Day 22
We took our time getting up and breaking camp this morning before the trip to Portland. At this point we were going on 4 days with no shower(ewwwwww) and we were ready for some much needed soap, electricity, heat, running water.....you know, things of the civilized world. We arrived at The Society hotel around 3PM and were very pleasantly surprised by how great it was. Its in Portlands Oldtown, which is kind of sketchy and party-central so it was fairly priced and SO nice. Our favorite hotel of the trip.
When we got to the room we immediately took baths and started looking for a place to get a good beer and some good food. We found the good beer at Bailey's Taproom which prides itself on keeping the best west coast/pacific northwest beers on tap.....and let me tell you, the beer out here is world class.(Deschutes Brewery we freaking LOVE you). The food we took care of at a Mexican restaurant called Santeria which shares a bathroom with one of Portlands first strip clubs called "Mary's Club". Portland kind of prides itself on being a little dirty and a lot weird and at one point claimed to have the most strip clubs per capita in the US. The food at Santeria was on point and a trip to the bathroom included nekkid womenz.......niiiiice.
After dinner we decided to head up to Powell's Books, a Portland institution and also the largest independent bookstore in the USA. The thing was enormous and almost overwhelming. If we lived here we'd spend a lot of time just getting lost in here.
After book-time it was cocktail time. Time for the Teardrop Lounge. We're huge fans of craft cocktails and this place was at the forefront of the whole cocktail revolution. It did not disappoint at all. Watching the bartender, Lonnie, do her thing was super cool and the cocktails were perfection. The bar ran like a well oiled machine with a team of 5 knocking out drink after drink but taking care to make sure each one is consistent, with multiple people checking each drink with a small taste via straw. While we were there we saw people drinking interesting looking Pina Colada's and decided we'd have to come back another night to see what those were all about.
After cocktails Steph was ready to party but the previous days events caught up to me with avengeance and by 10PM I was a zombie. It was soooo time to go to bed but not before going to a Portland staple, Voodoo Donuts. After eating a couple delicious bites of fried batter we crashed hard.
Day 23
Woke up with absolutely nooooooooooo alarm which has been a bit of a rarity on the trip so far with so much to see. We got coffee in the hotel lobby and just laid around a little bit to work on the blog. We've been without service for days on end so having wi-fi is both necessary and a luxury.
After being lazy we decided it was time to go shopping so we asked the super helpful staff at The Society for recommendations and they knocked it out of the park. We went to Upper Playground, a west coast graphic design clothing store where I picked up this sweet tshirt because, lets face it, this pirate is absolutely crushing it
Then we walked down to Portlands Saturday Market on the riverside. Man I wish Nashville had something like this. Its filled with fresh food and drinks along with arts and crafts done by local vendors. The level of creativity on display here was simply awesome. Shirts, instruments, photography, graphic art and paintings, household items made completely from silverware. It was really charming and very Portland.
After the market we headed back to the hotel to start getting our drink on and get ready for a night on the town. We had one of the best IPA's of the trip in the hotel lobby. Breakside Feelgood Flagship IPA. IPA perfection. After getting gussied up we headed out to a Peruvian Tapas restaurant heralded as one of the best in Portland. We had made reservations months in advance. We had fresh fish ceviche, diver scallops, crab stuffed avocado, beef empanadas, and grilled octopus with chimichurri and capers. Everything was delicious but, in our opinion, Andina was second to Mango in St Louis, which still retains the Peruvian crown.
After dinner we made good on our promise to return to Teardrop and try one of those Pina Coladas. It was as good as it looked so we decided to have a couple more drinks while we were there.
I asked Lonnie to make me a boozie whiskey drink but with a twist of some sort. She said she was in love with an old New Orleans classic called a Vieux Carre and whipped one up. Definitely going to have to try and reproduce this one at the house.
After leaving Teardrop feelin' good we stumbled back toward the hotel to end the night at an arcade called Ground Kontrol which is full of classic arcade games and tons of pinball machines. We had a great time, but since we hit Portland during a 100 degree heat wave and they had no AC, we couldn't stay for very long. After some Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, and a few dollars worth of pinball games it was time to head back home.
This was one great day in Portland which really showed us why everyone seems to love this city. We will absolutely be back for another visit.