Farewell Portland

I'm one of those weird people who LOVES flying (as long as I am childless en flight). I chalk it up to being extremely lazy at heart. 17 hours of uninterrupted reading, movie and nap time with an incredible view and people bringing me food? Yes please. Having a bladder of steal doesn't hurt either (My poor husband has to get up all the time - at least I get the window & he gets the isle, just like we want). I could have stayed in Portland longer, but I started missing my babies. Everything started reminding me of them. Not to mention the GIANT tinkerbell on the side of our plane, Wendy would have LOVED that. 

Day 3 in Portland: Forest Park

On of the activities I was most looking forward to doing in Portland was hiking in Forest Park. It's a 30 mile wide forest right in Portland with tons of beautiful trails. We got a little lost trying to find our trail head. Okay, a lot lost, but we weren't on foot yet so it was actually fun. We got so high up into the mountain it started snowing. Maybe it's because I'm a California girl who isn't used to snow, but there's just something magical about being in a quiet forest with snow fluttering down around you. I loved it.

Ryan & I were tripping out on how cool the scenery was. We've been camping a lot, but never in a forest like this. Because of the constant moisture and the climate there, every tree was SO green and covered in hanging moss. Not to mention the babbling brook running along the trail. It was like something out of a fairy tale or furn gully or twilight. 

On our hike we found an old, abandoned, stone building that was over run with moss and vines. It was rad. Ryan thought it was a little eerie, but I had to climb all over it and explore. We had fun trying to guess what the building had been, but I found out online afterward that it was just an old public restroom from the early 1900's (not as fun as what we were coming up with but still awesome). 

Right before our hike I found out I was pregnant with baby #3, and during our hike I found a pretty spot to share the wonderful news with Ryan. You can read a little more in depth about it HERE if you want to. :) After the hiking we tried to go to the Japanese gardens - closed. Then we went to the rose gardens - not in season. So we did what we do best and went back to the hotel for a long afternoon nap.

For dinner that night we ate at the food carts. Another fun fact about Portland: there are no fast food restaurants. I didn't see a SINGLE drive thru (which I would have been annoyed with if I lived there and had to get my kids out of the car all the time - as a mom, I wish EVERY store were a drive thru). Instead of fast food there are HUNDREDS of these food carts! I love the opportunity for ma & pop start up restaurants. Ryan ate at a thai food cart and I ate at a gourmet grilled cheese and soup cart called "Bread & Broth." It was delicious! And the colorful carts lining the street are so cute.

Day 3 in the Evergreen District AKA "another post all about food"

For breakfast on day 3 of our anniversary getaway, we went to a darling little restaurant called "Slappy Cakes." The wait was kinda long but WORTH IT. Each table has a grill and you get to choose from a variety of pancake batters (including vegan & gluten free of course), toppings and sides and whip up some pancakes right at your own table. 

 

The pancake batter came in little squirt bottles so I had fun making my pancakes into words and shapes, a little too much fun. Awesome concept, it just made me a little nervous to see tables with squirly little kids so close to the hot griddle. 

Day 2 in Portland

On our second day in Portland, we slept in to the glorious time of 8:30am! (It's such a parental-luxury to wake up naturally). We got ready and headed out to tour the Pittock Mansion. Just a lovely 15 minute drive through the forest and at the top of the hill sits a real live Downton Abby. Well, not the real one, but SO similar. It was breathtaking. 

*a tiny piece of my favorite room in the mansion

We took the guided tour and it was awesome! Maybe we're just getting old, but it was one of our very favorite things we did in Portland (if not THEE MOST favorite, for BOTH of us). I didn't get a lot of great pictures inside, but it was so cool to see how these amazing people lived at the turn of the century - at the cusp of old world appliances and modern technology. Throughout the tour I was reminded of Downton Abby SO much, I kept leaning over to Ryan and whispering, "This is JUST like Downton Abby." He might have been annoyed. I'd love to go back with a sister or mom or girlfriend who would get as giddy about it as I did.

 

The grounds outside the mansion were beautiful too. The house sits on top of a hill so you get a breathtaking view of the whole city. Everything is so green and covered in moss, I felt like I was in the secret garden.

