I noticed that someone already mentioned Stumptown Coffee, on Belmont, but I will mention it once again! But any coffee shop you see that has a nice mix of hipsters, students, and career folk should be a decent pick. Many other coffee joints serve Stumptown coffee anyway!

www.stumptowncoffee.com

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Portland is called 'bohemian' by some or just plain 'weird' by others - neither is terribly accurate or honest. Portland is as much a corporately-run, high traffic, New York borough-wannabe as it is home to the truly strange and offbeat - like Voodoo Doughnut.

A literal 'hole in the wall' - located off of 3rd Avenue in what is typically considered a gregarious garage of grunge, VD is the home of the most freshly-made, oddly named, uniquely indescribable fast food ever.

Try the bacon-maple bar - a generously rectangular confection of maple and a slice or two of crispy American-style bacon; the Dirty Ol' Bastard - fat, round and smashed with Oreo cookies; the Dirty Snowball - a chocolate doughnut with a pink glaze and mystery creme inside; the Voodoo Doll Doughnut - chocolate with an oozy blood red center. VD specializes in the bizarre and untried (the Nyquil-filled doughnut is currently on hold) and the unnameable: 'specialty' doughnuts are made to order and may closely resemble the body part of your choice.

Thinking of tying the knot in Portland? VD is also known for the weddings - held in front of the "Holy Doughnut under the Cruller Chandelier of Life". Cockfights and contests are also known to be held there.

Expensive it is not - always entertaining - as they say, the 'magic is in the hole.'

22 SW 3rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97204
www.voodoodoughnut.com

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Powell's is a Portland landmark - though there are several outlets around Portland, the main attraction is the mother ship located at 10th and Burnside - it takes up an entire city block and five floors to house its beautifully eclectic and sometimes chaotic collection of literary beasts and local ephemera.

There is a genre to suit every taste, from Science Fiction (take a moment to gawk at the walls - you'll find some famous autographs scrawled there) to Gardening to Graphic Novels and even a Rare Books Room on the top floor that smells almost as antiquarian as it looks.

Powell's also boasts a small art gallery and cafe with the best local coffee. If you want a seat in the crowded cafe though, get there early.

A typical visit to Powells will set you back at least two hours. Wear your best walking shoes. Bring a backpack too - you'll need it to carry all the heavy second-hand tomes you find.

People watching is encouraged: if you want to know what real Portlanders are like, this is the place to go.

www.powells.com
10th & Burnside
Toll Free: 800-878-7323

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Stumptown coffee bars are where the locals in the know drink the brown fuel.
There are a good few of them and Dandy Warhols manager Lee Cohen is the man who dragged me there. They don't tend to play jazz either.

www.stumptowncoffee.com/

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