Monday, September 30 - Tour of Portland

We took an optional pre-voyage guided bus tour of Portland, which included drives through Old Town and Chinatown, as well as some stops at historical sites and gardens. The city itself has had a substantial revitalization program which is ongoing. After years of building sterile "Urban Renewal" style buildings, a new building code was adopted for the downtown area. When a new downtown building is built, the ground level has to be designed for retail usage, so there are no blank walls as you walk along the street. They have also worked very hard on their transportation system, making two downtown streets bus ways only. There is a light rail system and new trolleys that have worked out very well. Their taxes are high, as might be expected.

We toured the Pittock Mansion and Gardens, which belonged to the man who founded the Oregonian (the local paper) and invested in other local businesses. After that we went to the International Rose Test Garden, which has more roses than I have ever seen in one place. They have to be a prize-winning rose to even be planted there. The colors and size of the roses was outstanding. We also toured the Japanese Garden which was very tranquil and photogenic.

After the bus tour, we went back to the hotel and boarded the Sea Bird, which was docked right outside the hotel, and headed down the Willamette.