Portland, OR
We had set aside a whole day to wander about downtown. With no real plan, we parked and got to steppin’. I knew for sure that there would be coffee, food, and more food in our future. We stumbled across a cute coffee shop next to a craft store for local artists (all my favourite things), so I knew it was going to be a good day.
Caffeine first. We walked into Case Study Coffee and I was already in love. It smelled like heaven and pastries, there was a small crowd watching a brewing demo, and the largest windows just calling me over to people-watch. I don’t think Ally actually enjoyed her coffee much (too floral), and although my expression doesn’t say it, I was in my happy place.
Now that were were fully awake it was craft time! Crafty Wonderland was a beautiful and dangerous place. I should not be allowed in shops like these. Now I just want to go home and make ten thousand coasters and take up needle point and turn my album covers into purses. Actually, scratch that last one…they’re too pretty. Instead of buying out the shop, we took our chances on a 50¢ machine. Ally got a Dory tattoo, jolly rancher, and a parachuting alien. I got a swedish fish, a sparkly pig sticker, and a ring with googly eyes. I’d say we were all winners here.
I didn’t know food trucks were such a big deal in Portland. Huck (a good friend from yesterday’s post) affectionately referred to this highly populated food area as cartlandia…or cartopia. I don’t know if that’s a Huck thing or a Portland thing but it works for me. The streets were lined with options which quickly turned from awesome to overwhelming as I realized I couldn’t just have one of everything.
Ally and I went our separate ways and met up to eat our deliciousness in a nearby park. I tried Shawarma for the first time. I’ve been talking about it since Tony Stark mentioned it in The Avengers, and after passing multiple trucks selling the stuff I figured the time had come. Holy cow! Or yanno, chicken. I don’t understand the sorcery involved to make chicken taste so flavorful, but I will be enjoying this again. I wish I remembered the name of the truck so I could give them a proper shout out. Ally enjoyed a chicken/veggie/noodle dish from Noodle House. Food tastes so much better in the fresh air, I’m glad we’ve gotten so many opportunities to have our meals outside…and occasionally serenaded by local musicians. Do we have to get back to reality in three days?
After lunch we took a trip in the way-back machine and hung out in toy stores and candy shops (candy cigarettes anyone?). There were also plenty of vintage places to swoon over. I think Ally preferred the toy store, but she was a good sport and followed me around through aisles of suspenders, funky hats, and weird jewelry. Have I mentioned that I want/need everything in this city? I can’t.
We ventured away from the downtown area a bit for a very exciting, very secret, personal errand (that you will probably read about in a future blog post). And of course, we followed it up with more food. We had heard about Salt & Straw, an ice cream parlor, from Huck. But Cloud City Ice Cream was nearby so we took our sugar cravings there instead. I was not disappointed. It’s a small place with fun flavors and thankfully not too many people. I sampled the best cookie dough I’ve ever tasted but decided on something called better than therapy. It had a lemon curd base and ginger snap cookies, which doesn’t sound at all like something I would be into, but it tasted like pie. I freakin’ love pie. More than ice cream actually, so this was a happy medium. Ally’s first love IS ice cream and she did end up choosing the sea salt cookie dough (and chocolate). Yum.
We went back to the hotel to nap/pool/relax before going out to Cinetopia. At least that was the plan. We haven’t seen a movie in a long time and these theatres were recommended for their ‘living room seating’ and table service options. Well…we didn’t sleep, or swim, or go to the threatre. I stressed out about life for a bit, ordered take out, and we watched Despicable Me in the hotel room. That movie just resonates with me for some reason (see above photo from toy store). I’m really good at worrying about things, so I’m pretty impressed with myself that it took this long. It was still a great day, I wouldn’t trade a second.
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And then the TARDIS came to take us away and we lived happily ever after.
Fin.
Pancake Tour of North America 