BEST PLACE TO BOWL FOR LESS THAN $1
BEST PLACE TO BUY ROLLERSKATES
BEST EXCUSE TO BUT A NEW POWER TOOL
BEST WAY TO GET IN SHAPE FAST
BEST ROLLER SKATERS
BEST WAY TO PRETEND YOU’VE GOT THE POWER
BEST ARCADE RIDE AT A BOWLING ALLEY
BEST WAY TO MIX WITH OLD MONEY
BEST GORGE GETAWAY
BEST-KEPT SECRET
BEST THINGS TO JUMP ON AT SATURDAY MARKET

 

Best Place to Bowl for Less Than $1
Sometimes you have to sacrifice ambience to get in on a great deal. Such is the case at AMF Pro 300 Lanes (3031 SE Powell Blvd., 234-0237). The Monday special--99 cents a game all day--is the draw at this 36-lane bowling alley. For just under five bucks (including $2 shoe rental), you can bowl three games. Purists may scoff at the computerized scorekeeping and the cosmic bowling-influenced neon planet murals here, but the staff and the lanes themselves are as good as they get. If your Mondays don't allow time to bowl, get in on the July promotion. It's a good idea to call ahead and reserve lanes.

Best Place to Buy Rollerskates
Not everyone feels the need to race along paths at breakneck speed on rollerblades. For those who prefer safer, more leisurely wheels, a good old-fashioned pair of roller skates fits the bill. Place (2512 SE Clinton St., 233-1392) is indeed the place to find a pair of trusty old-school skates for cruising around this summer. The selection ranges from basic white uppers with red wheels to black with vinyl flames stitched on. Chances are good that you'll find something here you once circled in the Sears Christmas catalog. Prices range from $10 to $20.

Best Excuse to Buy a New Power Tool
There is no limit to the ways a handyman can keep himself entertained. The proof is in the Second-Annual Belt Sander Races, to be held Saturday, July 18, as part of the Division-Clinton Street Fair and Business Showcase. Participants in the race compete with real belt sanders on a straight 8-inch-by-60-foot track. The three divisions--stock, modified and funny (think of a sander disguised as a flying saucer)--offer ample opportunities for do-it-yourselfers with a need for speed and creativity. There are fabulous prizes for the winners and the opportunity to compete nationally at the Indianapolis belt-sander races, which run concurrently with the Indy 500. For more information, call Glenn Lambert, owner of Division HWI Hardware, at 235-8309.

Best Way to Get in Shape Fast
Katherine Hepburn, Lauren Bacall and Jodie Foster have more in common than great cheekbones. They've all studied Pilates, a 60-year-old body-conditioning method that uses tables loaded with springs and pullies. It's taught in a private studio, rather than a health club. The machines offer resistance and support while practitioners push and pull their way through some of the 600 body movements. The moves are low-impact but difficult. Concentration is essential, as is the patience of a good instructor. Thanks to the price, Pilates practitioners tend to be well-heeled. Classes run about $60 per session for a private lesson, or $35 for a semi-private session that includes two students, but there are package discounts. For those who thrive on personal attention, though, the extra money is worth it. And devotees swear that Pilates has changed their bodies--making them elegant, stronger and more flexible. Studio Adrienne, located behind the Governor Hotel, is the only licensed Pilates studio in Oregon. Call 227-1470 for more information.

Best Roller Skaters
At the Northwest Regional Roller Skating Competition, held at Oaks Park in June, Portland roller skaters shined brightly--due in part to their fancy sequined costumes. Kalinda Mathis and Emily Robinson, both of Portland, placed second and third, respectively, in the Sophomore Figure Skating category--better than anyone else from Portland--proving that they are, indeed, the best skaters in town. (Typically, skaters from northern Washington own this category.) Robinson has also won the regional championship for the Sophomore Solo Dance category five years in a row. The young ladies will go on to compete at the National Championships in Fresno, Calif.

Best Way to Pretend You've Got the Power
Not all women who play basketball do it in Civic Stadium. For 26 years, twice a week, there's been a quiet game of pickup basketball happening in the heart of downtown. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, a diverse group of about 10 to 15 women converges on the YWCA's gym (1111 SW 10th Ave.) to shoot hoops. The players vary in ages and abilities. Lea Ann Easton, a 35-year-old downtown lawyer, has been playing at the Y for 19 years. She says some of the women, like her, played high school and college ball, but just as many had never picked up a basketball before joining the game. The game is free to YWCA members and $5 for anyone else. Membership is on a sliding fee scale, $30 to $50 a month. If you're thinking of joining, do it soon. The Y building is for sale, and the gym may be closed at the end of the year. The players say they'll look for another place to play. It's been going on too long to stop now.
 

