Before spending time in Portland, I thought the show “Portlandia” was just an exaggerated satire about the goofy city full of, what many might call, hipsters.

If anything, though, the show downplays all the eccentricities and couldn’t include all the city’s glory even if it tried.

Walking through Portland – or PDX as natives like to call it – was my favorite way to explore the city. The weather was overcast most of the time and the dark clouds always looked like they were going to break out in thunderstorms at any moment.

Traveling on foot helped me see everything I would have otherwise missed while driving, like the ornate Hollywood Theatre, people playing music on the streets and pedestrians offering Corn Flakes to passersby. Walking across Burnside Bridge you get a view of the city’s tall, reflective buildings and the cluster of other bridges across Portland’s boat-filled Williamette River.

People strolled along dressed like Marilyn Manson fans while others wore attire only seen in Audrey Hepburn movies from the 50s’.

The fashion is incredible because trends don’t seem to exist. It is all one big cluster of radical individualism.The types of outcasts, nerds and artists we knew in high school make up the population, except they don’t perceive each other as that because the idea of “cliques” doesn’t seem to have been invented. No one looks to belong or act like anyone but themselves.

The vintage stores are endless. My favorite was The House of Vintage located in South East Hawthorne. The vintage store was scattered with unimaginable art, clothing and odd devices such as vibrators from the 1960s.

The first vintage store I went to made me think I had struck gold, but I was consistently surprised as I continued to discover different stores with even cooler items like strange instruments and taxidermied beavers.

Rain doesn’t ruin events in Portland. The art vendors at the Alberta Street Festival watch their paintings get poured on, while still shouting “Only $5!” People embraced creativity and take time to enjoy the world around them rather than dwell on the puddles ruining their shoes and the rain messing up their  hairstyles.

The drinks are tasty and the food is versatile. In fact, statisticbrain.com, a statistics website, show Portland as having more vegetarian options than any other place in America. As someone who doesn’t eat meat, I was pleased to find options at every single place I went to. Sizzle Pie had the most delicious soyrizo pizza to pair with Ninkasi, one of the finer IPAs I tried during my time in Portland.

Speaking of fine beer, Burnside Brewing Co. offers an interesting spicy beer called “Sweet Heat,” which is super spicy. If you can’t handle an entire glass, ask for a sample. For those who don’t drink alcohol but are still a bit risky, the Townsend’s Tea Company has a lemon ginger cayenne kombucha – fermented vinegary-tasting tea – which is sold at some Portland markets and tea houses. It can also be found on tap at places like ADX (Art Design Portland) and the Alberta Street Co-op. The chilled tea was the perfect drink to carry as I scavenged the city and it provided me with tons of energy for more sightseeing.

Portland might be perceived as Hipster Hell, but only to those who haven’t had time to analyze the city and people in it. While watching an independent horror film at a “Movies in the Park” family event (yes, children were there) I realized that these people are too strange to be faking anything. They embrace individuality to an extent I have never seen and they constantly dive into their own imaginations to express a type of ingenuity no one has expressed before.

I mean, where else do you see a homeless lady with a sign specifically asking for waffles? It may have been a joke but her creative humor added to that “weird” thing the city is known for. Portlandians are just people having a bunch of crazy, awesome fun. All the time.

Speaking of fun, my last night in Portland was unexpectedly spent with a group of old friends from my hometown whom my boyfriend and I joined at Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade and bar. The place was dark and crowded – and made me feel like I was in one of those 1980s teen flicks – with the familiar sounds of Pacman, Commando and other classics traveling through. The next day my head thumped from losing too many pinball matches – and having one too many delicious local IPAs – but it was completely worth the new experience.

Perhaps it’s something in the water, the off-and-on weather or the “Keep Portland Weird” reminders stuck all over the city, but spending time there helped me realize how much more fun “different” is – which is what the city thrives on.

Once I got back home, I proudly felt like an alien once again as I stepped off the plane in my new vintage snakeskin shoes and the tacky dress I couldn’t avoid. Go to Portland expecting to have a weirdly cool time, but don’t forget a friend or two because that’s truly what makes it better.

Janice Daniels can be reached on twitter @janiceemelia