Bend, Oregon, USA
Created | Updated Dec 2, 2004
Bend lies in Deschutes County in the center of Oregon, three hours south of Portland and just 45 minutes east of Mt. Bachelor. The town grew up as a lumber town in the 'Old West' and has since grown to be a town of close to 70,000. There's a small airport in the neighboring town of Redmond and Highway 97 goes right through the heart of Bend.
The town has a rather large hill called Awbrey Butte. Everyone on that hill is very rich. This is not entirely true of course. The community college is on the hill too. The college's dorms are filled with starving artist types who will criticise your tastes in comic books; one must agree, however, that 'Goodbye Chunky Rice' is better than 'Blankets'.
There's about 300 days of sunshine, when it does rain it's often accompanied by terrific thunderstorms. The four seasons are in full swing in Central Oregon.
The town has hippies, yuppies, groupies, hipsters, hicks, trollops and librarians. . . but perhaps most of all it has alternative sports enthusiasts. If you somehow end up here, take advantage of the splendiferous outdoors if you can and eat some real burritos.
Food (Free and Otherwise)
The residents of Bend have an incredible fascination with Burritos, and as such have erected a number of burrito stands and dug many a burrito-centric holes in the walls, nearly all of which are fabulously cheap. These two are especially recommended.
Los Jalapenos If you're coming in from the north on the highway take a left on Greenwood (from the south, go right ya dummy). Large burritos for very cheap.
Taco Stand is near downtown and any knowledgeable-looking Bendite will be able to point you it's specific location. Of particular note is Taco Stand's superior sauces. The chunky salsa is fabulously perfect and fresh (ask for extra! No additional charges at all), the green sauce is delicious and 'monster' is for those of you with extreme tastes. Medium sized burritos for extremely cheap.
(Taco Stand is also located right next to a laundromat.)
A dining recommendation for late nights would be the north Shari's location (the south one is alright. . .). Fantastic late night atmosphere and almost certainly some interesting or amusing people will come through. Ungreat food though. Shari's is best for coffee, strawberry lemonades and paper napkins to draw time travel diagrams on. They are great about refills too.
Roberto's 24 hour burrito shop is my only other late-night non-bar recommendation. One location on the Highway, one on the westside.
Downtown on Bond Street is Great Harvest Bakery which'll give you a free THICK slice of awfully good bread each day.
Big O' Bagels is located on the Westside (Down past Drake Park, which is downtown) and they put their two-day olds out by their dumpster each day. Feel free to stop by!
(NOTE: Avoid the 'malls' of Bend. They are worse than usual.)
Dives
The Grove downtown on Bond Street is decidedly funky and eclectic. Lots of Events and music (largely techno). Very Hip. . . a lil' pricey though.JC's near the corner of Franklin and Wall St. is also downtown and is lively, serves good drinks, sports streetside-seating, and all types of people.
Of course there are bars all over the place. The Astro Louge on Minnesota avenue downtown is a good singles bar and is nextdoor to another bar. Wander about and you'll find plenty of 'em, although some bars are dominated by hicks, you've been warned.
Haircuts with Free Beer
At the Bond Street Barber Shop customers are given a free beer. On Saturday mornings Jim will even fix you up a Bloody Mary. Snap.
(NOTE: If you find yourself about to toss some money to a homeless guitarist in front of The Pine Tavern, you may wish to know that he is, in fact, not homeless and owns a convertible. He is, however, dedicated to his corner. Decision's yours.)
Liquor Stores
In Oregon, liquor is sold only through government owned Liquor Stores which close at 10 p.m..
WiFi
In front of Bellatazza, downtown, is best. Incidentally it's a good coffee shop, although perhaps a bit overly trendy and hip.
Places of Interest
Drake Park It's right downtown and is really lovely. There are a number of different waterfowl making a number of absurd noises and if you're into drugs there are some folk at the top of the hill who can help you out, I'm sure. Many public events of varying interest take place in this park.Humane Society thriftstore It's a choice thriftshop just about across the street from Los Jalapenos on Greenwood Avenue.
Pizza Mondo Downtown on Wall street you can pay a couple dollars for one of the better slices of pizza you'll ever have (veggie combos are particularly good).
Juniper Aquatic and Fitness Center Here you can pay a small amount of money and take advantage of their showers as long as you like. It's off of Greenwood. A little green sign saying "Public Pool" will point you to it.
The Pretty Pussycat A naughtly lil' shop on the highway, between Greenwood and Revere I believe. . .
The Cosmic Depot A hippy/oddity/fun shop with some pretty good caffienated drinks.
FoodMart A convenience store on the highway (across from one of the previouslly mentioned Liquor Stores). The store has a good atmosphere and owners and is next to a tavern.
(incidentally, the last three locations sell glassware which may be of interest to some.)
Pilot Butte This is a rather large round hill that pops right out of the landscape and is extremely hard to miss. It's along the lines of THE landmark of Bend. The reason why it's made it to this list is because Central Oregonian sunsets are sublime. If there are some good looking clouds in the evening sky then by all means I urge you to drive to the top of Pilot Butte (get there via Greenwood ave) for you will get an incredible view of the city and the sun disappearing behind some glorious mountains. Seriously, when you see pictures in calendars of mountain sunsets, this is often where they are taken.
AND NOTE: The Old Mill District is tourist rubbish.
Events
First off, pick up a copy of 'The Source', it's a free local paper that'll clue you in on all local events for the week (plays, bar events, local concerts, indie movie showings, all that stuff). You can pick up this paper at. . . well everywhere, burrito shops included.
During the summer in particular Bend is bubbling over with events. Every summer Thursday in Drake Park half of the town comes, listens to reggae and buys crafts and food. Beware oncoming frisbees. . . I'm serious. This event is called Munch N' Music (and yes there is a beer garden).
Every Wednesday during the summer is the Farmers' Market at the top of the park. Delicious produces at surprisingly good prices.
In late August to early September is the Cascade Festival of Music. Bring your towel, sit out on the grass and listen to classical and world music in the twilight hours. (very lovely).
Summer Sundays sport free concerts at the Les Shwab Amphitheater, although these tend to have rather forgettable acts.
During the winter you're pretty much expected to be snowboarding, going to bars, going to local concerts, playing board games and attaching your feet to frying pans, holding onto a rope which is attached to the bumper of a car and then proceeding to be entirely dangerous in icy parking lots. . . Sure, there's Winterfest, but you have to make some of your own fun in the winter.
But the thing is. . .
Bend is all about the outdoors. There are ice caves, lava fields, large expanses of forest, billowing waterfalls and mountain lakes. Whitewater rafters, rock climbers and mountain bikers all find a good lot to like about the area. And now I shall dare say that the outdoors of Central Oregon is beyond the scope of this entry. I did however find it important to mention, as it is a deeply enrooted aspect of Bend's culture. If you want to know more, there is a tourist centre on highway 97 near the northern end of town (big sign, hard to miss). Or you could gather information at these following sites:
http://www.visitbend.com/http://www.bendchamber.org/
http://www.ci.bend.or.us/
