Heading out of town by car

We packed up and headed to Ken’s Artisan Bakery first thing! We had to get coffee, a croissant, and some of that incredible, fantastic bread we enjoyed as our starter at Park Kitchen. Oh BOY I would love to live in a neighborhood with a bakery like this. Yum yum yum. Okay, next we headed to New Seasons (sniff) to get sandwiches for the road. I nearly dove head first into the giant crates of berries in the produce section. The COLORS! And the roses out front in their shop? Oh man, beauty at it’s finest.

We’ve really enjoyed our visit to this city. It reminds us of all the reasons we like Europe. Small neighborhoods, each with their own park, surrounding the city center. The air is clean, there are tons of trees, and local businesses dominate over chains. There is a staggering amount of excellent food to be found in the way of neighborhood pastry shops, bakeries, and restaurants. There is an eclectic mix of people with everyone expressing their individuality; punk rockers (old and young), tattoo places, and galleries featuring unique and talented artists in nearly every medium. Oh, and Powell’s books. I could just curl up and live in there.

We made it to the freeway and sadly left town. For now. There is so much left to discover here. What a great vacation. We can’t wait to get back up when it’s rainy and wet just to see what kind of adventure that will be!

Another Day

Another beautiful day in this perfect city. Mother’s Bistro for breakfast fed us press-pot coffee, eggs over easy, and yummy yummy bacon. We enjoyed french toast covered in crushed cornflakes. Four tiny almond cookies sweetened the tab.
We spent the day in Southeast Portland again, “our” neighborhood. We took a hike around Mt Tabor and finally caught a glimpse of Mt Hood through the trees - ahh. The air is so clean. We found the tiny dog park on the south side and let Bean run around with some of the big boys for a bit.
At tea time we stopped to see what all the fuss was about at Pix Patisserie. Okay, I could live in their truffle cabinet. Just lock me in there. I had a the Tart Citron and two truffles; one blue cheese and one caramel almond truffle. Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy......heaven. Best Truffles in Portland in my book.
Tonight we took a tip from the concierge and went to eat at Saucebox...eeew. It was completely full of itself and LA shi-shi types! We powered through our hors d’oeuvres and ran as fast as we could to Powells books. Whew! I could just LIVE in there! We took what we could carry up to the register and then met a new friend for drinks at Jake’s and called it a night.

A Day

Today we headed out to do some shopping in the Alphabet District and grab some lunch. We found a street crepe vendor and a deli, so we each got what we liked best. :)
This afternoon we had our agent take us inside a few of the houses we liked. Our favorite neighborhoods are in Southeast Portland; Ladd’s Addition, Hawthorne, and Mt. Tabor. These areas are near a huge park and are full Craftsman houses with lots of mature trees. I also love all the locally owned businesses (which is a thing we just love about this city). Even their version of 7-11 is called “Plaid Pantry”. There is an excellent grocery store here called New Seasons that blows the doors off Trader Joe’s and Whole Paycheck.
We had dinner with Scott & Jenna, and we got to see their great house. After dinner it was late enough for us to check out the famous Voodoo Doughnuts. We even got to see a kooky marching band weave it’s way through the street and into the shop...

Discovering Portland

Today we drove around a neighborhood called Ladd’s Addition. Bean likes Portland so much he actually stuck his head out the window for the first time! We stopped at Hot Lips Pizza - they had amazing blackberry soda ON TAP and some of the best slices I’ve ever had! Next, we headed up towards North Portland to see this cool old Victorian house we had seen during our real estate tour Monday. It's situated along the water and we got a great view of the bridges as well.
Happy hour is quite an event in this city, so we headed to Portland City Grill to see what all the fuss was about - okay, good cheap drinks, $2 appetizers, and a view. I see!
Afterwards we headed over to Mama Mia Trattoria for dinner and some of that cannoli everyone was raving about. Boy, this is a foodie’s town if there ever was one. Nearly every place we’ve eaten has had great service, a good selection on the menu, excellent presentation, and reasonable price.

Work Scene

This morning we headed to Fremont Street for Bagel Land Bagelsand then hung out at Starbuck’s for a better part of the morning to make use of their T-Mobile hot spots. We did a huge amount of laptop job research at a table outside with Bean happily snoozing in a sunbeam on the sidewalk & getting plenty of attention from the locals.
After a while, Bean started to get fidgety. I was just wishing I had brought a bone when a delivery guy walked by with a giant palette of dog food. I followed him around the corner where we discovered Green Dog pet supply! Bean picked out antlers, a bed, and some treats. Meanwhile, we found this really great stuffed hedgehog!
Tonight we dined at Park Kitchen, a tiny restaurant nestled in the North Park Blocks that run through downtown. They have a fantastic seasonal menu with a centrally located kitchen so you can watch them as you sip your wine. We watched the sunset and ended our meal with fantastic homemade truffles by Xocolatel De David. Now *THAT* was good chocolate.

Neighborhood Introductions

This morning we met another family with a Frenchie staying in our hotel! Cubby, their 4 month old brindle, could be Bean’s clone. It was hilarious watching the two of them wrestle in the lobby. They sounded like a couple of pigs!
So today is our day to get a feel for Portland. I had hooked up with a real estate agent, Lisa, before the trip. She picked us up at 9:30 for breakfast at Milo’s City Cafe and then we drove around neighborhoods. We stopped in the middle of the day at the Portland Rose Gardens overlooking the city. We also checked out Mt. Tabor park...can you say TREEEEEEEEEES?!
We were back at the hotel in the afternoon in time to hang out at the Pearl Art Festival down the street. I liked oil paintings by Gisele Boulianne, jewelry/sculpture by Peggy Cochran and Zaffiro, and Brian Mock had excellent metal sculptures. In the evening we went to dinner with some friends at a local brew pub. We rounded out the evening at Moonstruck chocolates (not impressed in the least - I'm a severe chocoholic and these were nothing interesting) in the Alphabet District.

Here I go!

We hit the road after waffles in Auburn, CA and made it to Portland, OR by 6:30pm - plenty of time to check into Hotel Lucia and relax a bit before dinner. Our room is on the 3rd floor and has everything we need. There is a great place to walk Bean 1/2 block away. Weather is nice and clear. We walk to Jake's Grill for pancetta wrapped rockfish, drinks, and dessert.