An adventure downtown, part 2.1

 Sandy is a great traveler.  He loves getting his picture taken and learning about all sorts of things.  Sandy was feeling patriotic today.  

We are hanging out in Pioneer Courthouse Square.  In the background you can see the courthouse (still in use today) and the train, similar to the one we rode into town on today.  There is a great Starbucks on the corner too.

There are lots of ways to get around town.  Of course you can walk, or you can be like this statue and try to hail a cab.  Any luck Sandy?

Besides walking or taking a cab a lot of Portlander's bike.  They have these cool bikes for rent and we both fit perfectly in the basket.  Let's go. 

Portland has a statue of the Liberty Bell, who knew?

Cruising around town Sandy really wanted a picture of this street, go figure.

Soooo, there is a cool statue in the middle of a road.  The road is one way and the statue faces the other way.  Why, you ask?  When the city was laid out it and the statue was placed the road was a two way road.  Then, they changed the grid to one way roads but the road the statue is on faces the opposite direction.  People either love or hate this statue - I think it's cool. 

 It's a good looking elk, right?  Now, with two stuffies in the picture it's a great looking elk.

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A quick stop on the waterfront for a picture of the bridges then it's off to lunch.  I hope Sandy is hungry. 

On the menu today, Dim Sum. Lots of pork, shrimp and a couple of tofu items to satisfy our stomachs. 

 I think we did a good job eating our fill.

Sandy is my guest so I will pick up the tab.  This is odd, I have no idea what any of this costs.

Since we dined in China Town it seems that we should visit the Chinese Garden. 

It's closed for inclement weather (i.e. ice) so we can only hang out in the ticket purchase area. 

However, I was able to find a window into the garden so we can check it out. 

China Town/Old Town is known for many things.  In the mid 1800s many people would be "shanghaied".  Portland was a port town and when men came into port they drank and drank.  Saloons in the old town area had runners who would look for drunk men and take them on board a captains ship.  Typically when the men would wake up (remember they were really drunk) they would already be out to sea and stuck on the ship till it reached it's destination.  

Don't worry readers I am not going to Shanghai Sandy but I did take him into some back alleys to get a glimpse of old town and Portland's Shanghai past. 

Old Town Pizza (in Old Town) is one of the entrances to the Portland Underground and the Shanghai tunnels.  No one has been Shanghaied at Old Town Pizza but there pizza and beer is top notch.  A great way to end our adventure.