Yes I did make it back from Portland and more specifically Vida Vegan Con. There’s so much to share it’ll be over the course of several posts (and days). It was a great experience and this is from someone who’s been to more blog conferences than I can count on two hands.
More years ago than I care to admit I went to college in a suburb of Portland. I loved the city then and feel in love with it all over again last weekend.
Exploring Downtown
My hotel was the Marriott Downtown Waterfront which was a nice 15 minute walk to the conference site. I took advantage of a weekend special and it was cheaper than the official conference hotel. A bonus was the water view from my room.
The service was fantastic at this hotel and I’d highly recommend it. Plus, there was free wi-fi in the lobby along with infused water. Every evening you can have a free 10 minute chair massage!
I found many interesting sites during my walk to and from the conference in addition to a morning walk along the waterfront. For instance, this Portland loo caught my eye.
I also got mixed messages about whether Portlanders need to conserve water or not. The airport restrooms have these water-saving handles (reminds me of my grandparents but I won’t go into details about how!).
Then I saw this water fountain perpetually running on a street corner.
Portland Commerce
Many of the other conference attendees shopped at the Vegan mini-mall. I didn’t make it over there but did find a bookstore where I could have stayed for days.
Yes, I shopped at Powells Books where there are over a million books spread amongst a city block size store in 3,500 sections. It was heaven for this book lover.
Walking back to the hotel after limiting myself to purchasing just three cookbooks, I saw this storefront.
I’d never seen a Bettie Paige store before, but there were many women in Portland dressing in a retro style including other conference attendees. I felt like I had missed some fashion memo!
And if all the shopping and vegan friendly restaurants and pubs weren’t enough to keep us all busy, there was the Farmer’s Market and the CityFair activities.
Conference Site
The daily conference sessions took place at the Portland Art Museum. What a beautiful place to spend three days! The main hall used for the exhibitors, meals and opening and closing remarks was a piece of art itself.
There were murals like the one shown above all around the room along with many other beautiful details that I failed to capture in photos. It was a joy to navigate around the art as we moved from session to session.
These are just a few of the things I enjoyed about the city. If you’ve been to Portland, what is your favorite thing about the city?
Your pictures are great! I spent a lot of time in Powell’s too. That place is amazing. I could have easily spent an entire day there. We saw those funky water fountain things to and they befuddled us as well. Hope to meet you irl at the next one!