By Jennifer de Thomas

Little sister to the Hawthorne District, Belmont isn't actually it's own neighborhood but a district in inner SE Sunnyside bordered loosely by 31st and 60th Avenues between West-East and Yamhill and Stark Streets going North-South. Nomenclature aside, Belmont is close in, contains over 300 businesses and once you find parking, makes for a unique family field trip that dips into childhood nostalgia and finishes with contemporary PDX.

In fact, you can take in an entire field trip without leaving a six block radius along Belmont. Start you day with lunch to get everyone charged and ready for the afternoon. If you need a big, open space to feed your crew where you don't have to worry about the kids acting themselves, take them to It's A Beautiful Pizza. Named for the 1960s band It's a Beautiful Day, this hippy, retro, rock-inspired pizzeria has the nostalgic, relaxed, free-spirited peace-love-and flower feel of the '60s and '70s, and some really groovy murals to boot (see if your toddler can find all the fish in the wall tile — we found six, and a clam and a crab, but there may be more).

If you aren't in the mood for a slice, Laughing Planet is two doors down from the pizza joint, and has a great under-10 kid menu for those who crave the unusual burrito. We have yet to have something here that didn't taste good, feel good and go easy on the wallet. It isn't Mexican, it isn't “wraps,” it isn't vegetarian or vegan, it's just great.

In between the two restaurants you will see a strange enigma of a storefront: the Dixie Mattress Company. Behind the dusty windows and bars, they actually do make mattresses and still have a clientele, but offer the street a rather unfriendly visage. They do keep Portland weird — even weirder than the blue-haired rockabilly hipster girls at the Stumptown Coffee on the corner. The store, in its own strange way, remind Belmont Street of a time when the neighborhood was simpler, less hip, less crowded, less self-conscious.

One more eatery worth mentioning, if only for the rare treat, is Pine State Biscuits. You will find a menu full of one of the greatest gifts of the south: biscuit sandwiches. Biscuits and gravy, biscuits and fried chicken, biscuits and fruit with whipped cream — if you have a soft tooth for buttermilk flakiness, you must stop by (and chase it all with traditional Southern sweet tea).

After you have been fed, it is time for the entertainment. You may want to take a moment to stop by NouN: a Person's Place for Things. The shop is full of things that will interest your kids not at all (letterpress cards, vintage housewares, locally made jewelry), until they reach the cupcake counter in the back, home of Saint Cupcake. The cupcakes are like nothing we have ever experienced, and, along with the hip NouN showroom you just walked through, will remind you of a ‘50s sitcom. That is, until you see the very 2008 prices. If they have a display of day-olds, by all means, buy them. If not, we honestly think these are worth the $2.50 price of admission. You do need to know a key fact, though: There is no seating at Saint Cupcake and all treats are served to go, so plan ahead to either eat them when you get home, or better yet, walk to Sunnyside Elementary (on 34th and Salmon) and give your kids a playground break. You can eat your cakes, watch the kids play, and get ready for your next stop.

If vintage pinball and video games appeal to you, walk two blocks up to the Avalon Theater & Electric Castles Wunderland. It's a cheap second-run movies with sketchy sound, plus a nickel arcade where you can introduce your kids to a few of the games from your pre-handheld-device youth like skeeball, whack-a-mole and air hockey. When you are done, redeem your tickets for trinket prizes like dice key chains, and even after you eat an ice cream bar, a couple of hours here will only cost you all the nickels you can drop in the slots plus $2.50 admission. It is pure nostalgia, a little grimy, sometimes crowded with families (you will fit right in!), but a great old-fashioned fun.

Across the street from the Avalon is the Belmont Fire House. The second Saturday of each month (except for summertime, call for hours) they give tours of the firehouse and safety exhibits. Your kids can slide down the fire pole and sit in a truck, a dream come true for budding firefighters out there.

A little outside of the neighborhood, but worth stopping by if you are heading in or out via 99E is the “secret” Kidd's Toy Museum, tucked inside an Auto Supply Store on 1301 SE Grand and marked only by a little sign outside. Home to 10,000 mostly vintage toys, including mechanical banks, lead soldiers and model trains, the hours are noon to 6:00pm during the week and admission is free (503-233-7807).

If you want to step out of nostalgia into contemporary, it's time for a little shopping. Kids notoriously hate trying to be still and not break anything while you try to browse the racks, so you may want to stick to something kid-friendly like Polliwog. Here you can outfit your smaller offspring in the most contemporary PDX-style gear. Nothing mass produced, nothing cookie cutter, Polliwog is the perfect place to find the accessories and toys that will identify you as part of the Portland urban tribe.

And finally, there is yet one more reason to visit Belmont: the Belmont Street Fair on Saturday, September 12 from 10:00am to 5:00pm. Music, food, and yes, a free trolley. See you there!