PNW = Pacific Northwest. Instead of going home for Thanksgiving, we got out of town. We used a JetBlue pass I had that was about to expire to go as many miles away from home as possible: Portland, OR! It had been on the list of destinations for a while, so this was the perfect chance to see it in its misty, gray, rainy best. We rented a car to drive up I-5 via Seattle, to Vancouver, Canada, wandering small towns on the way and checking out the cities.
Portland reminded us both a lot of Austin; small, walkable, affordable, and scenic. It started snowing when the plane landed, and many restaurants closed shop due to 'inclement weather' of about a half-inch of accumulation (sound like Austin yet?), so we found a brewery called DeSchute's serving a greasy late-night dinner menu at the late-night hour of 9:30, and grabbed a bite before going 'home'. For our first 2 nights in PDX and two nights in Vancouver, we stayed through airbnb at apartments within walking or easy transit to downtown, which saved us a little money and gave us a better feel for the liveability of both cities.
The first morning in Portland involved a visit to Ken's for delicious pastries. I was intrigued by the quiches but the pastries and coffee hit the spot. We headed out of town to check out the Columbia Gorge, about 30 mins outside of town on 84-E. Although the scenic Columbia River Highway was a bit iced over, we ventured down until it got too hilly for our comfort and headed back to 84, which, as it turns out, is pretty darn scenic too. We stopped at Multnomah Falls, where a small bit of hiking was enough for me... but Sapun, as usual, ventured a lot farther vertically and almost made it to the top, despite lots of ice. I'd love to see it in the summer - hiking around the trails must be pretty awesome. We drove back to the city and checked out Powell's, then Kenny and Zuke's for a fantastic veggie reuben, then back to Powell's, where I found myself absorbed in the works of one Sarah Palin. Dinner that night was low-key; it was a bit too cold to stay outside very long, so we headed indoors after taking a bottle of Oregon pinot noir to go from Vino Paradiso.
We headed out on Wednesday to Canada, stopping at In the Bowl in Seattle for a vegetarian lunch right off the highway. Seattle, not surprisingly, was rainy and slushy, but the drive cleared up a little as we got closer to Canada. We breezed through the border - no line at all - and continued on to the city in the snow. Our home for two nights was in Mt Pleasant, another walkable neighborhood, where we had a delicious dinner at Crave followed by a beer (and learning about the 9-step Belgian pouring process) at Bier Haus.
Thursday was a cold, rainy, snowy day, spent walking around the downtown area of Vancouver. We started out trying to find Granville Island (tourist central) but couldn't because of the snow... so we checked out Stanley Park instead. We drove around half of the park - it is huge! - and wandered around downtown, taking in Robson St, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the waterfront (where we walked through a science fair at the Fairmont Hotel), stopping at cafes here and there for snacks. Vancouver is a cool city, but it is hard on the wallet...especially after experiencing no tax on anything in Oregon (not even dinner bills!), it was hard to justify $3.50 for a cup of tea. Plus tax. Dinner was at Earl's, so-so food, and we were disappointed that our original choice of Capone's was closed, and there weren't many other enticing options in Yaletown. Apparently Capone's was evicted! The next day we got to Granville Island, but found most of the wares out of our price range, so it was back on the road for us.
I-5 is peppered with outlet malls, so I couldn't resist the temptation of Black Friday sales... unfortunately, the line at Lululemon was out of control, so we settled for the Nike store near Anacortes, WA and continued on. The weather got worse as we drove, so we stopped more frequently for hot chocolate breaks (the best kind!) and finally made it to our hotel for the last night in PDX. This time, we were using my free night at the Hotel Monaco downtown, where we also scored free valet parking, glasses of wine, a bottle of champagne in our room (I'd told them it was Sapun's bday), and free bike rentals. Oh and a top-floor room. Style, all the way baby, and we didn't pay a dime for any of it. It almost makes me long for my consulting days. Almost.
Anyway, Friday night we hit the Farm Cafe for a fantastic dinner - followed by a drive through the SE side of town to see where the hipsters hang out. We returned to SW to share a Spanish coffee at Huber's - not as cool of a backstory as the Buena Vista's Irish coffee, but it'll do. When we left the SW side for dinner, the streets and restaurants were packed but by 9 pm the crowds cleared out and all was quiet - odd, for a Friday night. Since we had a full day of travel ahead, we retired early and woke up in time for pumpkin pancakes and eggs at the bar at Mother's - a huge, efficient breakfast operation with lines out the door at opening time. Wow. But worth it. Then we checked out the Saturday Market - like Crafty Bastards in DC but every weekend - I wish we had that here. A few Christmas gifts later and we were on our way to the airport, and into a jumble of rescheduled flights to reorder. It wouldn't be the holidays if airline travel was easy, right?
