Powell's City of Books Portland Oregon

A Most Amazing Book Store

It's funny when a book store is a tourist destination in a city. But that is exactly what Powell's City of Books store has become.

We decided to visit this much talked about tourist attraction in the downtown Pearl district of Portland. We weren't disappointed.

Don't be surprised if you are completely confused with stacks of books everywhere and color coded signs designating where various categories of books are stored.

Best to grab a color coded map of all the floors at the front desk as you enter the store. That will help you alot.

Then you might want to get yourself a cup of coffee, a pastry or a little sandwich to gear up for the adventure that awaits. That's what we did.

You won't be alone that's for sure. Lots of people drinking and eating snacks as they leisurely peruse their reading material. I think some people might live here.

By now you should be able to maneuver through the floors and find what you are looking for. New and used books are shelved in the same area according to topic. I personally headed to the italian language area and kept myself busily entertained for a long while.

Childrens reading area

Powell's is definitely worth a stop if you are in Portland. Have fun!

"Powell's Books is a chain of bookstores in the Portland Metropolitan area. Powell's headquarters, dubbed Powell's City of Books, claims to be the largest independent bookstore in the world . Powell's City of Books is located in the Pearl District on the edge of downtown, and occupies a full city block between NW 10th and 11th Avenues and between W. Burnside and NW Couch Streets. It contains over 68,000 square feet (6,300 m2), about 1.6 acres of retail floor space.
The inventory for its retail and online sales is over four million new, used, rare and out-of-print books . Powell's buys around 3000 used books a day."-Wikipedia

1005 W Burnside St

Portland, OR 97209

Neighborhood: Downtown

The Path That Led to Portland

"Far away in the sunshine, are my highest aspirations... I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead."- Louisa May Alcott

Oregon's beautiful coastal beaches

My cousins daughter Emi moved to Portland last summer after graduation from college. Knowing she was there was the impetus for her mom Pati, Pati's sister Jan and myself to choose Portland as the destination for our birthday getaway trip.

We loved Emi's little Christmas tree in her first very own apartment.

Here's Emi and her mom cooking for us.

We loved having tacos at Emi's house along with some great margaritas. After dinner we played
Bananagrams. Lots of fun family time together.

Emi was a wonderful guide....

Uhhh where did we park the car?

We liked celebrating our birthdays with Emi. Here she is with her Auntie Jan.

Pati lives in Vermont on the other side of the country. These were special times to be together with her.

Emi has a job here working with children in an after school day care program.

We are all so proud of Emi. She has great compassion for her work with children. It was easy to see how well loved she was by all the kids.

We also liked taking walks in her neighborhood of Sellwood, a suburb of Portland. (You can read about Sellwood in a separate posting on this blog.)

The houses are cute and the neighborhood is very quaint.

Here is the back porch of Emi's house. She has the downstairs portion of the two story home.

This is the view of her backyard.

It's a cozy place and a wonderful home to come back to after a day at work with the children.

We had fun stocking up her kitchen with utensils and various kitchen items. There is something very special about your first apartment on your own.

I like this photo of Emi fixing her mom's hair. Such a sweet mom and daughter moment.

We loved being a part of Emi's Portland journey. Wishing her great times in the months ahead.

Exploring the Sellwood Neighborhood of Portland

There are many antique shops, interesting little stores and cafes.

Sellwood has a friendly vibe. There's a feeling that all are welcome in this cozy little neighborhood.

Our first stop the "Grand Central Baking Company" for breakfast.

The biscuits were delicious...large and fluffy with just the right amount of crunch on the crust.

Mmmm I want some more of the homemade berry jam on that yummy biscuit.

Lots of food wagons on the street. Take your pick.

Fun specialty stores...

Lots of interesting items

these robots were fun...

A cup of jo

is just around the corner...take your pick, lots of places to choose from

Many ethnic restaurants for your dining pleasure.

We decided to eat here one night

Here we are

don't forget the dessert....mmmmm we'll take one of each

Sellwood feels very self-sustaining. Local grocery store "New Seasons" , many local coffee shops and

a few local coffee roasters make this community feel warm and alot like its own small town. Walking the streets of Sellwood evokes a "back in the good old days" feeling, small town, personal and extremely friendly.

On our last day we ate a great breakfast at Lili's.

Sellwood is a walkable and inviting place to live. It has a great sense of community pride. We really enjoyed this quaint, wonderful little neighborhood.