Portland: A foodie's paradise

On a spur of the moment, I decided to use my frequent flier miles to visit my cousin, Becky, who had just moved to Portland, OR. We hadn't spend much time together since my wedding, which was over 3 years ago! It was about time to get together again. I took a long weekend and flew out Friday morning to arrive to a very sunny Portland.

Becky lives in a cute little pre-war Craftsman style house with the homeowners/landlords, and 3 other housemates. Becky had to go to work that evening, but we grabbed lunch first at the local pub. Yes, Becky lives 1 block from Slingshot, a great, almost dive bar that servers delicious burgers and has Anchor Steam on tap. Apparently, Portland is known for its variety in eateries and this was just the beginning. While Becky was at work, I took a much needed nap and then had coffee with a college friend, Matt. He had just moved to Portland, too. When he dropped me off at Becky's house we learned he goes to church with one of Becky's housemates. What a small world!

For dinner, we headed to Hawthorne Blvd, which is apparently the ultra-weird, hip part of town, but it looks rather tame compared to Berkeley. We found the Bridgeport Ale House for dinner and did some serious people watching at the window. We tried to drive up Mt. Tabor for a nighttime view of downtown, but the park was just closing. This was the first of our many "romantic" outings, as one of her housemates described them.

The next day Becky's boyfriend, Wyatt, drove down from Washington to visit for the weekend. We went to Saturday Market, which is just like it sounds. It's really just an overgrown craft fair that it held every Saturday in downtown.
Apparently, Voodoo Donuts is a Portland icon, but the line was way too long to be worth any novelty donut.
Portland has a Chinatown, sort of. The only thing that tipped us off to the fact we were walking through Chinatown was this gate. San Francisco has a much better Chinatown, but the gate was cool
We stopped by another Portland icon, Powell's Bookstore. The downtown location is basically a 4 story warehouse with used and new books. I was very impressed with their children's section and bought a few of my favorites. Wyatt had homework to do, so we took him back home. Becky and I went on yet another "romantic" evening to a Lebanese restaurant, Al Amir, and watched belly dancing and tried some raki.

Sunday was much sunnier and was about the best opportunity we were going to have to visit the Rose Garden. I really can't describe how beautiful and fragrant the garden was, so I will just say you MUST visit it if you are in Portland.

The "pink building" is the tallest building in Portland and has the swankiest restaurant on the 30th floor called the Portland City Grill. It doesn't have the most distinctive food (similar to a McCormick and Schmicks), but had the best view and good cocktails. I would probably only go there again if I was with someone who had never been to Portland because you can see the whole river front and (on a good day) Mt. Hood.

On my last day in town, we headed to the Columbia River Gorge to see the waterfalls. We hiked all the way to the top of Multnomah Falls, which is Oregon's tallest, year-round waterfall. I felt pretty good about the fact that we "beat" several people to the top of the falls (500 vertical feet in 1 mile). All that yoga and bike riding is paying off!

We finished up my Portland experience with dinner at some food carts on Hawthorne. Think fair food only fancier and in a random parking lot on a street corner. Again, another Portland icon I wasn't aware of.

I had a really great time with Becky. We had lots of time to catch up on the past 4 years of our lives. All of Becky's housemates were very welcoming if not all a bit offbeat. Portland was great, but I was glad to be back home with my hubby.