Best Arcade Ride at a Bowling Alley
For those difficult times when "Gutter" is your middle name, there's no better solace than Wave Shark: Virtual Jet Watercraft (Grand Central Bowl, 808 SE Morrison St., 232-5166). For just 50 cents, riders can mount the jetski, grab the control bar, select a virtual "rider" and take off. To work the ride, you have to rock back and forth and lean forward and backward. You're 2 feet up off the ground, and a crowd often gathers to watch, but even under the gaze of onlookers, the ride is easy. No matter how much you crash or how slowly you ride, you always get to the end of the race.

Best Way to Mix with Old Money
The title "Hunt Club" begs images of blokes who resemble Hugh Grant lolling about sipping highballs and Ralph Laurenesque women (think Kristin Scott Thomas in The English Patient) brandishing riding crops. But Lake Oswego's Hunt Club (2725 Iron Mountain Boulevard) doesn't have a grand entrance or crusty clubhouse. Scrubby grass surrounds an intriguing 100-year-old barn, but the treasure here is a far-reaching network of wooded trails that lead to Tryon Creek State Park. Horsey culture breeds elitism, and assistant trainer Jessica Talisman admits that while the Hunt Club is more accessible than most, snobbery still exists. But unlike other exclusive stables, you don't have to own or board a horse to ride here. Of the four programs offered--dressage, cross-country, hunter-jumper and riding school--the school is the most unusual. Spend $125 for four five-hour lessons in the unique indoor arena, where recycled sneaker treads have been mixed with dirt to absorb shock.

Best Gorge Getaway
This is one of those treasures you really want to keep to yourself, but in the spirit of community, fraternity and hedonism, we offer this tip: Check out the Timbers (509-427-5656), a great weekend retreat in Stevenson, Wash. Off season is the best time to visit this handful of beautiful log cabins set right on the banks of the Columbia River; summer rates are prohibitively expensive, and the outdoor hot tubs are most inviting in brisk weather anyhow. Walk out on the deck and into a big ol' hot tub with jacuzzi jets. Now, lean back, sip your favorite libation, light those candles and look around. Across the river are the mist-wreathed peaks of the gorge; overhead, stars twinkle between towering trees. When you drag yourself out of bed in the morning, head down to the Baker's Dozen in Stevenson for the best and cheapest doughnuts, rolls and pastries we've had in a while.

Best-Kept Secret
Never mind the mayor's fear of flying, the best-kept secret in Portland is a bunch of old guys who hang out at the East Bank Saloon. They are among the world's best dribblers. They range from insurance actuary Wayne Roberts to former Blazer center Leroy Ellis to former gubernatorial candidate and renowned bad boy Frank Peters. Once again, they've won the national basketball champions in the 55-plus age bracket. It's getting to be old hat: The national trophy they bagged in Florida last month hangs on the saloon wall next to world-championship plaques from 1986 and 1994. "We've got a picture of us all in a hot tub drinking beer at three in the morning before a championship game," says Pudgy Hunt, owner of the East Bank and a former college player at Gonzaga University, the alma mater of the Utah Jazz's John Stockton and Portland Parks Director Charles Jordan. ("Charlie was the starting center," says Hunt. "He was a good rebounder and defensive player, but he couldn't shoot a lick.") Locals who want to see theEast Bankers in action need only wait until the Nike World Masters Games commence Aug. 9. Hunt predicts success for his squad. "Foreign teams aren't as competitive," he says. "We went to Buenos Aires in 1991 and just destroyed the foreign teams." Forget the World Cup embarrassment. Hey, Iran, bring on your old dudes. We got game.

Best Thing to Jump on at Saturday Market
Tim Knight describes his Trampoline Thing as "definitely the funnest thing to do at Saturday Market and probably all of downtown." And he's right--as long as you haven't just washed down a Chicago-style sausage with a few cups of beer. "You accelerate upwards more than 20 feet and can experience negative G-forces," Knight says of his ride, which is basically a conventional trampoline souped up with bungee cords on a waist harness. For $5, a rider who weighs anywhere from 30 to 200 pounds can bounce around for two to three minutes. "Or until you get tired," Knight adds. "It's actually pretty strenuous." As his first year of business comes to a close, Knight says there have been no injuries on his ride.