Back in December, we were able to get some discounted tickets to fly to Portland on one of my favorite airlines, Alaska. We got some vouchers for 50% off plane tickets for any trip booked before December 26th for travel before March 14th. The only stipulation was that you couldn't fly on Fridays or Sundays. We decided to go with Portland because it was the cheapest place for us to travel and it was also a place we hadn't been to. The total for the two of us to fly round trip from San Diego to Portland was $190 including taxes and fees. We ended up flying out of San Diego early Saturday morning and flying back to San Diego on Monday night.
MARCH 12TH
DAY 1: ARRIVAL IN PORTLAND
The flight from San Diego to Portland is a pretty short one so we ended up arriving in Portland at 9:30am leaving us the entire day to explore. Our friends had flown in the day before since they didn't have the same flight restrictions as us so we met up with them at the hotel. We decided to stay at The Paramount Hotel. The hotel was decent and can be compared to an older vintage Courtyard Marriott. They had very soft bed linens which is a huge plus since you want to make sure you can get a good nights rest.
First stop after dropping off all our luggage at the hotel was to get some coffee. We decided on grabbing heart coffee and then moseying on over to get in line for Blue Star Donuts. The line was a little ridiculous but the donuts were pretty tasty. Maybe I'm a little spoiled by all the donut shops in San Diego but I didn't think they were too amazing. I thought Voodoo Donuts was better than Blue Star. I didn't realize this at the time but apparently there's a Blue Star Donuts in Los Angeles.
After devouring the donuts, we made our way to the Portland Saturday Market. It was raining pretty hard and it was also very cold so it was hard to enjoy all the booths. We had forgotten our umbrellas at the hotel so it was extra freezing for us.
After checking out the Saturday Market, we were hungry and ready to eat. We were originally going to grab Voodoo Donuts but the line was ridiculous so we went to the Food Truck block off of 9th and Alder Street. I really wanted to try Nong's Khao Man Gai but unfortunately they were closed so we ended up going with The Dump Truck and this Thai/Vietnamese food truck (I was craving noodles). If you get a chance to try out The Dump Truck, I would highly recommend the Bacon Cheeseburger! It was the best one out of the 4 different flavors. I was the most hesitant about that one but it ended up being the best one! The thai/vietnamese food truck was just ok. The noodles were spicy but without any flavor. It was really weird.
After finishing lunch, we chilled in the room for a little bit and then took an Uber to ride the Portland Aerial Tram. The fare is $4.50 roundtrip which isn't too bad and you get a really great view. There wasn't much to do once you get to the top, unfortunately, so we pretty much just rode it back down and then took another Uber back to the hotel.
After getting back to the hotel, we decided to just walk around downtown. We stopped by the Poler store where I got to try on a Napsack which I ended up going back and purchasing. It's so cozy! I basically use it as a snuggie.
Since Stumptown Coffee was close by, we stopped by to get ourselves out of the afternoon slump.
After moseying around for a bit, the "sun" was coming back out/it stopped raining so we decided to go back to Voodoo Donuts.
We basically got a variety and of course we had to get one of the actual Voodoo Donut guy.
We then brought the donuts back to the hotel. We chilled out again in the hotel for a bit and then headed out to Luc Lac for dinner. The Bo Luc Lac was amazing which was really surprising since I was expecting the place to be over hyped and not authentic. As soon as I realized they were open until 4am though, I realized they were probably legit :D. We got a few drinks from their happy hour menu while we waited. I would recommend coming early since the line does build up.
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and called it a night. Me being the grandma that I am these days decided that sleep was more important than going out haha. Since we didn't rent a car, we also needed to figure out a way to get to Multnomah Falls which was on the itinerary for the next day. So for the rest of the night, we just planned out our next 2 days left in Portland.
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MARCH 13TH
DAY 2: EXPLORE
First thing we did after getting ready was grab our rental car. Tony ended up nabbing a 1-day rental for $19 which was super awesome. Transportation. Check!
Our friends had recommended that we visit Petite Provence and I'm so glad we did! It smells absolutely heavenly in there. The French Toast was good and the French Onion Soup... I have no words! So effing good! Would highly recommend the French Onion Soup.
