Downtown Date - Days 3.5 & 4

(This post is dedicated to Amy, who sacrificed her sanity for 1 night and 1 day to watch our kids while we galavanted around Portland. She's a saint. Not many people would come out alive after watching 4 kids under three, but she was a champion!)

Every couple needs a get-away.  Really.

Don't you daydream about it?  We do.  We try to think of all the fun activities we would go do without the ball and chain of children.  (and I do say that most lovingly)

One time we went here and did this.  It was SOOOO worth it.

Another time we went to a waterpark all alone.  We felt like teenagers again running from slide to slide.

This time we decided to explore Portland - specifically, the food in Portland.

Months previous to this vacation, we had been watching the show Diners, Drive-ins & Dives.

 Haven't seen it?  START. 

 

It's about a guy named Guy who travels around to small mom n' pop type restaurants sampling their best menu items.  Well it turns out that Portland has the largest number of restaurants per capita in the nation...and some real gems, at that!

We had been salivating for weeks over the potential food that Portland had to offer.

So we did what any person with a brain and lovehandles would do, we mapped out a breakfast, lunch and dinner route.

First Stop - Pok Pok

This is a tiny Thai restaurant with a ton of local flavor.  It received reviews from every foodie and newspaper in the West.  Some of the dishes were a little spicy for my liking, but overall the blends of flavors were uniquely delicious!

As we were driving to our hotel we came upon a little street corner with this gem.  A portable Crepe trailor.  The crowd was interesting, to say the least.  I don't think I was bohemian (or high) enough to fit in.  Somehow my bleach blonde hair and Billabong jacket made me stick out like a sore thumb.  

Mmmm....a warm crepe with lingonberries, lemon curd, and chevre (goat cheese)

Come to find out goat cheese makes me gag, but the other parts were delicious!

After we were sufficiently stuffed, we drove to our hotel. We pulled up to "valet parking only" and I immediately broke out in a cold sweat. We don't have a very good history with valet parking. Once we drove our Subaru Justy to Troy's first company Christmas party in the heart of Orange County. Our muffler was dangling off the back and had started to melt into the bumper. The inside of the trusty justy felt and sounded like you were driving in a pepsi can.  We sheepishly slithered out of the car and handed our keys to the Four Seasons valet.  We listened to him sputter away right behind the BMW, Mercedes Benz and Jaguar.  So embarrassing!

Well, this time our car was loaded from front to back with vacation/kids/fastfood/beach CRAP!  My feet were actually resting on trash and junk in the passenger seat.  As I got out, a piece of trash blew out the door and when I stuffed it back in the car I even noticed a dirty diaper.  Yeah.  It was THAT BAD!  When he offered to grab our luggage, he opened the trunk only to find an open suitcase with clothes still strewn about.  I hurried to stuff in loose items like the blowdryer, computer, shoes, etc.  all while he was standing there.  I was all shades of red.

But once that ordeal was over, we walked into this....

Pretty much the sweetest hotel we've ever been privy too!  It was awesome and actually quite affordable for such a cool place.

You could see we were as giddy as school kids.

Troy busted out some sexy poses in the complimentary robe.  

I did a tribute to Sheena and jumped on the bed a few times.  I never was a cheerleader or a gymnast, but you'd never know it from these pictures!

We got plenty of rest in our feather beds so that we could build up the stamina for day 2 of our Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives - inspired food tour.

We even managed to burn a few calories on a morning run through the city.  We ran to this sky tram that gave us a great view of the city plus Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens.

Then off to breakfast!

If I could make a recommendation for ONE place to eat in Portland, it would be this:

Pine State Biscuits.  hands down.

I think we gained 5 pounds just looking at the sign, then another 5 just walking in the door.

The whole place smelt of buttery goodness and southern sauces, just like Paula Dean would approve of.

Oh and the charm...SO CUTE!

Just looking at these pictures makes me want to lick the screen.  I got a biscuit piled high with fried chicken, an egg, southern sausage gravy, cheese, and bacon.  Good thing I ran.  That should take care of my first bite!

I'm 99% sure this girl thought we were oinkers.

Our final stop on the tour de gluttony was a little diner called Blueplate.  Their specialties are mini sliders and mac n' cheese, but we decided to test out the sweeter side of their menu.  We sampled one of their mixed sodas, a chocolate malt, and maybe an ice cream sundae snuck it's way in too.  I know....we really do have a problem.

I thought I'd borrow the guys camera who was sitting next to me at the counter so that I could look cool, but instead I look like I have a googly eye.  Even my eyeball was gaining weight from all the food we ate!

We felt pretty good about the ground we covered over our short stay downtown.

Goodbye Portland...our bellies will miss you!

(Only 1.5 more days of vacation documentation...almost over.)