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2009 Winter Tour Blog, Day 3: Portland

Today's post comes from Rachel Wilf, a sophomore in Timothy Dwight College.

The Glee Club left Astoria early this morning heading for Portland. On the way we stopped in Seaside, a small beach town on the Pacific coast. Especially for a born Northeasterner like myself, the sight of the wide Pacific in the shadow of snowy mountains was exhilarating. Some Glee Clubbers waded into the (very cold) water and others struck up an impromptu game of ultimate Frisbee—which usually happens when Glee Clubbers have any free space to run around in.

After a bus ride through a snowy evergreen forest, which was definitely a transit highlight for many of us, we unloaded the buses in central Portland. Despite the chilly weather, we set off to explore Powell’s, the biggest bookstore west of the Mississippi—a bookstore as large as a city block, so expansive that you need a map to get around inside. Despite the size of the store, I kept running into other Glee Clubbers in the aisles, giving me a chance to get to know members new and old.

As many of us found out, Powell’s is only a few blocks from Voodoo Donut, a tiny hole-in-the-wall doughnut shop selling sinfully delicious doughnuts (I got a hot-out-of-the-oven apple fritter, narrowly chosen over the “Voodoo Blood Donut,” a raspberry jelly-filled glazed delicacy).

We finished off the day of exploring with a joint concert at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral with the Pacific Youth Choir (former home of Glee Club members Daniel Cruse ’11 and Rob Williams ’12). We were lucky enough to open for the Pacific Youth Choir’s excellent holiday concert. The beautiful cathedral was packed, and for many of us the concert felt like a trip down memory lane to listen to many old choir favorites.

Although we only had a few hours of free time in Portland, I certainly feel like I got a taste of the city. More importantly, though, I got to spend time with my fellow Glee Clubbers--always the best part of tour. I can’t wait to set off for Eugene tomorrow.

-Rachel Wilf TD '11

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