Hey y’all!! I just got back from a great family vacation in Portland, Oregon. My dad, brother, and I got to spend 4 days exploring the city and all that it had to offer. However, we did not do as much planning as we would have liked, so we ended up asking locals for their recommendations, which ended up being a blessing in disguise. I decided to share how we spent our limited time in the Northwest!
Where to Stay
We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott City Center. It wasn’t the nicest hotel out there, but if you just need a place to sleep, it does the job. The location was perfect though! As the name might suggest, we were right in the center of the city! Who would have guessed? I highly suggest spending the extra money to get a hotel in this area. You are walking distance to almost everything, and there’s plenty to do right near your hotel. If you are looking for a higher end hotel, I’d suggest The Benson.
What to Eat
Food! This is the one category that I was looking forward to most on this trip, and Portland did not disappoint. Our first night we went to Lardo’s on SW Washington. The Dirty Fries are a must! Pork, banana pepper, cheese, and french fries, what else could you ask for?
Lardo’s Dirty Fries
Day two started out with Blue Star donuts. There is a big debate between Voo Doo Donuts and Blue Star, which I was hoping to put to rest. Unfortunately, I got sick and never made it to Voo Doo, but the locals said Blue Star was better. I have to say, it did not disappoint. The lemon poppy seed and cinnamon sugar were my two favorites, my dad’s favorite was the original glazed, and my brother’s pick was peanut butter and jelly.
We stopped at the Pine Street Market for lunch, which is a cute food court style market with numerous restaurants to choose from. A store clerk told us this was a must eat spot and recommended the Ramen. It was delicious! I have no idea what was in it because I let the cashier choose what I got, but it was good!
Ramen at Pine Street Market
The next day began with breakfast at the Brunch Box. I was sick this day, so all I got was a bagel, but let me tell you about my brother’s meal. Grilled cheese, burger, grilled cheese, YES, the bun of his burger were two grilled cheese sandwiches! My brother enjoyed it, but he recommended you go hungry if you want to try this monster of a sandwich.
Redonkadonk Burger at The Brunch Box
Desert on night 3 was back at the Pine Street Market at Salt and Straw. They have super creamy and yummy soft serve ice cream. I got the Blue Star Donut soft serve and it tasted pretty spot on to the donuts we had the day before! If there is one food place I’d want to bring back to North Carolina, it’d be Salt and Straw!
Blue Star Donut Soft Serve at Pine Street Market
We ended our trip with pizza at Sizzle Pie. Delicious pizza, unique toppings, and vegan options. I ate my pizza too fast to remember to take a picture of it, whoops! There are so many other places I wanted to try, but we got a good mix of everything Portland had to offer.
What to Do
Most of our days were spent just exploring. My brother is super into music and thrift shopping so we hit up a few record stores and second hand stores. East Portland was a super cool area with tons of shops and cafes. We could have spent hours exploring everything this area had to offer. If you like to look at homes and architecture in new cities, I would suggest coming to this side of the river to explore.
We spent one afternoon on a walking tour through Portland Walking Tours. We went on the Underground Portland Tour, and they literally take you underground. Portland, being a port city (obviously), was built upon a tunnel system to take goods from ships to their destination. These tunnels created some sketchy history, and this tour separates the facts from fiction. The tour guide made sure we knew that this was “the worst of Portland” tour, so we were told about all of the corruption and prejudice that haunts Portland’s past. It was a super informative tour, and I loved learning about the less publicized side of the city.
Two other must stops are Powell’s City of Books and the world’s smallest park. One takes up an entire city block and one is in a middle of a road median. If you’re going to stop at Powell’s make sure you give yourself a few hours because this place is HUGE!
The World’s Smallest Park
Get Out of Town
We grabbed an Uber one night and headed to Hillsboro for a Hillsboro Hops Minor League Baseball team. If you’re looking for a fun, family friendly activity, this is a great option. The stadium is small enough that every seat is a good seat and they’re all extremely affordable, and how great is that mascot?
My favorite day of the trip was spent getting out of the city and going to the coast. We rented a car and drove west through Rockaway Beach up to Cannon Beach. The Pacific coast is beautiful and so different from what I am used to in NC. We stopped for lunch at Pelican Brewing then explored the town. Cannon Beach is where parts of The Goonies was filmed, and it is picture perfect!
Cannon Beach
This trip was amazing, and I’m so thankful my dad took us on this trip! Have you ever been to Portland? If so, let me know what I missed while I was there. Maybe I’ll go back!
My Dad and I at Rockaway Beach. Thanks for the great trip, Dad!
Bernadette Carty says
Sounds like you all had a really good time!