Downtown Eugene is an eclectic groovy mix of urbanite, artsy and hobo. It's very artsy in a warm and organic way. Red brick vs. colorful tile and woody nature references.
You have trendy urbanites, strange hobo-type people singing on the street, homeless people with dreadlocks and a sign that says “my dog ate my wallet”. I walked past one of them and the stench was so bad my eyes almost watered.
There is a lot of artwork downtown too. I took a picture of this huge mural all along a side of a building. It was from ground to roof all painted. So cool. That’s a lot of work and planning and inspiration.
I also took a pic of this neat sculpture on a street corner. I’m not sure how to describe it other than saying it was like a spear shooting out of the ground similar to the space needle in shape except thin on top and thick on the bottom. It was covered in a pattern of tiles that had different shapes and colors on them. The top had this golden globe. It was neat.
All around Eugene there is a special part of the streets dedicated just to bikes. They take their biking seriously. A lot of people use these roadways. Also I notice a heavy emphasis on being green so using the transit, walking or biking. I can appreciate that. Also they don’t give you plastic bags to cart around your purchases. They will give you one if you ask for it though.
When I was wandering the downtown it was close to noon and I was HUNGRY! I thought I’d hit the Voodoo Donuts in the downtown area.
*WARNING* - If you are easily offended you should stop reading right now.
Turns out that was a wise choice. I got a cock-n-balls donut. It’s literally shaped like a...well, you know, um...ahhh, well, anyway. I'll let the picture tell the story.
I told the clerk that it was seriously the cheekiest donut I’ve ever seen so I was buying it. It was HUGE too. Covered with chocolate frosting and even had white cream filling. So naughty and so hilarious.
The store was eclectic. They gave you a big pink box to put it in.
They had old school video games too. One of them was Mario Brothers which I played for a quarter because I haven’t seen that game in forever. The old-fashioned stand-up video game where you have a joystick and 2 buttons. I beat the first level but ended up dying in the next. Ah well, it was only a quarter.
Next stop was Sizzle Pie. I spotted it on my way to the Donut shop.
There was a huge sign I could see thru the windows saying “EAT PIZZA”. I knew I had to stop. It called to me like a drug. PIZZA! Piiiiiiizzzzzaaa!
So I grabbed dessert first then grabbed an “Ace of Spades” piece of pie aka Pepperoni and a local root beer in a glass bottle. Tasty and it hit the spot.
Thanks for reading this post. If you'd like to read more about my Pacific Northwest Road Trip click here.
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