Category Archives: Southwest

This morning’s ride started out cloudy, cool, crisp, and invigorating, but the return trip was disappointing in that the rain-soaking moisture started an hour earlier than advertised, making us hunker down and less talkative on the ride back. JoLa’s is … Continue reading →

With a friend this morning swimming three miles in the Willamette as part of an 11 mile relay team, two members chose a shop along the River to hopefully cheer her on.  Upstream Coffee + Eatery is located in the … Continue reading →

Maybe we were too excited about the new Lovejoy Bakers outlet in S. Waterfront.  Their Pearl store contains a number of out-of-the- ordinary touches –  adirondack chairs outdoors on a wooden boardwalk, plenty of windows producing an airy vibe,  stools … Continue reading →

Because the downtown site of the growing Barista enterprise does not open until 9, the four of us were planning an extended ride through S. Waterfront beforehand, in part to look at the under-construction Tilikum Crossing bridge, on this cool … Continue reading →

Seven of us took advantage of another amazingly dry (and crisp) winter day to venture downtown to a new shop just west of downtown. Considered one of the premier roasters in town over the last few years at their NE … Continue reading →

Though two of us were familiar with this respected, hip shop from years of having worked downtown, two were new to it.   And all of us were disappointed that the music system felt extra loud this morning, making a relaxed … Continue reading →

Glad to report that the joy we experienced at our first discovery of Fehrenbacher Hof, stayed with us on this outing.  Originally we were wowed by the diversity of age groups and socioeconomics of the patrons; today it was the … Continue reading →

Rilassi’s remains the most ornate destination of the 90+shops we’ve visited, with a fountain, curved stairway, large angelic paintings, and lions guarding the front entry.   While we enjoy the unusualness of the ornate trappings, we’d like to see some  … Continue reading →

This was another instance where second and third visits were very rewarding.   Our initial take was that JoLa’s contained most of the ingredients for a relaxing hangout: lots of striking art on walls, a variety of seating options, and good … Continue reading →

The recently opened downtown branch of Case Study is laid out almost perfectly for its downtown location across from the library. Full length corner windows for great streetscape views, warm toned wood finishes, a central mobile-like chandelier augmented by stylish … Continue reading →