Our Favorite Cities – Portland

Jul 182012

The iconic sign. During Christmas, the deer has a red nose!

Portland, Oregon, home of the hippy, locale of the show Portlandia, and one of my favorite places in the U.S. Prior to arrival, my travel buddy, J, and I had a few places we just had to check out. We opted out of getting a rental car, which turned out to be best because we got to do a lot of exploring!

Voodoo Doughnuts:
You absolutely cannot go to Portland and not stop here. There are two locations in the city: The main one on SW 3rd Street and one just west of the Burnside Bridge. I recommend the one on 3rd. It is the smallest place I’ve ever seen and so quirky. The donuts are like confectionary art.

Ace Hotel:

One of my favorite buildings in the city. The lobby has a Stumptown Café, a room full of overstuffed furniture, terrariums, and a photo booth!

Powell Books:

Both J and I are avid readers (English majors, go figure), so there was no way we would miss this stop. This place is humungous! Every section is color-coded and there are three stories! We spent a good 2-3 hours without even realizing it. Check out their website for some good deals.

Pok Pok:
Seriously, the best, most authentic Thai food I’ve ever had. This was our one pricey-ish meal during the vacation. If you go, I recommend checking out the Whiskey Soda Lounge across the street (a sister bar that serves appetizers from Pok Pok).

Of course, once we roamed the city for a day we discovered a few other things to add to our list.
Stumptown Coffee:

A little gilded horseshoe!

I am a serious coffee drinker. Like, I might need an intervention. Stumptown was the remedy for my caffeine-junkie addiction (plus it was nice to have a warm cup o’ joe during the rainy days). They serve every in-house order in a caramel-brown mug and matching saucer with a little sugar spoon. I was in heaven!

Oyster Bar:
I had never had oysters before, but J was adamant I try them during our stay. I’m sort of adventurous so I wasn’t averse. Turns out, I love oysters. The plate you see below has three different types of oysters ranging from super-salty to not-so-much salty. Don’t mind the martinis (living it up on our vacation!).

Burnside Bridge:
It’s hard to miss the Burnside Bridge. It’s one of the main passages from the west side of the river into downtown. We stayed about two blocks west of the bridge and found it very easy and quick to just walk right across.

I added a few more photos I found online of some recommendations, as well as some more from our travels.