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Portland offers places to
socialize and shop

Downtown Portland contains a people-watcher's paradise

The Saturday Market, located under the Burnside Bridge between Naito Parkway and First Avenue at Burnside and Ankeny provides 274 stalls to vendors. With approximately 30,000 people wandering through the market each weekend, a lot of buying and selling takes place.

"Some people come to see one particular vendor, but most come to take in the whole experience--the food, the entertainment, and, of course, the art," said Liza Asner, promotions coordinator for the market.

More than half of the market's crafts people receive a majority of their income from the market, according to the Saturday Market website. A panel of members assure that each item the vendors sell is handcrafted and meets the market's standards of quality.

A customer can browse through huge assortments of items. Jewelry is one of the most common items for sale. Black velvet or glass cases containing an assortment of rings, earrings, toe rings, nose rings and any other kind of ring cover tables upon tables.

The market also offers many natural products such as homemade soaps, clothing made from organically grown cotton and organically grown chai tea.

Live musicians play each weekend on a stage in the food court, and an eclectic mix of street performers make the Saturday Market their hang out. One Saturday, a musician sang his heart out as people stepped off the Max at the Skidmore Fountain stop. His feet tapped to the beat; his arms worked an accordion. His mouth blew into a harmonica whenever he paused in his singing. He only asked that generous shoppers spare a little change for his hard work. After all, he was providing background music as each person shopped.

The Saturday Market is open from March to Dec. 24 on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The Saturday Market provides hundreds of products for the individual to see, smell, taste or touch. But one product common to the Northwest is missing--coffee. Not a single vendor at the Saturday Market sells coffee.

Coffee Time at 710 N.W. 21st Ave. fufills a coffee lover's caffeine desires. Sandwiched between Lucy's Table and Monkey Business Trading, Coffee Time caters to those desiring an espresso fix and those wanting a more foofy coffee drink in the Northwest-Nob Hill district of Portland.

Live music from any number of Portland-based musicians play in the front room of Coffee Time on Friday nights. Poetry readings take place every Tuesday night in the back room. Coffee Time is smoke-free except for a smoking room in the back.

Booths line the front room along with a few square tables pushed against the walls. In the back rooms, couches share the space with padded chairs around more small square tables. Murals cover the walls in the front room and the poetry reading room. In the middle room, art by local artists decorates the walls. Each piece of art is usually for sale.

Seating capacity runs around 50 to 65 people, including the smoking room and outside. Outside, under a canopy, heat lamps hang during the winter. Customers can drink coffee there and still stay warm and dry despite the Portland rain.

The colorful characters who frequent Coffee Time make people-watching a popular sport for most customers. Patrons' eyes might glance from their coffee to the person across the table, to the curious individual dressed in spiked orange heels, a pink go-go dress and green hair.

Prices for a coffee drink cost $1.15 for a shot of espresso, $1.95 for a tall latte, $2.35 for a tall mocha, and $1.20 for a tall cup of joe. Two baristas usually man the controls behind the counter. An assortment of bagels and pastries are also available.

If sitting around for a couple of hours sipping coffee sounds boring, two streets west of 21st Avenue lies 23rd Avenue. Twenty-third Avenue bustles with enough shops and people to fix any window-shopping or people-watching craving.

Shops extend for 10 or more blocks along 23rd Avenue and provide food, gift and home design items, clothing and housewares to customers. Bagel shops, bread shops, Italian and Greek restaurants all line 23rd. These eatieries will silence any stomach grumblings one might have.

Novelty shops filled with postcards, decoder rings, refrigerator magnets, wooden umbrellas and artificial barf dot the street, too. Wham, a novelty store, sells post cards, greeting cards, toys, posters and T-shirts.

Stores such as Cargo and Apertos sell more expensive gifts. Cargo specializes in merchandise reminiscent of the Far East along with candles and feather wings. Apertos sells natural soap in every color and fragrance imaginable along with decorating items in themes ranging from Italian to Asian to 19th century Americana.

Clothing fills the shop windows with the latest fashions for the trendy or the antique clothing shopper. Shirts, silk screened with pictures of Buddha, fill the window next to a store that sells vintage dresses from the '70s.

Stores such as Kitchen Kaboodle and the Pottery Barn serve up enough housewares to fill 100 designer kitchens. Funky '50s blenders, citrus fruit-colored plates and whizzled-wire wine bottle holders were just a few of the items for sale.

Every color imaginable is splashed across 23rd Avenue. Purple crepe paper swings in the breeze, lime green plates adorn a table next to a window filled with a wrought iron bed covered with a beige bed spread. The asphalt is black against the gray concrete of the sidewalk. The street is a sensory feast.

The Saturday Market, Coffee Time and 23rd Avenue are all eye-catching places that can provide entertaining experiences at a low cost.