My roommate and I were driving across one of Portland’s many bridges one day after our yuppie workout class, zooming past strolling pedestrians and spandex-clad bike commuters, discussing our plans for the day.
“You know,” one of us said. “I’ve lived in Portland for quite a while now, and I have never walked across a single bridge.”
“Weirdly,” said the other. “Neither have I.”
It’s not that either of us is ecologically irresponsible, choosing a car when our feet would do just fine. It’s just one of those things that, if you don’t live or work very close to the waterfront, you have very little reason to ever do.
Clearly, this needed to be rectified. You see, Portland is famous for its bridges. Neatly bisected by the Willamette River, to get from one side of the city to the other you have to cross one of ten bridges. Eleven if you count the one that’s just for trains. That’s a lot of bridges for a relatively small city – and is the reason why one of Portland’s aliases is Bridge City.
Our genius plan was to organize a group of ruffians interested in bridge-walking, and traverse one bridge per month until we’ve conquered every last one of ‘em – foul weather, bad traffic and hipster infestations be damned.
Our first conquest was the Hawthorne Bridge:
A rare sunny day in April on the Hawthorne Bridge.
You drive on this metal grate suspended over turgid grey waters. Crazy!
According to Wikipedia, the Hawthorne Bridge is the country’s oldest vertical-lift bridge. Who knew? Not I. The most interesting facet of this bridge was that the part the cars drive on is a metal grate, so that when you look down and through, you can see the water below. Quite the vertigo-induction.
Once we completed our perilous journey, and since it was Easter Sunday for we secular godless types, we naturally brunched at the only restaurant worth going to at the West base of the Hawthorne Bridge, Veritable Quandary. With a name like that, how could you NOT?
Is this salad a veritable quandary? We’ll never know.
Furthermore, Veritable Quandary bills itself as a restaurant that “offers a truly authentic Portland experience.” I don’t know what to make of that claim, but I will say that 1) the food was good, 2) the place was packed and 3) the service was poor – three identifiers of Portland restaurants if ever there were any.
The Stumptown was burnt but they made us a fresh pot without too much complaint, so everyone went home happy, full, and having conquered our first Portland bridge.
What about you, readers? What iconic or touristy thing have you never gotten around to doing in your home-base city? Or, if you live in Portland, what bridge should we do next?
Great photos! Looks like a grand adventure. A touristy thing I’ve never done in DC: the duck tour.
That looks like some excellent touristy fun – and do I see that DC residents ride for free?
I’ve often wondered if there are double-decker bus tours of Portland, I’d love to take one if so. It’s nice to look at home through tourists’ eyes from time to time.
I don’t think I’d mind the double-decker tours of DC, but the ducky whistles from the duck tour are terribly irritating, and I think I’d end up pretty cranky. My chance to see DC through the eyes of tourists comes when people visit me.
Oh lordy, there are ducky whistles? Well that would be annoying. But being in an amphibious vehicle would be pretty cool.
I also really love having houseguests. It gives me a chance to cook for larger-than-normal groups AND show off the city. (And a reason to clean the house…)
I love this! I’ve run across the Hawthorne Bridge a few times, seeing as I used to live about a half mile from there and used it as my running route and to get to the path on the other side of the bridge. As for other bridges… I’ve walked across the Burnside Bridge, ran across the Sellwood Bridge, and biked across the Broadway Bridge. I should add those others to my list!
Awesome! I think the next one we’re going to do is Broadway, since there are soooo many restaurants on the other side. And I accidentally conquered Morrison the other weekend on my way to various bars.
It ain’t the Golden Gate Bridge, girl, which I have actually walked across. Them bridges is mighty homely, which is of course kind of charming in that Portland way.
And I’ve done the Duck Tour twice. Once in Boston and once in Seattle. It’s just because I have lived so long that I have done so much stuff.
I have also walked across the Golden Gate Bridge! Not because I have lived so long, but because I used to live there. Not on the bridge, actually, or even under it, but just near it. Me being on one side, and the city being on the other side, made walking or being driven across it a semi-regular occurrence.
Duck Tours occur in places other than DC? Who knew. I wish I could take a Duck Tour every day on the way to work. Commuting would be so much more hilarious. I would gladly volunteer to quack in exchange for a free ferry ticket.