Portland has arrived!

Well, if you consider Glamour magazine "arriving." No matter, it was still pretty cool to stumble across a mention of good ole Portland when I was reading their "Summer Must List" last night. There I was, frantically taking down notes so I can make sure to be in the cool crowd this summer (apparently, I must remember to paint my toenails neon pink and order green iced teas and French 75 cocktails), and then bam! Nestled amongst Pucci bikinis, teal eyeliner, Isaac Mizrahi for Target khaki pencil skirts, and weiner dog corn handles (these are actually kinda cute), was the very place I call home. If Glamour had a better website that actually contained any content, I could link you to the very article, but alas, you're going to have to make do with this direct quotation:

go somewhere fabulous:

$ PORTLAND, OREGON Full of pretension-free galleries and bars, it's the anti-Miami. Stay at the Kennedy School Bed & Breakfast. From $84 a night, kennedyschool.com.

Other "fabulous destinations"? Mexico City ($$), Thailand ($$), and Porto Ecole, Italy ($$$). Not bad company, right? I'm not sure yet how I feel about the whole "anti-Miami" label...I guess I just don't like putting a label on Portland, period, but as long as people don't equate "anti-Miami" with "anti-cool" and boring, and instead think laid-back, down-to-earth, fun, energetic, edgy excitement, than I guess it's okay.

And Kennedy School. Not a bad choice - especially if you're going for the whole "anti-Miami" vacation - but if I was coming to Portland for the first time I might stay at some place more central, in the thick of it (Hotel Lucia (hip, modern), The Benson (classic, old-school elegance), or the Jupiter Hotel (east-side cool)). Then again, Kennedy School is a very "Portland" place to be. Curious about it? Especially since Glamour gave you so little in the way of actual information? Well, consider Liz and the PONYtales blog your knight in shining armor coming to your rescue. Below are some pictures of Kennedy School, so all you New Yorkers can get a feel for what Glamour's talking about. Come out for a visit some time, ya hear!



The lovely exterior. Kennedy School is really an old elementary school that the McMenamins brothers bought and renovated (along with pretty much every other old building in Portland - McMenamins are more prolific than McDonalds around here!). The restaurant is the old cafeteria, the hotel rooms are old classrooms and the movie theatre is the old auditorium. The courtyard, gym and bathrooms all remain the same.



One of the guest rooms/old classrooms, complete with chalk board.



The movie theatre shows second-run movies (out of the main theatres but not yet on video) for just $3, plus you can drink beer or wine and eat yummy pizza all the while. John and I like to make sure we get a comfy couch to snuggle up on - sorry, was that too much information?



The Detention Bar rocks. Dark and smoky, serving cigars and whisky to a soundtrack of moody jazz. The Honors Bar is on the other side of the school, serving fruity cocktails and playing classical music. For the first time in my life, I want to go to detention.