Since we only had one full day in Portland, we needed to do some serious sight-seeing. Rick proved to be an excellent tour guide. We started off by visiting Washington Park which is the second largest city park in the U.S. They have a wonderful rose garden but it will be a few weeks before they all pop out. Still the rose garden setting is very beautiful. The highlight of our visit to the park were the Japanese Gardens. They were so stunning and serene. We just kept oohing and ahhing. After leaving the park we drove around Portland's very vibrant downtown. Portland should be called the city of trees and even the very "big city-ish" downtown has trees. There's also a modern town square area where people seem to gather and they have weekly concerts there in the summer. A number of cultural institutions are in the same area and face a lovely park. Dwyne was obsessed with all the food carts--more than we've assembled in any other city. There appeared to be one for every type of food imaginable.
Since Portland is concidered such a beer city, Rick thought we should have lunch at a beer tavern. So we went to the very interesting Pearl District and at at Henry's 12th Street Tavern. This place is very upscale and looks nothing like the beer pub I was anticipating (much to my delight). But they have a beer list that would rival a 5-star restaurant's wine list! I'm not really a beer drinker...but when in Rome...And I did enjoy my beer. To go along with the beer I had "hot dog sliders" which were 3 little hot dogs with different toppings--I loved them! Dwyne and Rick were very happy with their Reuben sandwiches and beer cheese soup. Post lunch we walked around the Pearl District. It has lots of great looking shops, restaurants, bars and renovated buildings with upscale condos. We went in a very nice kitchen shop and to Powell's Book Store. Powell's is a huge independent bookstore. I've never seen such a large cookbook collection. I could have stayed in that section alone the rest of the day. We drove around some other neighborhoods before going back to the house.
We started the evening by going over to Jim and Mike's house for a glass of wine. They live in a beautifully restored old home and it was fun to see it.
Our dinner was at a Portland hot spot called Clyde Common. It's a very hip space but has seriously good food. We had a table in the mezzanine area and could look down on all the action below. When the server asked if we wanted dessert Kevin said, "maybe we should go to Voodoo Donuts." Even the server agreed that we should. We had actually heard about Voodoo Donuts from someone in Seattle so we were totally up for it. It is a strange place. First of all it's in this ramshackle building and is rather dark and imposing (not your brightly lit Dunkin'Donut type place at all). There's a counter and a rotating display case with samples of the various donuts. The donuts have really wacky toppings. One of the most popular (and Rick and Kevin's choice) is the maple bacon. I opted for the chocolate-peanut butter with rice crispies. Oh, I forgot to mention the goth-like young woman behind the counter. She was in no mood for any questions and if asked one she gave the shortest answer possible. But it was quite an interesting experience and I did indeed enjoy my donut.
Being the old fogies that we've become, we went back to the house to watch "Dancing With the Stars."
Tomorrow we're heading to the southern Oregon coast for our final travel days. We are already anxious for a return visit to Portland!
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