Our plan for the day was to head to Multnomah Falls. Our friends told us to take the scenic route and hit up the Vista House. The view from the Vista House is gorgeous! I cannot wait to go back during the summer time so that we'll be able to do more stuff. The pro to visiting in March is that you get to experience the Portland weather and it's off season so there's very few tourists around. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. The con is that the weather is very rainy pretty much all the time so it might damper your plans for doing outdoorsy stuff.
After capturing these photos, we went to explore the Vista House and had to pretty much run back to the car as it started hailing!
After the hail stopped, we proceeded on the route to Multnomah Falls. Such a beautiful place! It felt so serene to be there. A must see when you're in Portland.
After hiking up to the bridge, we decided to come back down and take in the scenery before heading back. We wanted to go to the Powell's Books for their Home and Garden Book Store and we walked around that area for a bit before going back downtown to return our rental car. We were pretty hungry so we decided to go for some pizza at Sizzle Pie. I got a slice of one of their vegan pizzas (I forget the name and nothing on the menu jogs my memory) and it was actually really really good!
We then went back to the Poler store so I could purchase my napsack :D. I was one happy camper... pun intended **insert cry laugh emoji**.
After my big splurge at the Poler store, we headed back to the hotel. The afternoon slump was hitting me pretty hard but we dragged ourselves downstairs to the hotel bar, Swine. We grabbed a few happy hour drinks and of course I opted to try the deviled eggs. Tony's aunt makes the best deviled eggs and sadly these ones were no comparison but the drinks were good and we even met a few locals who were heading out to Swank for Portland's Restaurant Month. Yes, you heard right. MONTH. Portlandians sure know how to do food right **drools**. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to try any of the restaurants but a local told us that Swank was a pretty good spot.
For dinner, we wanted to try Pok Pok. The wait was about 45 minutes to an hour so we headed across the street to The Richmond Bar to grab some drinks to hold us over.
We recently went to try Pok Pok's new outpost in Chinatown in Los Angeles but the food in Portland was definitely WAY better than the Los Angeles location. I would say the must have items were the Papaya Pok Pok, Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings, and the Kaeng Hang Leh (pork belly & pork shoulder).
After dinner, we walked over to Salt & Straw for dessert. I tried one that was supposed to be lucky charms flavored. Tasty!
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MARCH 14TH
DAY 3: DEPARTURE
Our final day in Portland started with us packing up all our stuff, checking out of our room and then heading to brunch at The Original A Dinerant. We mainly wanted to go here to try their Creme Brulee French Toast. We ordered a few of their alcoholic milkshakes as well.
After stuffing ourselves, it was finally time to venture off to Powell's City of Books. We stayed here for a bit just exploring all the different genres. We then headed off to a few clothing stores and then had a snack and some beers at Deschutes Brewery.
Our last stop before heading to the airport was at Cacao, a drinkable chocolate shop next to none other than The Heathman Hotel (all too familiar for you 50 Shades of Grey fans). It was actually recommended to us by our Lyft/Uber driver when we asked for some edible souvenirs for family and friends. Obviously we couldn't take the drinkable chocolate as a souvenir but there are tons of different chocolates to peruse and purchase.
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Overall, we enjoyed our trip to Portland. I think what we enjoyed most was spending time with friends we hadn't seen in forever. It was just fun chatting about the most random things and adulting. It was our first time traveling with another couple so it was a nice change. Hopefully we'll be able to do some more traveling together soon! I hear Bora Bora calling :P.
I usually like to jam pack my itineraries when I travel but it can make what is supposed to be a "vacation" extremely tiring. There were quite a few things we wanted to do but weren't able to get to. If you have an extra day or feel like cramming in as much as you can into your 3-day weekend, here are some suggestions.
Restaurants: Screen Door, Le Pigeon, Tasty n Sons, Tasty n Alder
Bars: Portland City Grill (for Happy Hour), Pepe Le Moko, Multnomah Whiskey Library, Whiskey Soda Lounge, Bridgeport Brew Pub
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Until next time, Portland!
(Of course it's sunny when we leave -__- )
(Of course it's sunny when we leave -__- )
