Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
sioned by writer-turned-railway owner Henry Villard—who went bust
before his plans for the station could be completed. A somewhat-more-
modest version of Villard's idea was eventually built, and the interior
was later remodeled by Pietro Belluschi. It's now owned and main-
tained by the Portland Development Commission. Attached to the sta-
tion is a fittingly old-school restaurant-piano bar, Wilf's, with wingback
red-velvet chairs, brick walls, chandeliers, and live jazz on the week-
ends.
From Union Station, walk south along NW 6th Ave. Turn left at NW
Everett and walk three blocks. At NW 3rd and Everett is Lan Su
Chinese Garden. The idea of the garden was initially sparked when
Portland established a sister-city relationship with Suzhou, China;
gradually, momentum grew, funds were raised, and plans were made.
The garden opened in September 2000, adding an important degree of
solidity to the hopeful notion that Old Town was really on its way up.
The garden is a tranquil and restorative place, especially remarkable
considering its location, and it has that magical ability to seem much
larger on the inside than it looks from the outside. There's also an ad-
joining tea shop where you can sample a wide range of traditional teas
and light snacks.
From Everett, turn right onto NW 2nd Ave., then right again on NW
Davis. At NW 6th Ave. turn left; halfway down this block, on your right
(at 125 NW 6th Ave.), was once Satyricon, the longest-running punk
club on the West Coast, something like the Portland equivalent of
CBGB (and similarly nonexistent today). It's hard to overestimate the
importance of the club to Portland's live-music scene, and equally tough
to imagine a venue today where you could see so many awesome bands
in such a small space—Nirvana opened for Mudhoney here in 1989, to
give just one example. The capacity was about 200 people.
Satyricon closed for good in 2010 (after having closed temporarily in
2003, turned into a soulless club called Icon, closed briefly again, then
revived as an all-ages nightclub), and the building was torn down, an
event that, apart from being very sad, must have smelled terrible.
(Satyricon's men's room, for years, featured a communal
“trough”—enough said?)
On NW Couch St. turn left, and you'll reach Ground Kontrol, a play-
ground for Portland-style grown-ups, a.k.a. permanent adolescents. It
