Thanks to my sister Laura giving me a special gift to celebrate 60 years, Graham and I enjoyed a brunch cruise on the Willamette River in Portland.We’d been on a dinner cruise a few years ago on the Ohio River out of Huntington, West Virginia with our friends Deb and Milt Hankins, so I sort of expected something similar.
Not being super familiar with Portland yet we drove in early to give ourselves plenty of time to find parking (2 blocks away for $5) and maneuver around the Rose Festival which had the riverfront area blocked off for concerts and rides and other fun fair activities.
We made it to the dock in time to chat with the captain who, while chomping down a commercial donut, told us how terrific the food is. (And it was pretty good!) Missed that donut photo for you, though!
The cruise headed upriver, which is south from downtown Portland. The gray overcast cleared and we ended up with beautiful blue skies. Activity on the river shows how much people enjoy having this playground. 
Development along a riverfront can tell you something about the way a City considered its access to a natural resource. While we did see one industrial business, it is only fair to tell you that most of the commercial and industrial development in Portland is along the Columbia River, not the Willamette.This has left the shorelines free for recreational and residential development for much of what we passed.
OMSI (Science Museum) includes a submarine built after WWII
I particularly enjoyed the floating houses.
And of course there were plenty of mansions.
As we returned downstream the number of bridges became apparent, from the aged Sellwood Bridge which is past time getting replaced
All bridges are given a safety rating from 1 to 100. The Sellwood Bridge rating is a 2. Would you drive across it?
to the new Portland-Milwaukie light rail bridge which will provide a river crossing for mass transit, bicycles and pedestrians, but not automobiles.
We caused one lift bridge to disrupt traffic,but turned back south(upriver) before the next one.
Both Graham and I noticed some downtown construction features-a rooftop tree planted plaza and solar arrays over one roof.
There are a lot of things about Portland that are truly admirable! The respect for the natural resource of the Willamette River that flows through the City is one great example.
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