Portland Trip & Recommendations

I recently took a weekend trip to visit a friend in Portland. It was so great to explore, get my friendship on, eat/drink a ton, and enjoy the beautiful city.

Our partial itinerary:

• Voodoo Doughnut Maple Bacon Bar

• Central Absinthe Root Beer Float, etc.

• Ace Hotel + Clyde Common Best Dark and Stormy ever. Housemade ginger beer.

• Interurban Brunch. Salted Caramel French Toast with Blueberry & Maple Compote (as amazing as it sounds). Polenta and Eggs. Breakfast Biscuit. Omelet and Fries. All good.

• Lan Su Chinese Garden Beautiful gardens. Exquisite embroidery.

• Aerial Tram Overview of the city. So much green!

• Powell's City of Books Massive bookstore.

• Beam and Anchor One of the many charming shops we visited.

• Ruby Jewel Crazy good ice cream. Salted Black Licorice (in a housemade waffle cone) was my favorite.

• Vancouver, Washington for a home-cooked meal.

• Kask Cocktails. Bicycles & Baskets, etc.

• Interurban Cocktails. Mexican Coffee (prepped flaming), etc. Best Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie ever! Served fresh out of the oven with brandied vanilla milk for dipping. Amazing.

• Albina Press Perfect lattes. Made with Stumptown beans.

• Flavour Spot Waffle Sandwiches. Love this idea. Ham and Gouda and Butter and Sugar were the best ones.

• Mississippi Ave Shopping. Bought some truffle salt for my husband at The Meadow.

• Saturday Market Browsing. People watching.

• Grilled Cheese Grill Grilled cheese served in a bus.

Lots of gold leaf lettering, speakeasy style bars, cedar picnic tables, open storefronts, food carts, air plants, greenery, beards.

I did not notice birds on things, but I was seeing taxidermy all over the place (in bars, on logos, sold in shops). Portlandia should do an updated skit called: "Put a deer head on it."

Overall, it was a great trip. My friend loves to move/explore. I am grateful that our friendship is full of great memories in various cities.