Saturday found thousands of Portlanders at the Mississippi Avenue street fair, eating, drinking, and shopping their way from Skidmore to Fremont. Mississippi Ave, the heart of the Boise-Eliot neighborhood, is a jumping spot. Over the past 5 or 6 years, all sorts of upscale specialty shops, restaurants, and bars have joined a handful of businesses that have been there for years. There's a lighting shop that I think has every light bulb known on earth and lots of other parts. The Rebuilding Center is there in 
the heart of things--you can get used stuff from someone else's remodel there--particularly good for people who are restoring rather than remodeling.
One new business creating a stir, is Starbucks. They may be closing like clams on a dry beach around the country, but come August 22, there will be a brand new one, right next door to The Fresh Pot, a great indy coffee joint that brews up Stumptown beans into some of the tastiest joe available on the planet. Locals have expressed their feelings about the newcomer (see photo to the left) and, if Sharpie on brown paper means anything, there won't be a line for Frappachinos. Of course, people who don't like coffee have to be able to get a "coffee drink" somewhere--maybe it will keep them out of Fresh Pot!
I snapped this shot of Nancy next to Obama--"He's not nearly as big as LeBron" was her take...and that's when LeBron was 18...Here he is now
It was a great day for sunflowers.
2 comments:
I am 99% sure that the Starbucks display was put up by the record store owner as his commentary on the street fair and the changes in the neighborhood. Last year he had a "FU" sign up in the window.
Love Nancy and Barak and LeBron. Go Nancy!
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