Adventures in Portland | Travel Photography

Recently I spent a few days in Portland, Oregon.  First visit.  And Loved it!!!

It was a bit different than my normal get-aways which include reading up on the City and area (in advance), historical places visits, scenic snapshots and tasting the local food.  This trip included last minute planning, a lot comfort food, checking out craft beers, taking advice from the locals on what to taste along with some napping.  I love both styles of travel.

We started off with a train ride!  8 hours on the Amtrak Cascades – hugging the coastline, catching up on some tv shows & reading.  I spent a bit of time drifting in and out of dreamland too.

A short walk through Portland’s Pearl District brought us to the Ace Hotel.  What a great place – an old downtown building turned hip hotel, complete with bikes-to-borrow, a common area with Stumptown Coffee Roasters on one side and a bar/restaurant on the other.  And a Photobooth.

The helpful Dan at the Ace Hotel suggested Bailey’s Taproom (which I loved) where we could order tacos from the taqueria across the street.  Over the next few days, rain or shine (and mostly rain) we tasted beer and food at a lot of cool places – breakfast at Mother’s, byways cafe and Kenny & Zuke’s Deli, tastings at the Rogue Brewery, Deschutes Brew Pub, Produce Row Cafe (hello beer & whiskey pairings!), Lola’s Room & the Crystal Ballroom (McMenamin’s), lunch at some of the many many food carts downtown, and a visit to The Farm.  Oh and a trip to Voodoo Donuts.

Portland would not be complete without a trip to Powell’s City of Books.  A bookstore bigger than a city block!  It was wonderful.  I found a second edition of Pierre Berton’s The Secret World of Og and lost track of time in the Photography section.

Portland ftw!!!  What a great place to visit.

©Marlis Funk 2012