Keep Portland Weird! Pt. 1

So there is this saying in Portland that was borrowed from Santa Cruz before it was borrowed from Austin, TX. Keep this town weird! Although we were not the first to adopt this adage, I dare say we are the best at it. It is the desire to be unique, to be unconventional, to buck the norm. Its the creative spirit, its the largest and smallest city parks in the United States, its the highest number of strip joints per capita in the Nation, its the most number of people standing on one leg simultaneously (wha?!). Whatever it is we like (some) of it.
May and I took the unofficial tour of some weird stuff just before Christmas. It was a sunny day, which was very weird indeed.

Hippo Hardware is 30,000 sq. ft of pure insanity. Operated in Portland since 1976 this handymans wet dream has everything you could possibly need to refurbish, redecorate, or rebuild your house. The place is owned by Steven Miller and he said there is only one rule in the place, "if you are an asshole, I will refuse you service." It was super dusty in there and my allergies were acting up, so we got out and headed down towards the water to the Burnside Skate park.

Burnside skate park is the stuff of legend if you grew up a skate kid in California. This park was built without permission by true visionaries of the sport, underneath the Burnside Bridge. Its like the cool hangout that your older brother knew about, but you could never go to. Everyday the most bodacious skaters shred this place up. Someday I too will ride its smooth concrete walls and reflect on what it means to be a pioneer.

Speaking of pioneers...Over in the downtown area, we stumbled upon what is possibly the weirdest thing we saw in Portland all day. Say hello to the first ever coin operated 24 Hour Church of Elvis!!!! What?! Yes this coin operated art establishment was created by Stephanie Pierce "artist to the stars" and will provide psychic readings for only 25 cents. For a dollar you can be wed right there by the ghost of Elvis. Hunk a hunk of burning love it right!

Well that just about did her for our exploration of Portland's weirdest and wildest sights!