Swimming Monday through Friday from eight to five in the education field, I am fortunate enough to also receive a ‘spring break.’ For the first time in eight years, I did not spend it with my friend group – I decided solo or with others I was going to explore somewhere new.
I set my flight alerts on to multiple destinations and monitored the increases and decreases in price. Mid-January the price to Portland, Oregon hit a number I was comfortable with and booked the flight without blinking an eye.
Luckily a friend from college lives in Portland – Hello, friend, give me all the recommendations. Places to go, things to see, where to eat, where to stay, etc.
I immediately called my cousin/travel partner and offered her to join me on this adventure. Then it was settled, I’d get the rental car – she’d book the Airbnb. Similar to our European Escape (coming soon), I took on the duties of creating our itinerary.
Next was the countdown. We couldn’t wait.
My flight arrival was after hers (her luggage was lost). By the time I got to the house (we stayed in the Alberta/Mississippi district), we were both starving. We decided to head down to our district’s version of downtown and to our first Portland meal at Por Que No? The line was out the door – must be a good sign! The first thing we noticed on the door was the sign below (later to be spotted in all stores, bars, and restaurants). We were mesmerized with how inclusive this city was just in the first hour. Outside of the restaurant hung a rainbow flag, a Black Lives Matter sign, other signs supporting DACA and the Dreamers; these are just to name a few. It was incredible. The food and staff were just as amazing. I had sweet potato tacos with a home brewed purple tea. After dinner we walked down the street and stopped at local brewery, StormBreaker Brewing. Again, such wonderful staff and great beer. We went over the rest of the trip’s itinerary and then returned home to await the arrival of her luggage. With time differences, we’d been up for 24 hours and I struggled to remain awake with her – I failed. When I awoke the next morning, my thoughts were, “well I hope the suitcase delivery man didn’t murder her.” Great news, all was alive and well.
*As these adventures start, please note that all parking in Portland is parallel parking. Great.
We started our day at Tasty N’ Sons for an amazing brunch. Brunch here is more of a tapas environment, so we enjoyed chocolate potato doughnuts, sweet biscuits with a blueberry compote and whipped cream (still swooning), potatoes bravas with an over easy egg and aioli sauce, and the hangtown fry which was oysters with all the breakfast fixings.
After brunch, we headed into the woods for a short (long) hike to see the infamous Witch’s Castle in Forest Park. We were stunned how active the trail was to get to the castle and the number of runners running on these thin trails that one slip in the mud would send them barreling down a mountain side. The Witch’s Castle was definitely a tourist site to see and gave us 90’s Hocus Pocus kids a great sense of spook. From the hike down and back up a mountain, next came something a little more leisurely. We decided to head to the Rose Test Garden. Pictures of this garden were breathtaking – well, wrong time of year. Garden was dead… zero life. We considered going to the Japanese Garden or the Lan Su Chinese Garden, but we found out there was a fee associated with entering those and after the Rose Garden, we decided to keep going.
*It should be noted that Portland has a huge Asian past and culture. It was very interesting to learn more about this.
Multnomah Falls was only 40 minutes away, so we made our trek out there. A beautiful drive along the Columbia River the whole way, led us right up to the waterfall. In fact, when we got there, we were trying to figure out how far we’d have to hike until we looked up and it was directly in front of our faces. Breathtaking.
We thought we were headed to the SE Wine Collective (12 wineries represented) for lunch and a wine tasting, but we took a different turn and ended up at a different wine shop. Still had a wonderful tasting with bread and cheese spreads – even walked away with a few bottles.
At this point, we were within walking distance of House of Vintage, which I read about online and knew it was on Hawthorne Street – a great shopping location. House of Vintage turned out to be enormous and truly too much to look at, so we decided to instead walk up and down the street and stop in local stores and purchased some treasures.
Back to our districts version of downtown, we popped into a local pizza place that had a Zebra statue outside, where we enjoyed some fresh slices and local brews. After that we then went and had ice cream. I of course went for the lavender and honey hybrid. Two of my favorite things. Sunday would be an early morning, so perfect way to end the night.
Blue Star Donuts was our first stop as we headed out to the coast. Per a recommendation, Cape Kiwanda State National Area was our destination. The most beautiful drive and just the right amount of time for us to talk and catch up on everything. My favorite. Cape Kiwanda was unreal, truly incredible. We got there by 9am, so the only other people out there were the morning surfers. One thing I immediately noticed was the lack of sea shells, instead near and far between were perfectly smoothed small black rocks. Pelican Brewery sits right there on the ocean and stole our afternoon lunch appetites.
