Tigard, Oregon - Bannings Restaurant & Pie House

When you enter Bannings you encounter a sign...

This is sage advice, reinforced by the tempting display cases showing cakes and pies.

However, we did order food first.

That was okay. It certainly wasn't terrible, but also the food wasn't great.

Oddly, the best part was the bread, including my toast and my sister's English muffins.

It's like when we went to Cracker Barrel. Yes, those were the best baby carrots I'd ever had, but I wouldn't pick a restaurant based on the baby carrots.

But that doesn't, matter, because there are cakes, and pies.

Those are really good.

Embrace their strengths.

https://www.banningsrestaurant.com/

Portland Rose Festival CityFair (on the Waterfront)

 CityFair is too expensive. Serioualy. That was my main takeaway.

The average ride takes 9 tickets, but this extra cool ride where you lie on your stomach like you are hang gliding is 10.

To some extent you expect this kind of thing to be overpriced, but when I compare it to the Washington County Fair, for example, where you could at least get in free, then it seems like a bad bargain.

The fair does have some bands sectioned off, where there is extra admission, and here all of the entertainment is included, so that is one thing, but it also means different nights have different admission fees based on who is playing.

However, it is still an important part of the Portland year, and you may want to participate. Therefore, it is important to look for the bargains.

Most of that involves buying a pin at Fred Meyer for unlimited entry, and then a wristband on line for unlimited rides and three games.

 (I admit to being impressed that the wristband includes any games.)

That will not help you with food. Turkey legs were $13. They are less at Disneyland. (Though park entry is more, but it also covers more.) The $8.50 jumbo elephant ears truly were jumbo, though that made for some really crispy sections.

The biggest entertainment bargain was probably this video game and pinball arcade, where it was only 25 cents per game. Yes, you can get that at Ground Kontrol, but there was no Crystal Castles here to distract me from every other games while I tried fruitlessly to reach the end. (That's a personal problem.)

My personal favorite was Summer's Cotton Candy Art, where you could have cotton candy spun into various characters and creations. Also, they have steamed buns and fried ice cream.

I was not able to find more information, although it appears they did have a booth at the Bite of Bend.

One warning, though, cotton candy art is ephemeral. I carried this duck carefully, with no squishing, and by the time I got home he had shrunk down into a parakeet/lovebird, something like that.

Perhaps that makes it most emblematic of summer fun.

Or maybe the most emblematic part was when two little boys came off of a ride and asked their mother if they could go yet. She pointed and told them to go on another ride, and the oldest asked, "Then can we go?"

Outings don't always work out the way you want. That's one more good reason to look for discounts.

http://www.rosefestival.org/waterfront/city-fair

Portland - Cookie Dough Cafe

Everyone knows the deliciousness of cookie dough, and how that has to be balanced against the dangers of eating uncooked eggs.

The Cookie Dough Cafe provides a way to enjoy your cookie dough; with ice cream if you want, but not merely as an ingredient in ice cream.

I appreciate the philosophy, and the do a good job of illustrating the theme with wall decor and invented language.

You can get scoops of just dough or batter, or combine those scoops with scoops of ice cream, with the usual available syrups and toppings.

They also have little truffles.

I suspect that we would have been happier trying the truffles, because it is easy for the pure dough to be too much of a good thing. Most of us did not finish our portions, though the vegan brownie batter went down a little easier. (But honestly, you can eat more brownie batter than cookie dough in general, can't you?)

There are also take-out options available, allowing you to have just a little bit at a time over an extended period of time.

https://www.thecookiedoughcafe.com/

Portland - The Peculiarium

We recently visited The Peculiarium, perhaps the place that best encapsulates Portland's desire to be kept weird.

We should remember, though, that Terry Currier didn't make "Keep Portland Weird" an official slogan until 2003. The Peculiarium has been around much longer, born the same year as me.

I'm don't know if this is supposed to be Samara from the ring or not, but I'm not going to take any film recommendations from her.

The Peculiarium is reasonably priced: only $5.00, or free with a decent costume. I am not sure how stringent the definition of "decent" is, but the people we talked to were all pretty nice.

I especially appreciated their understanding of consent, because that desire to be edgy and cool can really bring out the worst in some people.

This went beyond reminders not to force people to enter or look at things or get close to things, and included a reminder to not force your kids to sit on Krampus' lap!

That being said, it is pretty awesome that we have a place where you can sit on the lap of Krampus and... do you tell him what you want if you have been naughty? I'm not sure how that part works. Wrong time of year anyway.

Much of the collection were cases of collectibles, like Star Wars contraband seized at Comic-Con, or models of these memorable cars.

Also, it is nice to know where there is a vampire killing kit available, just in case.

Sadly, The Peculiarium was one of those venues where I seemed to get a lot of photographic interference, making many of the photos come out blurred. Bad lighting? or something more sinister?

The Peculiarium has its weaknesses. One is some difficulty in nailing things down. The sign says they were founded in 1972, the web page 1967. The map mentions ghostly bongos, but doesn't give any other details, and web searching doesn't reveal any other references. I want to know where the ghostly bongos are!

In addition, maybe sometimes they don't trust in their own horror. For example, if the dollhouse is really haunted, it shouldn't need all the ghastly room decor, right? So there is some - if you will pardon the expression - overkill, which tends toward silliness.

But it is only $5, and that will allow you time in a coffin, plus pictures with Krampus, Sasquatch, and as part of an alien autopsy.

If the pictures come out.

https://www.peculiarium.com/

Portland Tram

My sister and I tried doing the 4T trail on Labor Day, with less than satisfactory results, including never getting to the tram:

https://sporktogo.blogspot.com/2018/11/portland-metro-area-t4-trail.html 

Having ridden the tram a few times since then, I decided to take pictures the next time and then write it up.

If you think of the tram as a tourist attraction, it will probably be kind of disappointing. It's purpose is to move people (and sometimes equipment) up and down the hill, which is needed by many people daily. It appears to work pretty well for that.

There is some view, but it is not sightseeing. The angle and set-up don't really take advantage of potential landmarks.

There is a little bit of rocking as you hit the towers, but it is not by any means a thrill ride (and would not be a practical means of mass transit if it were).

It is easier than driving down would be, and faster than waiting for a bus.

In conjunction with its role in mass transit, it is adjacent to the largest bike rack I have ever seen, and it gets pretty full (though you cannot tell from this picture).

Also as part of its role in mass transit, they honor Tri-Met and C-Tran annual and monthly passes, OHSU employees and patients are pre-paid (though you do need a badge), and no tickets or passes are needed for the ride down.

If none of that applies and you want to ride up just for the experience, well, it's not the worst thing you could do, and $4 isn't a bad price.

http://www.gobytram.com

(But don't take the 4T trail to get there. I can't stress that enough.)