Hi there friends! I have some exciting news: Two Purple Couches is undergoing a makeover! As the finishing touches get worked out, I’ll be sharing a 3-part travel series this week. Call it the last hurrah of summer 🙂 I’ll keep you posted on when you can expect the new look to go live!

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Welcome to the second installment of my first riveting series:

Prepare yourself for a plethora of puns and an array of alliteration in this post.

You’ve been warned.

One day, whilst perusing Pinterest, I came upon a pin for a place called the Sylvia Beach Hotel, where every room has an author theme. I clicked through to the hotel’s site, to discover that the hotel is perfectly perched on the coast in Newport, Oregon.

We were planning a trip to Oregon. It must be FATE! The Fates meant for me to find this pin, and discover the most genius concept I’ve ever experienced in my life: rooms completely decorated to fit the themes of their respective authors. i.e. Heaven for an English Major.

Of course, I was torn. Which room should we (ahem, I) choose? Shakespeare? Austen? Wilde? Rowling? Dr. Seuss?

Luckily (?) function won out a bit over form, and we secured the Shakespeare room, which boasts a queen-size four poster bed, oodles of tomes, quill pens, and plenty of theatrical paraphernalia to properly freak Tom out.

And I loved EVERY. MOMENT. It was like living in a dream. A big, heavy, velvet-covered, Tudor-style dream. I may take to decorating the rest of our house to fit different author’s themes. (Tom, if you’re reading this, please don’t start drawing up divorce papers!) I thanked him multiple times for indulging me in our one-night’s stay. (Did I forget to mention that there are no tv’s in the rooms, and there is no wifi?)

A few other details/logistics of the hotel: beautifully situated on the coast. Like literally the last thing before rocks, sand, and water. Within easy walking of delicious seafood restaurants where you can get the day’s freshest catches. The third floor boasts a huge library overlooking the ocean, which will afford you some excellent views of the day’s sunset. (Alas, it was too bright for me to get any good photos!) A delicious breakfast spread of pastries, cereals, fruits, coffee, juice, and, if you’d like, the hot dish of the day. And the freedom to explore any bedroom that’s unlocked and un-reserved for the day (!). Please enjoy a few photos of the Dr. Seuss room, which I popped into before we checked out and continued on our trip.

The quote above the bed is from Seuss’ classic One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish: “Who am I? My name is Ned. I do not like my little bed.” My favorite detail of this room is poor Ned’s feet coming out the end of the bed.

Our literary exploits didn’t quite stop here (much to Tom’s chagrin, I imagine). Later in the week, we made a trip into Portland’s Pearl District so I could get lost in Powell’s Books for a little while.

I think it’s very likely that I could spend a full day in Powells. I mean, the store is an entire city block. I wouldn’t even say I grazed the surface in the time I spent there! If you haven’t been, you must go. It’s amazing. If you have been, you know the glory and wonder of an ENTIRE. CITY. BLOCK. full of books, glorious books!

It was probably for the better that we were only there for a short period of time. Because in that period, I managed to accumulate 5 books. If I’d remembered to check an empty suitcase for book-shipping, I would have grabbed every tome in sight.

These are 3 of my preeminent Powell’s purchases. If you like classic literature and babies, these are the books for you. The author has taken several storied classics and turned them into perfectly proper primers. For instance, Pride and Prejudice becomes a counting book: 1 English village, 2 rich gentlemen, 3 houses, 4 marriage proposals, etc, etc. Yes, I’m kicking myself because I wish I’d come up with this idea!

If you’ve made it to this point: Huzzah! Thanks for hanging with me as I nerded out for an entire post.

Have you ever been to the Sylvia Beach Hotel? Would you like to open a Bed & Breakfast someday? Would your Bed & Breakfast have a theme?