It’s become a personal joke that every travel article written about Portland contains at least one factual error and the odds are even that the phrase “at the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers” will rear its head.

Joseph Blake’s Portland travel article for the Calgary Herald, West coast cool, does not submit to the latter, but falls right in line on the former.

During a recent, long weekend my wife and I spent hours at Portland’s sprawling Art Museum, an afternoon enjoying views of Mt. Ranier, Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens while walking the trails of Washington Park, and an evening at the Center Stage production of Guys and Dolls, but mostly we ate, and ate, and ate.

Actually this one’s a twofer; Mt. Rainier is misspelled and, though Wikipedia says “on days of exceptional clarity, it can also be seen from as far away as Portland, Oregon”, it is the mountain vista one associates with Seattle. In all probability Mt. Adams was the third mountain in Mr. Blake’s purview.

But that’s nitpicking. As travel articles go, it’s fine. Standards such as Powells Books, the Pearl District, NW 23rd, Saturday Market, and *sigh*, Paley’s Place make appearances, and there are some good lines:

If you love cities, you’ll love Portland. Oregon’s largest city is both a nostalgic reflection of North America’s early 20th-century urban boom and an in-the-moment vision of a dynamic, environmentally sensitive modern city that works.