It's not that hard to do, really, because Portland is just weird.
And wet, dangit.
And wet, dangit.
We left Friday afternoon with our friends Justin & Jennifer, and headed on "The Slog" - the drive from Seattle to Portland. Traffic wasn't too terrible, which it usually is, and we made it to our hotel in good time. We stayed at the Marriot in downtown, checked in and went for a walk around town to find some dinner. We ended up at Huber's, which is famous for all their turkey dishes. We basically had a Thanksgiving dinner with cranberry sauce and dressing. It was pretty good considering I'm not a huge fan of turkey (I'm more of a sweet honey ham kinda gal). We even made it to Voo Doo Donut for some post-dinner sweetness before heading back to hotel for the night.
A hilarious/creepy game to play while you wait in line at VooDoo:
yes, my friends, that would be a donut, a hotdog, some mustard and a corn cob battling it out on the ice rink
Saturday morning we went back to Voo Doo for more donuts (I mean, there are so many to choose from, how could we not sample more?), followed by some Saturday Market browsing. I really enjoyed walking through the market, there was a pretty good variety of handmade items. However, the things I could afford to buy I didn't want (i.e. a toboggan with a marijuana leaf embroidered on it) and the things I wanted (i.e. a gorgeous tree burnt into some driftwood) I could not afford. Oh, well, browsing is free, and I'm really good at that.
After the market, we split up for a few hours. Justin & Jennifer went to check out one of the local microbreweries that Portland is famous for and Davey & I went to the Portland Art Museum. I especially enjoyed the Classical Art wing at the museum where I got to see several works by some famous artists, including Andrew Wyeth's father, N.C. Wyeth, who I had no idea was such a popular illustrator. They also had a small sculpture garden outside, which was the only place we were allowed to take photographs.
I have a thing for driftwood sculpture
I must admit I had a difficult time finding things to do in Portland. Many of the travel sites recommended the local parks (since Portland is such a "green" city), but because of the constant rain, park strolling wasn't really high on my list. I did learn about the Benson Bubblers though, and was excited when I found one as we walked around town
mmmmmm.....tasty......
We also stumbled upon a fountain with Davey's name on it
Saturday afternoon we ended up driving over the river to east Portland and Davey found a random park that had this amazing view - complete with a rainbow:
YAY!!! RAINBOWS!!!!
Justin & Jennifer with the overcast city of Portland waaay behind them.
looks like someone forgot to wear a belt - Beltless in Portland?
Sunday morning we slept in a little bit before checking out of our hotel. We waited in line at Pine State Biscuits for some good ol' southern breakfast. The owners are three college roomates from North Carolina. When I saw collard greens on the menu, I knew they were the real deal. They also had amazing fried green tomatoes
and biscuits and gravy
and biscuits with fried chicken, bacon and grits
What could be more amazing than a 620 foot high waterfall? How about running into friends from Georgia, who live over 2,500 miles away, at said waterfall? SO AWESOMELY RANDOM!
(Julianne & Daniel on the left)Thanks for sticking through this incredibly long post - obviously we had a great time (even through the rain) and we feel incredibly blessed to have such wonderful friends to share it with!
If you'd like to see some of the Travel Channel/Food Network videos of the places we ate, you can see them at the following links: VooDoo Donut and Pine State Biscuits. (I dare you not to have a heart attack when those biscuit boys deep fry those grits!)
2 comments:
Ouuh, I've been wanting to visit Portland! Chris goes next week, I'm really jealous :) I have heard the weather is wet though like you said - hope you had a good time regardless!
You should bribe him to brink back a dozen VooDoo doughnuts for you. A friend of my parents who travels to Portland often, always brings them back a dozen :)
If you do make it out to Portland, you know its only a few hours from Seattle *wink*wink*
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