Rediscovering why I was out and about, thanks to several photos that I took.

Paul Mitchell School, downtown Portland, seen when I was out and about on November, 19, 2010. Wonder what I was doing downtown after dark? I remember walking along, seeing this through the window and taking photos, but I don't know why I was out and about.



Looking at the other photos that I took that evening, I remembered why I was out and about. I had read about The Original Dinerant in the paper, decided to check it out. The food was good, especially for a happy hour menu, and priced right. However, I've not been back but a few times since then, mainly because I now live within walking distance of my local bar The Blue Diamond where the food is great and affordable, the service fantastic, all brought to you by real people who are great human beings. Nothing against anyone at The Original, but it's not within walking distance.



Here's the reason that I walked up SW Oak from The Original. I wanted to get a night photo of the Benson Hotel. On our first visit to Portland, summer 2004, Mama and I stayed here, so the place is special to me; my younger son Leland worked there as a line/prep cook which adds to my personal special factor. I got a great photo that night before walking on up SW Oak and catching a bus back home.

Here's what I found at the Oregon Encyclopedia about the hotel back in 2010 when I went online:

The Benson Hotel, built in Portland by pioneer lumberman Simon Benson in 1913, was constructed as an annex to the adjacent Oregon Hotel to the south. It was originally called the New Oregon Hotel. Soon after it opened, however, it became known as the Benson. The older hotel was demolished in 1959 to make way for a new addition.

Conceived as a high-end hotel in downtown Portland, the Benson was designed by architect A.E. Doyle, who modeled it after the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. Doyle's design used the elements of the Baroque Revival Style in a grand manner, sheathing the twelve-story building in red brick and cream-colored, glazed terra cotta.

The massive mansard roof is covered in copper and green terra cotta and pierced with pediment dormers. (My photo, taken August 5, 2010, during the Architectural Heritage Center Downtown Terra Cotta Walk. Near as I can tell, the golden sphere rests inside a vase-like depression and is held in place by a scroll-like shape. I was wishing for a gargoyle.)

The interior also displayed an opulent touch. The lobby featured rare Circassian walnut woodwork from Russia, Italian marble floors, and Austrian crystal chandeliers. The ceiling was punctuated with ornate plaster designs of acanthus, rosettes, egg-and-dart, and other classical motifs. Noted lighting designer Fred Baker created the lighting fixtures for the interior. The Benson Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

The $1 million, 200-room hotel boasted the latest in modern conveniences, including private baths, automatic door switches, electric lights, and telephones in each room. The hotel has been well maintained over the years, receiving a thorough rehabilitation in 1991. The Benson Hotel has always sought to attract a high-end clientele, which included show business celebrities, business leaders, politicians, and many U.S. presidents.

Simon Benson (1852-1942) gradually accumulated a fortune in the timber business, shipping large quantities of lumber to southern California to supply a building boom in the early years of the twentieth century. He sold his holdings in 1910, invested in real estate, and built the hotel that bears his name.

Written by William F. Willingham

And this is from Wikipedia:

The Benson Hotel is a 287 room historic hotel building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. It is owned and operated by Coast Hotels & Resorts. It was originally known as the New Oregon Hotel, and is commonly known as "The Benson." It has a reputation as one of Portland's finest hotels. The hotel is named after notable businessman and philanthropist Simon Benson.

Simon Benson had wished to build a world-class hotel in Portland. During the population boom that occurred between the 1905 Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition and the Great Depression, Benson fulfilled his wish.

The firm of Doyle, Patterson, and Beach designed the main hotel building in French Second Empire style. The hotel opened 1912 and Chicago's Blackstone Hotel served as the inspiration of the building's overall design. The building was originally an annex to the Oregon Hotel, and was known as the New Oregon Hotel.

In 1959, the old Oregon Hotel next door was demolished to, ironically, make way for a 175 room annex to the 1912 building. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Benson Bubbler, seen at night.

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My favorite Benson Bubbler to photograph at night. On the corner of SW 6th and SW Main, with enough wind that the water's falling sideways. And an approaching TriMet bus in the background. All of these elements add up to a photo that I like. Click here for last year's post about the same bubbler, from a different perspective. I love these Portland water fountains!

