We landed around 12:30 after a 10 am flight out of O'Hare. The weather, as it would be for the whole trip, was in the high 80s and not a hint of rain to be seen. We took a free van (it pays to have free vouchers) to the Courtyard in the middle of downtown, or the southwest district of Portland. As I walked around this town for the first time, a couple of things stuck out to me. First, I was impressed with the public trans system. They have streetcars, light trails, and buses. Even if they don't intersect a lot, it's good that a town is so oriented towards biking and walking has multiple ways to get around town besides driving. There were lots of homeless people as well. I would barely pass two blocks without seeing one. The atmosphere is very casual, which isn't surprising. Wearing a golf shirt and straight leg levis, I felt like I was wearing a business suit. I noticed lots of workout clothes, tank tops, t shirts, and high boots. And it's easily the most tatted city I've ever seen. I don't mind a little ink, nor do I look down on it. But when an arm looks like a coloring book, I mean, what's that going to look like in 20, 30, or 40 years? If I could get a temp that would go away in a year or so, I'd think about it. Ok, off my high horse now. As a proponent of facial hair, they're awesome in Oregon. Excellent beards. Unique styles, crazy length.
Another fans aspect of Portland is food trucks. There are about 500 in the city and I like that since it let's people try unique visitors in an approachable manner. I saw trucks for Moroccan food, Egyptian food, Lebanese food, and plenty of Asian trucks too. I started with a Vietnamese fried chicken sandwich. It had cucumber, pickled vegetables, and Sriracha mayo. Really good. The chicken was spicy, but the freshness of the veggies countered it well. Definitely, I would get this again. Then, it was Korean tacos with beef, chicken, and veggies and done kind of creamy sauce. Pretty solid at two bucks a taco or three for five. Then, to go American, it was a grilled cheese with tomato, bacon, Swiss, cheddar, Colby, and mozzarella cheese. To me, a grilled cheese is so much better with tomato and bacon. Nice spicy salt 'n pepper chips and pickle spear too.
We walked a few blocks east to Pioneer Court square, a great place to people watch. There was a small turf soccer field set up in the middle of the square. The MLS All Star game is in Portland on August 6. I was pretty amazed how many people walked around wearing Portland Timbers jerseys. Then again, when there's no football, no pro hockey, and the new Class A baseball team plays in a suburb, I guess there aren't many options. Actually, with the Mets heading towards another abysmal season, maybe I'll adopt the Timbers as my soccer team.
We did some shopping in the Pioneer mall, where I found a bottle of bacon maple ale from voodoo donuts. Apparently, we're so lazy now that we can't even eat the donuts, we need to drink them now. I did see the Portlandia, which is a huge copper statue at the federal court building. It's the second biggest copper statue in America behind the Statue of Liberty.
After chilling at the hotel for a few, we went to Huber's for dinner. This place has been around since the 1870s. They're known for turkey and searching it year round. Mom had a halibut with hazelnuts and capers in a beurre blanc sauce. I had a taste and was really impressed how well the fish was cooked. I had the chili garlic prawns, which were good, but really spicy. For dessert, I had bread custard pudding. Really enjoyable, but it was a pretty big portion. Excellent service too, the server was incredibly friendly as she explained the menu and helped us with directions around town.
I worked out pretty hard in the morning. A vigorous half hour on elliptical and a half hour with the free weights, followed by half a peanut butter quest bar had me feeling good. The big plan of the day was an eight-hour boat ride to Cascade Falls, which is east on Portland down the Columbia River. For 88 bucks a pop, we didn't exactly have the best accommodations. The boat was like a speed boat, where passengers were all facing one another. I didn't want a yacht, but I thought there would at least be room for us to all stand or sit outside. No such luck.
The trip started on the Willamette River, which runs through Portland. The city is also known door it's many bridges and we went under many of them, like the Morrison, Steel, and Broadway. There were a lot of navy ships and barges too. One of the highlights was passing by Multnomah Falls, which is a series of picturesque waterfalls. We also saw floating houses. They looked like standard manufactured homes with siding, but we're right on the water. I don't think I'd want to live in the basement of one of those. The cascade locks were interesting. Basically, it was a section of water near a dam that raises and lowers water through pipes, showing the boats to keep traveling. This one raised and lowered the boat by 60 feet each time. It took about 20 minutes each time and it is kind of cool to go up and down in a boat like that. We took an hour for lunch where I had a salad and fish and chips. Great beer batter on the fish; I'd have been happy to have it on chicken too. The disappointing part was we missed setting foot in Washington. So I saw the coastline of the state for like five hours, but technically, I guess I still haven't been to Washington.
We got back around 3:45 and though I liked the trip, I was ready to walk a little. We took a 20 minute walk across Morrison bridge into the northeast section of Portland. In a very industrial area, was a place I'd seen on the Travel Channel: Big Ass sandwiches. It's a food truck, which Mom didn't exactly expect. I didn't think that was a big deal but I guess she wanted a place to sit and have apps and that lousy wine. Problem is the truck is closed Sunday and Monday, so this was my only chance to go. I ordered the Richwich, which was ranked one of the top 10 sandwiches in America. We split it. It's homemade roast beef, bacon, grilled onions, cheddar cheese sauce, and French fries on ciabatta bread. It's a total mess, but so good. The fries are fresh, the cheddar sauce is rich, the meat is moist, and the bread is soft and full of flavor. It's a freaking mess for sure, but well worth the mess. I might not take a first date there though!
We took the streetcar to the NW district. Mom was pretty beat and getting a little shirt, so I went my own way. I felt like relaxing, so I thought I'd stop at Deschutes brewery and have a cold one. At 6 pm, I could not get a seat, not even in the bar. I admit my patience was running out; I needed to sit and have some water. I waited a half hour and walked out.
I headed two blocks south to Powell's bookstore. This place is huge, it takes up a whole city block and has four levels. I found a book about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team and sat with it for about an hour. I did listen to the end of the Mets beating the Giants, the only one of the four games they actually won. Finally, I went back to Deschutes brewery and got the one seat left in the bar. I started with a soft, warm, round pretzel with a white cheddar cheese sauce with a ring of porter-infused stone ground mustard. Just a killer pretzel and those can be hit or miss. Then I had a salad with grilled chicken, spicy cashews, roasted corn, shaved pecorino cheese, and a few other good ingredients. Of course, the guy didn't realize I was ordering it, so 15 mins later, I ordered it a second time. I drank a beer flight with six sample. It had mostly ales, and even an IPA. My favorite was probably the mirror pond pale ale. Oh and the guy sitting next to me was a Mets fan from New Jersey and staying in the same hotel as me. What were the odds? I stumbled back to my room around 10 at night.
