healing Fibromyalgia, written by the smart and funny doc I work with, David Edelberg, MD. Already out in e-book, if you know anyone with this dastardly condition what a fine gift the book would be.

And what better place for editorial work than Powell's City of Books, just a nice walk away. From the web description--though nothing can do this place justice like being here:

Powell's City of Books is a book lover's paradise, the largest used and new bookstore in the world. Located in downtown Portland, Oregon, and occupying an entire city block, the City stocks more than a million new and used books. Nine color coded rooms house over 3,500 different sections, offering something for every interest, including an incredible selection of out-of-print and hard-to-find titles.  

But wait, there's more...

A few facts about the City of Books:
• 68,000 square feet packed with books.
• We buy 3,000 used books over the counter every day.
• Approximately 3,000 people walk in and buy something every day.
• Another 3,000 people just browse and drink coffee.
• We stock 122 major subject areas and more than 3,500 subsections.
• You'll find more than 1,000,000 volumes on our shelves.
• Approximately 80,000 book lovers browse the City's shelves every day in Portland and via the Internet.

Coffee shop at Powell's

Art browsed for a couple hours while I worked, and as the coffee shop crowd picked up, it became less quiet and more animated. So I packed up and we walked back to the hotel suite, a now-ideal place to work. (No, I didn't get to browse Powell's but believe me we are returning so I can.) 

Along the way, some Portland scenes...

A bird in a syringe