Ben and I decided we wanted a mini vacation this summer with just-the-two-of-us. So, I started thinking about cities near by and swayed between Vancouver B.C. and Portland for a while, finally settling on Portland. The Portland food cart scene was the biggest draw for us... don't make fun... we love food. So one Saturday morning we headed south on I-5 for a fun 30 hours in Portland, OR.
Now when it came to where we were going to stay, I scoured the web for a steal on a great hotel. (I'm a bit of a hotel snob and proximity to the food carts was very important.) We ended up at The Governor and with a little sweet talking, once we were there, we scored a corner room that came with an awesome view and the hum of the Portland street car. It was awesome!
After we checked into our room we headed back out for some food. The hotel is located right next to a Pod of Food Carts, think one city block with 30-ish carts parked on it...
We both decided on a Greek gyro, Ben lamb, me chicken. It was tasty, but way too big.
I was a bit bummed at the size, mostly because I was so full afterwards I couldn't try anything else at the other carts surrounding us. We decided a trip to Powell's might help us work up another appetite.
After 4 or so hours in Powell's (if you didn't click on the link, it's one of the largest bookstores in the world taking up an entire city block) we were hungry again and decided to check out The Living Room... pictured below.
The Living Room is a restaurant + a bar + a theater, they were playing a few movies I'd heard of (Ben probably new about all of them) so we decided dinner and a movie would be fun.
We saw this movie; if you like movies filled with good looking food, gorgeous scenery and a ridiculous about of banter you should see it too. We loved it.
The next morning we got up and hit the streets for a day full of more exploring. First stop, Voodoo Doughnuts a doughnut shop that has been featured on the Food Network. As we were walking up to the shop there was an enormous line. Since we didn't have anything else to do, and we were right there, we decided we'd wait with all the other crazy people in line for what better be a dang good doughnut.
I left Ben in this line, we were told it would be about 45 minutes, to take a few pictures and walk around.
I came back to the line with a Hot n' Fresh (super tasty) waffle and orange juice for us to share. Yes, I know we were in line for a doughnuts but we were starving and this butter and sugar waffle sure hit the spot.
Then we waited and waited and waited and waited some more for the doughnuts.
Dad, I thought you'd like this sign.
Finally doughnuts!
Me: Triple Chocolate CoCoa Puff (no, that's not dog food on top)
Ben: Neapolitan, chocolate doughnut, vanilla frosting, strawberry dust and three marshmallows
Worth the wait?
Not really.
I know, disappointing right? We think all the hype around Voodoo Doughnut's must be their inventive flavors because when actually eaten they seemed a bit dry.
We're sticking with Seattle's Top Pot Doughnut's & Jersey's L&M for our favorite doughnut spots.
After our *sweet* morning we decided to walk around the weekend market down near the river. It was a gorgeous day we ended up covering a lot of territory before we needed to get back and check out of our hotel room.
Once we checked out and got our car back from the valet we decided to find the Portland Aerial Tram. We had heard about the tram when my sister and her family lived close to Portland... after many construction detours, many wrong turns and studying our map we finally found it.
The tram connects the two campus' for OHSU Center for Health and Healing and is mainly used for commuting students/medical professionals. We were told it was a great thing to do as a visitor to the city because it would allow for unique views of the city.
Ben and I highly recommend the tram if you're ever in the Portland area. It was only a few bucks and ended up being a really fun ride. Plus the views from the hospital on top of the hill (where the tram takes you) were stunning.
We had an awesome weekend in Portland and hope it's not too long before we go back!
