My girlfriend Sophia and I do a fair bit of adventuring. We research cities and cool places to go and try them out! Here’s the start of a little series from cities we’ve been to along with our recommendations.
This is an old recap from a trip we took in January of 2016 to Portland, Oregon.
We stayed at an Airbnb near the train station and the river, looking across at the Moda Center.
The apartment was walking distance to downtown and it was a great deal. There was a sketchy walk over the train tracks on an elevated bridge to get to the rest of the city, but other than that, it was a great place. In the future, I’d try to stay in the Pearl District, though.
Night one: After a long day of travel across the country, we played it safe and went for Japanese food. We found a place called Shinju Sushi not too far from the Airbnb. It was in a nice location with pretty good food.
Afterward, I had a craving for chocolate cake (not an uncommon phenomenon) and we had some time to explore before it was too late. We found a place called Urban Farmer, a fancy restaurant high up in a hotel. We went for the view and stayed for a mediocre $13 slice of mushy cake. A neat memory, but Urban Farmer isn’t on my list of must-go spots in Portland.
Day Two: Recovering from a long day before, we got a slow start and took a Lyft over to Jam on Hawthorne, located on Hawthorne street. We LOVED this place. We still talk about it frequently because it was so good – even though Sophia ordered a wheat pancake. The main highlight was their homemade berry jam (pictured on pancake)!
Despite a huge brunch at Jam, we knew we needed to try Blue Star Donuts. There was a little sticker shock that came with paying $3.50 for one donut, but it was well worth it. I crave that donut to this day (pictured below).
Hawthorne street had plenty of cool little shops and places to eat all over. I even found a small food truck selling bagels that accepted bitcoin. Even though I was not hungry at all, I had to buy one on principle. Who knows if Bondy Bagels is still around today, but if they are, they probably still accept bitcoin.
After plenty of wandering on Hawthorne Street, we took a Lyft back to the main area of Portland and went to 23rd street, where we were told there were lots of cool shops. As we wandered around, still stuffed from the mid morning eating frenzy, we stumbled upon Salt & Straw, a famous ice cream shop. There are a few scattered throughout Portland and they’re famous for good reason. The flavors were unique and delicious. We ended up with a cone of strawberry balsamic that left us both with fond memories of Salt & Straw.
To cap off a massive day of eating, we found a funky little pasta joint. Everything about it was different. At Grassa you order at the door and sit at a communal table. The lights were low and the atmosphere felt like a restaurant, but the experience said otherwise. We got a couple hearty pasta dishes each under $10 and made our way back to the Airbnb for the night.
Day three: We took a Lyft right away to Alberta street. Portland is known for being hipster and artsy, and we found the highest concentration of murals on Alberta street. For breakfast we went to Petite Provence, a nice French-inspired brunch place.
After breakfast we took to the streets and starting hunting down murals up and down Alberta street. There was plenty to see. The picture below is one of my favorites along with the Rhino at the top of this post.
After a bunch of walking we stumbled upon a yoga studio/juice bar called Carioca Bowls. Sophia got an acai bowl. It was a great place to regroup and get some nutrients.
Although we still had another full afternoon and night in Portland, the last place we ate worth noting was the famous Voodoo Donuts. Pictured below, Voodoo is know for making treats that look bizarre.
That’s all from Portland! We went in the winter so sadly we weren’t able to see any of the gardens that give Portland the nickname “The City of Roses.” Overall, though, the people were very kind and the city felt pretty safe everywhere we went. We’re eager to go back and spent some more time in Portland during the summer.