The last thing we did with my parents before they had to leave was walk around Waterfront Park in down town Portland. We actually had never been there only had seen it while driving and wanted to go check it out.
Its really not much of a park but more of a really long walking path along the Willamette River. The Willamette is the river that splits Portland in half. When ever I hear about something or a place in Portland I always have to ask which side of the river its on, just so I know how far away it is. The Waterfront park does have a few grass areas and water fountains along the way.
Wes chasing the geese.
It was a beautiful day.
BEWARE of the little history lesson....
A "Benson Bubbler". These are famous drinking fountains around Portland. They constantly have a flow of water ( you don't have to push a button to turn on). The have a funny story behind them. A well know lumber mill owner Simon Benson, one day in 1912, was walking around his mill and noticed his workers had all been drinking beer. When he asked them why they were drinking in the middle of the day they told him that they had nothing else to drink. So he had 20 of these drinking fountains placed around Portland. (there is much more now) Apparently beer consumption decreased 25% in Portland after they were place.
A fun fountain to play in. There is a little button on one of the benches that you can push and it will change the shape of the fountain. It can be very dangerous for an unsuspecting person walking across and the fountain starts to spray them. Or just really fun for the people watching. The kids had a blast playing in it. Even a few adults that were there.
Wes decided to act like the natives of the waterfront park. It is down town and we saw a few homeless people sleeping on benches, even some sleeping on the rocks (not sure how that could be comfortable) so Wes decided to try it out. Funny boy!