Driving down the coast towards Depoe Bay for our whale watching appointment. The Pacific coast is something that should be on everyone’s bucket list. We saw pictures of the previous sightings and were told just the day before there had been two whale breaching’s. The odds were in a favor. Once we were out 3-5 miles, we followed two whales for about an hour. It was unbelievable. I hope to do this again one day. Patience and warm jackets are key.
After our whale watching excursion, back in the car to head back up the coast to Cannon Beach for a sunset and dinner. If you’ve seen the movie, The Goonies, you’ll recognize the giant rock at Cannon Beach. We arrived with about an hour to go until the sunset, so we enjoyed the beach and the great weather we were told we brought with us. We watched the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, dancing around this rock. Simply stunning. Instead of our original dinner destination, we just went into the Town of Cannon Beach and ended up at the Sweet Basil Café. We were wet and cold at this point – red wine was our goal. Quoting my cousin, “I want to be sweating when we leave here.” This was easily my favorite meal of the trip. A veggie tortilla soup, followed by a mushroom and polenta with fresh veggies dish. I could eat it again every day. After a full day of coastal travels, we headed back to Portland to call it a night.
Monday morning took us back downtown to start our day at Voodoo Donuts, right across from the infamous Keep Portland Weird sign. The best blueberry cake donut, anywhere. This is when I kept our itinerary very open for us to have a free day. Followed by pictures with the giant Paul Bunyan Statue; we considered the Oregon Zoo (nah), doing the Portland Underground Walking Tour (more of that learning the Asian history) – but it only had a 2pm timeslot open… (nah). After a brief walk back down our districts’ downtown and pit stop for coffee at Jory Coffee, we decided to drive out to Mount Hood; a potentially active stratovolcano in Oregon. It was crazy to think the day before we only drove an hour west to the coast and here we were driving an hour east into the snowy mountains. We saw Mount Hood after an almost ‘run out of gas’ moment, and it was more breathtaking than a pictures’ justice.
From there, we drove to Naked Winery in Hood River, Oregon. Being the two people, we are, we made friends with our sommelier who in addition to our requested tasting, allowed us to also try their house specials. After our time there, he pointed to a bridge out the window about a football field away and said on the other side was the state of Washington if we wanted to go, he could offer some more recommendations. Well, you don’t have to tell us twice. We were in the car headed for Washington.
Unfortunately, some of the places he recommended were closed that Monday, but we were able to frequent a brewery and try some Washington beers and go to a restaurant for some loaded Washington tots.
The night was still early so on our drive back to Portland, we stopped at Pine Street Market. A place that offers multiple food business all in one giant dining hall. Pizza and ice cream again won us over. I’m seeing a trend here. From there, we went to Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider for a flight of his ciders. Delicious. His two originals, were by far my favorites.
Tuesday morning came, and I had to take my cousin to the airport. The infamous Oregon rain was back. I started with an acai bowl downtown and walked to Powell’s Book that kept me dry and busy for the next hour and a half.
Despite the rain, there was still more I wanted to see outside. So, I headed to the Redwood Grove Hoyt Arboretum, to take in the Redwoods. After some time imagining how old they were and if anyone could wrap their arms around one, I decided to head to The Grotto. This is a destination of trails with Catholic figures made into nature. I’m not Catholic, but still found it incredibly peaceful and stunning all the same. I then tried my first vegan restaurant, Bye & Bye. It was phenomenal.
I spent the rest of my afternoon, walking around and taking in more of this city. I went back to the house and packed my bags, so I wouldn’t have to later that night. I made my way back to StormBreaker Brewing, where I tried a couple more of their home beers and chatted with the staff. I took a new book with me, and as I sat there reading and reflecting on this city and trip – I was overcome with an unusual feeling. For the first time in my life, I felt as if I was where I was supposed to be. Friend from college and I were then able to meet down the street at Ecliptic Brewing for some dinner and other local beer. It’s always great catching up with an old friend and seeing their success in life. I thanked him for all the recommendations and shared that this city had captivated me.
Following our departure, I went home and prepared for my morning flight. The flight home was filled with new books and a sadness of leaving this unbelievable city and state. Until next time, Oregon.
“If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it’s lethal.” – Unknown
The Narrative of a Merman 