Matt and Patricia get away!

We wanted to get away for spring break, but we had little time and not a lot of money. But we found a perfect mini-vacation. Here we are, ready to go.

Unlike our last vacation, where we rented a car, we began this one on foot.

We walked through the Arbor Lodge Neighborhood. I liked this tiny house with the large front yard.

And this one too.

Matt posed in front of a huge tree.

Funny sign. Saturdays, you will get a very good haircut. The other days of the week, not so much.

The famous Jefferson High School, home of the Jefferson Dancers and multiple attempts to revive the school using different educational models. I find myself referring to the school as, "That poor school." Meaning not that the majority of its students are poor, but in trying to fix the school, the district is constantly trying new things, thus never building any sort of success.

And we arrive at our bus stop.

Here is the local branch of the public library.

Frank, at the Florida Room, hates it when you are sober. Get to drinking.

Portland Community College (we share the same initials) has a campus across from Jefferson and the library.

The bus whisks us away and we arrive at our destination, the Kennedy School.

Each room, one-half of a former classroom, is a theme. Ours was "Old MacDonald."

You can write on the chalkboards. I had never seen this clever coat closet/chalk board arrangement, but I was impressed. On rainy days, it must have been nice to shut the musty smell of damp wool in the closet.

Here, Matt demonstrates the movable-ness of the panels.

Our front door.

We had dinner in the courtyard restaurant and Matt had a milkshake. After dinner, we played a card game and then saw Slumdog Millionaire which I hated, but which Matt enjoyed.

The bedside table held no Bible.

The next morning, after spending time in the Soaking Pool which was magical because it was raining and no one was there, we ate breakfast.

I'm still a little flushed from the soaking pool.

We then took the walking tour. Below: a mosaic.

Bas relief panels that were originally donated to the school by J.D. Kennedy. They are full size reproductions of Luca della Robbia's 15th century masterworks done for the cathedral in Florance.

A landscape by Jennifer Joyce picturing the Kennedy school and its surroundings in the late nineteen teens.

There were many mosaics which used yearbook inscriptions such as this one: "I love you little, I love you big, I love you like a little pig."

You can walk into the brewery, the former girls bathroom, and see these portraits of former students and principals on the brew kettles.

Matt enjoyed this explanation of beer brewing.

Here, on a former chalkboard, is the listing of the choices in the movie theater. Notice that we could have seen "Twilight" and both been appalled by the bad acting. I think that would have been a better choice than me sitting with my eyes shut for large portions of the movie.

Matt poses with an wooden attendant from Indonesia.

Our tour finished, we checked out and took the bus home. It was a lovely holiday.

Note: Information about the artwork of the Kennedy school came from the pamphlet "McMenamins Kennedy School, A Walking Tour of Art and History."