After the Pittock Mansion, we went to lunch at a burger joint our Portland friends had suggested to us, called "Bread and Ink." I don't know what they do to the food in Portland, but it just tastes different. Like, there's just a higher level of goodness achievable there. Maybe it's because everything is organic, free range, grass fed, yadda yadda yadda... (there's even a joke on the satiracle show, "Portlandia," where the customers at a restaurant are introduced to the chicken before they eat it and told which farm it came from and what it's name is). But whatever their doing there, it's working!! I'm not much of a burger person, but hot damn those burgers were insane. 

Around the corner from Bread & Ink is the waffle window! We walked off our lunch downtown in & out of some little shops then came back for lunch dessert. (Every day in Portland, we had dessert after each meal, not just dinner. There were too many yummy treats to try). The place is literally just a window. But the waffles were scrumptious and filling and after eating so much we went back to the hotel and took a loooonng nap (is it sad how much we enjoy sleeping?). In Portland, we didn't eat until we were full, we ate until we were TIRED. We even skipped dinner that night, we were so stuffed. 

 

That evening we walked around downtown and went BACK to Powell's (three mile wide) Bookstore (we went there at least once every day).  I noticed a lot more "environmentally conscious" details, some of which are pictured above. I don't know why I got such a kick out of all the recycling, it was just everywhere. Then we went to the movies. Anyone who knows me knows I love going to the movies. So pretty scenery, yummy food, lots of sleep, and a movie- basically it was my perfect day.

Voodoo Donut!

After dinner on our 1st night in Portland, we walked to the famous Voodoo Donuts for some dessert. We were so stuffed we ended up saving them for breakfast the next morning. They had flavors there I've never even heard of: bacon maple bar, blueberry cake glazed, icing and oreos, captain crunch, and peach fritter to name a few.

*jelly filled voodoo doll donut

The Nines

Ryan and I splurged a little on our awesome hotel. We stayed at The Nines. It has an art gallery and a roof top restaraunt. The decor is to die for (lots of my favorite color, light turquoise) and. fun fact: Clark Gable used to work there before he became an actor. 

  

*last 3 photos from google images

*chocolates made by the in house chocolatier just for us

Our view was rad, in the middle of downtown, Pioneer Square, and right across from the old courthouse.

As soon as we checked in and checked out our room, we hit the town.  Our friend Abi Bowden, who grew up near Portland, gave us a great list of things to do and see, so we scoped out the location of all the sites we wanted to see in reference to our hotel (ALL within walking distance). Since it was our ACTUAL anniversary, we decided to go to a nice restaurant that evening. 

We went to the Portland City Grill, on the 30th floor of the tallest building in Portland (as a mandatory recommendation from our friend Abi). The view was breathtaking and only got better as the sun went down. The city has a river running through the middle of it (just like Paris) with beautiful bridges crossing over the water. The food was... I can't even tell you. SO SO good. SO. GOOD.

DAY 1 in Portlandia

Ryan and I have a tradition. For our anniversary every year, we pick a city (preferably one we've never been to) and spend a couple days exploring and relaxing in it. This year, March 19th 2013, marked our 9 year anniversary. NEXT year is the big one, but we knew I'd either have a newborn or be big and pregnant at that point, therefore unable to really travel. So we decided to chose a destination for year 9 that was far enough away that we'd have to get on a plane, but not SO far away that we'd break the bank. It came down to Seattle or Portland. We decided we want to do Seattle later with Ryan's best friend Sam who served a missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints there. So Portland it was!

The very first thing I noticed about Portland, before even leaving the airport, was how environmentally conscious they were. Two flushers on every toilet, reminder posters to love the earth all over, and to top it off, our rental car was a prius... so we fit right it. The second thing I noticed about Portland were the trees. Millions of christmas trees on either side of the freeway and everywhere. We learned that Portland is also known as "The Evergreen District."

We thought it was a funny coincidence and SO APPROPRIATE that we would be driving a Prius around Oregon. We fit right in with all the Portlandians helping save the environment. (It was either a Prius or a minivan, and I got nothin' against minivans, but we were looking to spend a couple days AWAY from life, not trying to feel even more like the middle aged parents we are).