The Oregon Coast Public Art Trail

The embarrassing thing about this post is that all of the art I have photos of is from Cannon Beach, even though it is a "trail" that spans the entire coast.

My putting quotes around "trail" is a big part of why I feel able to do this post now.

I saw that the trail existed a while back and was very interested; we love stuff like that.

When I first sought out more information, I was dismayed by how much there was to go through. Still, I am a determined sort, so I have clicked on every one of those dots on the map.

The deal is that a lot of them don't amount to much. Every mural and carved bench gets on it.

With hundreds of clicks, I found seven items that I really wanted to visit.

Also, a lot of it was familiar. Every time we go to Seaside I notice the giant Adirondack chair outside the one office, and wonder why it's there. Well, now I know: it's art!

It does not make sense to think of this as something carefully planned and worth pursuing.

It may make sense to check an area of the map before you go to a specific town, just to get an idea of what's there.

It is definitely great to have things like statues and carved benches and murals. It's cool when they are thought out and planned and coherent, but you can't always have everything.

For the record, three of the things I wanted to see were in Cannon Beach, including the sculpture in Whale Park that was the one photo in that original article I saw.

I am glad to have seen the whale, seal, and tufted puffins.

At some point I also hope to see the Charlie the Tunas in Charleston, and the Garden of Surging Waves in Astoria.

Otherwise, it's nice, but also a bit disappointing. 

COVID: Mostly outside, but it depends. For example, in Charleston there is one statue outside, and another inside the Visitors Center.

Accessibility: Too much variety to say, but a lot of it will depend on how accessible the town is. Cannon Beach is mixed.

https://visittheoregoncoast.com/oregon-coast-public-art-trail/ 

Portland Hop-On, Hop-off Trolley Tour

You may have seen a big pink trolley going around Portland. We hopped on it last week.

I have always found hop on/hop off tours to be a good way of getting the lay of the land, as well as for transportation to attractions. 

I have used that for getting around in Toronto and Philadelphia, and we had recently taken Gray Line's waterfall tour in the Gorge.

This was the first time we had done it with somewhere so familiar.

I enjoyed the tour information. While there were things I knew, there were other things that I didn't know or had not thought of. 

For example, as we were headed from downtown to Washington Park, the driver pointed out the Pittock Mansion, which you can see. It makes sense, but I had never noticed.

At the same time I had been thinking that with all of the various public transportation options, the hop-on, hop-off option would not be practical;  there are much easier ways to get around.

However, there were people who got off at the Rose Garden and on the Waterfront. They did seem to be from out of town, so they wouldn't know that you could just hop on the streetcar or train or Bus 20, but that makes sense.

We just got on at the first stop at Director Park, and rode the whole thing through once. 

That is a reasonable option, but not the only one.

COVID: We were sitting right by an open window and they were not particularly full, so you could argue for or against masking. Use good judgement.

Accessibility: All of the trolleys have a wheelchair lift, but they do ask for 48 hours notice.

https://www.graylineofportland.com/grayline-of-portland-faqs/ 

https://www.graylineofportland.com/portland-hop-on-hop-off-trolley/portland-hop-on-hop-off-trolley-schedule/

Jurassic World by Brickman at OMSI

Hey look! A baryonyx!

This is the newest of the dinosaurs created by Brickman, but also a relatively young dinosaur, its first fossil being discovered in 1983.

It opens up the Jurassic World exhibition at OMSI, running through September 1st. 

I had thought maybe it was just some prehistoric synergy, but in fact the exhibit is largely influenced by the movie, with various sets and activities relating to the new film. 

For example, the movie currently playing in the Empirical Theater is T-Rex, which deals with three kids discovering a teenage Tyrannosaurus rex fossil and is narrated by Sam Neill. There's not a direct connection, but it's a good fit. Synergy.

Then, looking at the many, many Lego kits on display, I might be a bit more cynical, that it's all just merchandising.

 It's a mix.

 The creations themselves are incredible. There also weren't that many of them.

A lot of the space was taken up with different stations where kids could make their own attempts at building an amusement park or footprints or hybrid monsters.

 I did think it was really clever that for the baby dinosaur enclosure the building material was Duplo.

This means that your children can have a great time with you just letting them play, with lots of different bricks available, interesting themes, and even tips from Brickman.

They are probably also going to request more kits. Check out the displays by the theater!

This made my biggest challenge trying to get pictures without kids in them. I find I don't have any I can use of the first room. Here is a juvenile sinoceratops instead.

 In that photo, you also get a preview of one of the more unique spatial solutions.

Even a juvenile brachiosaurus is quite large. So you have a head here, and then realize that those aren't trees, they are legs.

Then the tail is all the way at the end of the room.

There are things that are cool and interesting about the exhibit, but if you are not going to stay and play with Legos, it is over very quickly.  

 That's okay; I'm just glad we went on the cheap day.

Those ones mean more if you have seen the movie!

(For the record, I have only seen Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World (1997), and I'm okay with that.

COVID: There were so many germ vectors, I mean people, running around. I stayed masked, but I have also had something in my throat all week. Higher population may be one of the downsides of the cheap day.

Accessibility: This is pretty good, including a full and sturdy ramp for the photo opportunity in the Jeep(also made of Legos and with flashing lights!) being pursued by the T-Rex 

However, the path of the exhibition does include a pretty long flight of stairs. You can exit the room and take an escalator or elevator, then get back in, but it does disrupt the flow.  

 https://omsi.edu/exhibits/jurassic-world-by-brickman/