Exploring the 1950s.

Last week as I was exploring around the park I found some cool things.  I learned there were pioneer barbers and I also learned about some of the statuary from the 1950s.  I decided to take a walk and try to find some more 40s, 50, and 60s artwork.

Historian's would say this little motel is a "mid century jewell" while I look at it and say "Yup from the 50s".
Of course in the 50s they didn't have a light rail track in the middle of the street as we do now.

Nice day, eh?

Up next on my 1950s tour is the Palms, no not the fancy place in Vegas.  I will say they have a cool sign.

I wasn't there at night but I did find a picture of it lit up.  Pretty cool. 

According to a blog I read about it the owner is really nice and is thinking of adding more neon monkeys to the sign.  That's my kind of motel owner.  Perhaps a neon fox would add a touch of class to the sign?

I found also found this sign today on my excursions. Looks like it's from the same era.

All this running around has made me hungry.  I didn't bring any Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches so I should probably go out and eat.  Ah, this place looks perfect!

I wonder if they have chicken?

Urban Exploration with Drunk Fox.

Hej kompisar,

I woke up today and the first two words to come out of my mouth were urban utforska or urban exploring for my non-Swedish speaking friends.

I don’t live in Portland but I live close to it. Portland is known for many things but one of them is a dedicated bike culture.  There are bike routes everywhere.  In 2012 the office of transportation decided to spice up the bike lanes by painting flags of the City of Portland on certain routes.

Do you see the flag?

As mentioned, the flags were painted on in 2012 and it’s now 2017 so the flags are fading.  I found a couple around town.

This bike lane flag could use a "touch up" paint job. 

I got braver when I was looking for the second flag.  That’s me sitting in a bike lane in NE Portland.  I hope no bikes zoom by (or cars for that matter).

The neighborhood where these flags were painted is called Lloyd District.  In the 1950s a developer started buying all the houses in this neighborhood.  Then the developer let them fall into disrepair.  When the other residents of the neighborhood wanted to move and there was only one person interested in buying….that’s right the developer.  Eventually, the developer owned all the houses, tore them down and built the largest mall in the world (at the time, 1960) and it was dedicated by Vice President Richard Nixon. 

I know they do it but why would you build an open air mall in Portland Oregon? 

The mall has a great parking structure and I am hoping to get some photos on top of the parking structure.  I bet there are some good views if I can climb to the top of this structure. 

Made it to the top but not the view I was hoping for.  Let's see if I can find a better location. 

Oooh, a better location. If you look closely you might be able to see the tower of the Oregon Convention Center in the background.

All this exploring has made me hungry.  I can’t find a place that will make a good PB & J sandwich but I did find a food cart that looks beary interesting.  They sell Doner Kebabs and I am up for anything.

Now that I am getting the hang of this "blogging" thing what will I do next?