me as portland tour guide

My good friend D is in town, a friend from college that I haven't seen in almost 2 years, one of my favorite people.

He's never been to Portland before, so I've been showing him the town. . . and I'm realizing that Portland is a better place for residents than for visitors. I love Portland; it ranks with Cairo as a favorite city that I have lived in, but there is very few "you're going to Portland & you must see. . ." type things. Powell's of course, but what else? The people at the visitors information desk that D visited yesterday afternoon suggested the Pendelton Store, Niketown, the Chinese Garden, & NW 23rd, none of which I think are very interesting (okay, so NW 23rd is the only one on that list that I have actually visited, maybe the Pendelton store is awesome.).

My favorite places are great & I love them, but they are not spectacular: the extinct volcano in my neighborhood, the fabulous movie rental place full of movie memorabilia, the Seventh Day Adventist grocery, the Indian grocery, the British grocery, the cafe that has shisha pipes, some parks & gardens, the $3 movies, various coffeeshops, the downtown library, the enormous fabric store, a few restaurants, a few second-hand stores, some bars, some bookstores. I love all of these places & showing them to people lets them see what my life is here, but they don't lend themselves super-well to visitors. 'Yeah, I went to Portland and I saw a movie & went to a coffeeshop & store' is not what I want my friends who visit to share when they return home. I want them to sing Portland's amazingness & move here to share it with me.

D is impressed by the public transportation & the friendliness of folks here, but he's comparing it to Hartford, so I don't think that's a particularly ringing endorsement.