Sock Summit - Portland

(Note: this is more an "around" sock summit post, not much as to what actually happened *at* the Summit.)

Confession: I have a soft spot in my heart for anyplace easily navigable by public transit and walking. And downtown Portland was just that. Anytime we got directions anywhere, people said "and these are short blocks," which was funny, but true.

Chris saw more of Portland than I did, he went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the Portland Zoo, the Japanese Gardens, the Saturday Market, and Chinatown and the Chinese gardens. He liked the market, but was most impressed by the Japanese Gardens and would recommend them to anyone who has an afternoon free in Portland.

As far as my sightseeing went, I went to Powell's. (Chris did too.) We hit Powell's Technical Books first, because it closed earlier and we had gotten a late start on the evening. I ran into some MathFest people there (I recognized them because they too were hanging out by the Combinatorics and Number Theory shelves - people were on the analysis aisle too, but yeah). Chris found a few things he needed, I found a small volume I wanted, and we went the next block to World of Books. And promptly separated and lost each other. I wandered the craft section, education, and literature and literary magazines. I still have no clue where Chris went. Thanks to text messages and good signage ("I'm in the blue room, where are you?") we found each other, checked out and went for food.

Food in Portland was mostly really good. We agreed that our one disappointing dinner was probably as much a function of mis-ordering as the food - the seafood variety plate always sounds good, but usually isn't awesome. We had an amazing meal at Henry's 12th Street Tavern after Powell's - maybe the best cheeseburger EVAR, and my Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar was excellent (99 beers on tap there - I tasted several and they were all good). I've been looking for that beer since I got back and I've been sorely disappointed. Conference fast food was had at Burgerville, which was also tasty. Our last dinner in town was at an all-you-can-eat seafood and sushi place, which was good, but kind of excessive. (Note: Chris ate only seafood until the day we left - after the sushi place, he was seafooded out.) Good local beer was everywhere too - Rogue, Ninkasi, and a couple others I don't remember.

Weather was lovely, we had a great time, we agreed that it's an awesome town and we liked it very much. (Chris also introduced me to pollen.com, where Portland was green for our entire stay. Indy, since we got home, is in the grip of ragweed season and is orange and red - Claritin is my friend.)

Next up is the knitters and knitting, and that'll be it for my Sock Summit diaries. I have an FO to show, and maybe another coming down the pipe soon.