Back in DC, and after all that driving and flying, I think we're both ready for the kind of vacation where you can lay on the beach, do nothing, and barely move for a week. Or maybe just ready not to go back to work again....
Portland reminded us both a lot of Austin; small, walkable, affordable, and scenic. It started snowing when the plane landed, and many restaurants closed shop due to 'inclement weather' of about a half-inch of accumulation (sound like Austin yet?), so we found a brewery called DeSchute's serving a greasy late-night dinner menu at the late-night hour of 9:30, and grabbed a bite before going 'home'. For our first 2 nights in PDX and two nights in Vancouver, we stayed through airbnb at apartments within walking or easy transit to downtown, which saved us a little money and gave us a better feel for the liveability of both cities.
The first morning in Portland involved a visit to Ken's for delicious pastries. I was intrigued by the quiches but the pastries and coffee hit the spot. We headed out of town to check out the Columbia Gorge, about 30 mins outside of town on 84-E. Although the scenic Columbia River Highway was a bit iced over, we ventured down until it got too hilly for our comfort and headed back to 84, which, as it turns out, is pretty darn scenic too. We stopped at Multnomah Falls, where a small bit of hiking was enough for me... but Sapun, as usual, ventured a lot farther vertically and almost made it to the top, despite lots of ice. I'd love to see it in the summer - hiking around the trails must be pretty awesome. We drove back to the city and checked out Powell's, then Kenny and Zuke's for a fantastic veggie reuben, then back to Powell's, where I found myself absorbed in the works of one Sarah Palin. Dinner that night was low-key; it was a bit too cold to stay outside very long, so we headed indoors after taking a bottle of Oregon pinot noir to go from Vino Paradiso.
We headed out on Wednesday to Canada, stopping at In the Bowl in Seattle for a vegetarian lunch right off the highway. Seattle, not surprisingly, was rainy and slushy, but the drive cleared up a little as we got closer to Canada. We breezed through the border - no line at all - and continued on to the city in the snow. Our home for two nights was in Mt Pleasant, another walkable neighborhood, where we had a delicious dinner at Crave followed by a beer (and learning about the 9-step Belgian pouring process) at Bier Haus.
Thursday was a cold, rainy, snowy day, spent walking around the downtown area of Vancouver. We started out trying to find Granville Island (tourist central) but couldn't because of the snow... so we checked out Stanley Park instead. We drove around half of the park - it is huge! - and wandered around downtown, taking in Robson St, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the waterfront (where we walked through a science fair at the Fairmont Hotel), stopping at cafes here and there for snacks. Vancouver is a cool city, but it is hard on the wallet...especially after experiencing no tax on anything in Oregon (not even dinner bills!), it was hard to justify $3.50 for a cup of tea. Plus tax. Dinner was at Earl's, so-so food, and we were disappointed that our original choice of Capone's was closed, and there weren't many other enticing options in Yaletown. Apparently Capone's was evicted! The next day we got to Granville Island, but found most of the wares out of our price range, so it was back on the road for us.
I-5 is peppered with outlet malls, so I couldn't resist the temptation of Black Friday sales... unfortunately, the line at Lululemon was out of control, so we settled for the Nike store near Anacortes, WA and continued on. The weather got worse as we drove, so we stopped more frequently for hot chocolate breaks (the best kind!) and finally made it to our hotel for the last night in PDX. This time, we were using my free night at the Hotel Monaco downtown, where we also scored free valet parking, glasses of wine, a bottle of champagne in our room (I'd told them it was Sapun's bday), and free bike rentals. Oh and a top-floor room. Style, all the way baby, and we didn't pay a dime for any of it. It almost makes me long for my consulting days. Almost.
Back in DC, and after all that driving and flying, I think we're both ready for the kind of vacation where you can lay on the beach, do nothing, and barely move for a week. Or maybe just ready not to go back to work again....
But how could you miss BEND!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteHeading out to PDX next week. Then onto Bend. WIll be referencing this for PDX foodie options! :)
Thanks! :)