I cannot resist sharing these two photos of the Albertina Kerr building with you, especially after the foggy one yesterday.

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You can see where the hedge ends, the raised corner bed starts there in the shadow--it's been replanted with hardy cold weather plants.



Here's a photo that gives you a chance to see the steps I walked up to get to the gardens so that I could take all of those Nature's beauty photos. The sandwich board at the top of those steps mentions the restaurant and the gift shop inside the building.

Here's what I found at the Albertina Kerr Web site, so you'll know a bit about the center:

Since 1907, Albertina Kerr has strengthened Oregon families and communities. Today, we provide programs and services to children and adults with developmental disabilities and mental health challenges - empowering them to live richer lives.

We're building an army of angels. A community that stands together. Where we challenge the norm to create a society that has no barriers. Where people who face developmental disabilities and mental health challenges are included and empowered. Where families are supported and children have reason to smile. Where everyday people reach out to the most vulnerable and give back to their community. 

Thank you for joining us.

Streets at Night, February 26, 2013, intersection of Burnside and 10th

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When I walked from Kenny & Zuke's back to West Burnside to wait for the bus, the Sizzle Pie lighted letters tempted me into stopping for a photo. Across West Burnside from it, you can see the Doc Martens, store. The tracks in the street, shining in the foreground of the photo, serve the Portland Streetcar. Since it wasn't cold or raining and I had 12 minutes to wait for the 20 bus just to get to the stop at SW 4th and West Burnside where I would need to transfer to the 12 or the 19, whichever arrived first, I decided to walk the six blocks. All of the books I'd bought earlier at Powell's Books fit into my backpack, so the walk was nothing but interesting--photography-wise. More coming soon.

My first attempt at a make-shift panorama collage

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Powell's Books takes up an entire city block, from West Burnside that you see here on the south side of the store, north to NW Couch, east to NW 10th, and west to NW 11th. After I'd been to their Friends & Family Night on Tuesday, February 26, I walked south to Kenny & Zuke's Delicatessen for supper before heading back to the bus stop in front of Powell's. I took these photos and decided to try to make a panorama out of them. I like how it turned out. What about you?

Seen in downtown Portland, backlit bicyclists

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December 5, 2012, the night I walked to Pioneer Courthouse Square between homeward-bound buses in order to get a good photo of Portland's Christmas tree, I saw these two waiting in the traffic while I waited to cross the street. There's a good chance they are headed east to cross the Hawthorne Bridge. 

I cannot remember which intersection this is, so I've looked at the photos before and after it, in the download on my iMac. I've looked at the trees and the light fixture on the wall in the photo. I've made my best guess and have Google-Mapped SW Broadway and street-viewed SW Broadway and SW Salmon. There it is! Yep, they're headed east on SW Salmon which could eventually put them on the Hawthorne Bridge, or to some north/south thoroughfare that would take them to other bridges open to bicycles in Portland. Pretty cool. 

If I were younger, I often wonder, would I ride a bike here? I honestly do not know. I did ride a bike to the grocery store and to acting classes back in 1971-72 in Kansas City, Missouri--my neighborhood was in between the oldest area of KCMO and the downtown area, on bus lines and with wide streets. So, I rode the bus to work and the bicycle on errands, after I had sold my car. Younger, more limber, less fearful of consequences because, like most youth, I knew nothing could ever happen to me because it would only happen to someone else. 

Four runners

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On Tuesday after work, I decided to walk west across the Hawthorne Bridge. Why not, I thought, it's around 50 degrees and not raining. Little did I know that gusts of wind would buffet me every time I stopped to take a photo--I pulled up the hood on my raincoat, thankful that I had layers underneath it, a sweater set and a sweatshirt jacket. 

Still, I enjoyed myself quite a bit, happy for the walk and the photo opportunities. I noticed these four women running, two eastward, two westward. My hope was that no one would come around my left side and get in the way of the photo I wanted to take--this one of the four of them side-by-side. I've cropped it a bit, otherwise, it's straight out of the camera.

Here's the same photo, with a bit of fill light added. Which version do you prefer? I like the lighting in the SOOC, but I wasn't certain you'd be able to see the runners well enough, so I added the fill light at BeFunky.