The Dream of the 90's is Alive in Portland

On the way to Portland

We had been camping and sleeping in our car for several days. Once we arrived in Portland, we finally checked into a hotel. After checking in, we treated ourselves to a hot shower. There are so many fun things to do in Portland. We didn't know where to start. Our first stop was to the International Rose Test Garden. Portland is known as the "City of Roses." This beautiful garden features thousands of different kinds of roses. It was so much fun getting to see the different roses, I totally forgot that I have a terrible pollen allergy! 

Rows and Rows of Rowses

International Rose Test Garden

 Next, we ventured downtown for shopping. Our first stop was Powell's City of Books. This a massive bookstore literally takes up an entire city block. I could have spent the entire day rummaging through the stacks of books. One gem we found was "Cookin' with Coolio" a cookbook written by rapper (and apparently chef.) Then, we stopped at a few record shops and used book stores. I'm happy we had such a tight budget, I could have easily brought home a car full of books and LPs. 

Afterwards, we stopped at a local bakery. A friend had recommended the place for lunch. Man, I'm glad we took her advice. We each had a soup and sandwich lunch. My sandwich was pork with veggies and sriracha. It's like it was made for me! 

My sandwich and Allison's Mushroom Melt

Fresh Strawberry Tart from Kens Artisan Bakery. So yummy.

The hotel we stayed at was close to the airport. Next to our hotel was an Indian buffet. Now, I love Indian food. But I was skeptical of a buffet next to a hotel that is near an airport. Good thing I didn't listen to my gut, because it was amazing! Each plate was more delectable than the previous one. They even had homemade mango ice cream. 

Some of you may know that I make zines. Portland has one of the largest zine cultures in the country. One of my goals while in Portland was to visit a zine distro. These are small shops that sell zines from all over the world. We asked the employee of the distro for some non-touristy places to visit. He told us about a part of town he called "the place rich people go to pretend they're in the ghetto." How could we resist visiting such a place? Turns out, there was nothing scary about this part of town. There were comic book stores, used CD shops, and a store full of weird toys. Strange fact: Food trucks aren't allowed to be on Portland streets. Trucks have to set up shop in designated parking lots. We didn't have the chance to sample any of the food trucks. But I'm sure the vegan, free range, gluten free burgers were awesome.. 

Portland is an interesting and exciting town. There are so many things to explore. We only got to experience a small fraction of the what it had to offer, and hope to visit again soon. 

-Marc