Friday, March 28th: I’m not going to lie, I was incredibly sore after my multiple hikes in Washington Park in Portland, Oregon… so I had a late start to this Friday. Also, it was a pretty rainy morning, which meant that I took my sweet time getting ready for the day ahead. After I was sufficiently prepared (did some stretching and breakfast eating), I made moves for my last full day in Portland. Sad. I walked to the bus stop, took the bus to the Max un autre fois, and found myself in downtown Portland once again.
I had a goal to find a new pair of rain-boots considering mine had shit the bed. After visiting countless outdoors stores and the like (Portland is full of them – I loved it), I stumbled upon a Dr. Marten store and you guessed it, found my new babies there. Check them out, I find them to be pretty fresh!
What The Doctor Ordered
Sweet kicks, eh? I also discovered another juice bar called Greenleaf, where I sucked down a SUPER hot juice with jalapeno and ginger inside, it was a nice compliment to the Indian food I had eaten for lunch from one of the many food trucks that reside in Portland (I loooooved that aspect).
Some of you may or may not know that I happen to be a HUGE Game Of Thrones fan, so of course after seeing this street sign, I had to take a picture in the family’s memory *tear*. I do want to talk about the coming season since Episode 1 has already aired, so expect that in the near future! Here she is:
House Stark
Gallivanting around is pretty much how I spent my Friday in Portland; at least until Natasha was done with work. She got out around 5, so I met her at Portland City Grill, a place that was absolutely bumping during happy hour – which happened to run until 7! I slugged back some amazingly priced local wine, and soon Natasha, her friend and I had scored highly coveted seats in the bar for a brilliant view of the city.
Rainbow!
Pretty phenomenal view, don’t you think? That place was packed, but Natasha was courageous enough to ask these gentlemen for their seats since they appeared to be cashing out; they were charming and let us sit down with them until they left. Having an actual table gave us the opportunity to order food (which was also mega-cheap), and we all split Rice Paper Spring Rolls and then I had Creole Shrimp and Grits – which was creamy polenta, roasted red pepper sauce and white cheddar with a ton of shrimp nestled within. It was amazing and I definitely recommend it if you ever stop in there for some grub!
YUM
We stayed at Portland City Grill for a little while longer, then it was time for us to make moves to Natasha’s friend and co-workers house, Dawn. She’s a bit older than we are, so she’s more put together — when we arrived her and her friends were chef-ing up a phenomenal meal of sauteed spinach with garlic, salmon, brussel sprouts with seasonings and olive oil, tomato and onion salad, and a few other things that I can’t remember anymore. I HAD to eat some brussel sprouts and salad since I am addicted to vegetables, and they were awesome.
Dawn’s Floor Decor
We also brought some local beer to the gathering, and there was plenty of wine to go around. Needless to say it was a grand time, especially when we started playing Cards Against Humanity; a dirty version of Apples to Apples, and a game I definitely encourage you to try out for a night of comedic relief.
teehee
Well, that was my final day and night in Portland! It couldn’t have ended any better in my opinion: good food, drink and company are all ingredients for awesomeness in my book.
Saturday, March 29th: The final day in Portland! Natasha and I slept in a little bit since it was the weekend, and after I had packed up all my belongings we set out in search of some good ole Portland grub. Natasha wanted to take me to a place called Slappy Cakes, where you can make your own pancakes on your table which doubles as a griddle/grille, but the wait was about 2 hours and I had a train to catch at 12:15… so that was a big fat negatory.
Instead, we wound up eating at a restaurant called Radio Room where I ordered and devoured their “Boss Hogg Benedict”, which was melted brie, bacon slices and poached eggs topped with hollandaise sauce and home fries on the side. ❤ ‘Twas fantastic, especially paired with the hot chocolate I ordered. Have I mentioned that I love Portland and it’s local food community? I couldn’t get enough!
After brunch, I had to say goodbye to Natasha 😦 . She dropped me off at the Portland train station and I was off to Olympia, Washington to stay with my friend Kaitlyn! I don’t want to overwhelm all you lovely humans with an overly long post, so I’ll stop here for now. Stay tuned for the last legs of my westward journey!
Stay beautiful, all of you.
azuremarie 