Carousels

One of the best things about Portland is that there are hidden gems in every neighborhood.  Even on Hayden Island, which is otherwise a retail monument to helping Vancouver residents evade sales tax.  There sits a gorgeous antique carousel from 1921.  It's in the food court of the Jantzen Beach Center, an indoor mall surrounded by big block stores.  The carousel is easy to find, because it's visible through big glass windows.  It's currently open every day, opening at 11AM and closing at 8PM Fridays and Saturdays and 6PM other days.  We stopped by recently and found they've gotten rid of the annoying token machine they used to have, and now simply have a cash register.  Rides are $2 but it's free to stand beside your child.

And thanks to history buff Darrel Jabin, riding the carousel can also be part of a history lesson!  Carousels are more interesting than you might guess. Mr. Jabin knows quite a lot about them, and the ones to be found in Oregon in particular.  He has made a series of short videos about Oregon history, all of which are bound to tell you something you didn't know about the place we Oregonians call home.  It seems like every time I look, he's added more. They are all pretty neat, and the carousel video in particular is truly wonderful. It's much longer than his other videos, and definitely makes we want to make the drive to visit the Albany Brass Ring, where visitors can watch volunteers actually making a carousel.  The carousel video is posted below in two parts.  Check out all his neat history videos  here: http://www.youtube.com/user/DarrellJabin