Category: Portland,OR

Portland,OR

Place 71 – Day 7: Portland, OR – Patisserie Breakfast

Kim & Curtis Hale

Patisserie Breakfast

We woke up and were pretty hungry, so we got ready, packed up and checked out of the hotel.

We walked to Pioneer Square, which is a main part of the city and found a patisserie.

We got a pain au chocolat each and then went across to a place called Public Domain for coffee, where Curtis got a (very small) cappucino.

We sat in Pioneer Square and ate our breakfast, which was also the perfect location to catch our train to the airport.

Airport

We got the train to the airport, which was hassle free, and then we arrived at the airport.

We got through security, which did take a bit of time, but then we wet quite a bit of time to kill.

We went for a walk around and decided we should probably find some food.

We were told about an app where we can get food delivered to us from other areas of the airport, so we gave that a go, but we had to use a phone number, so we couldn’t do that.

Instead, we went to a Vietnamese place where Curtis got a beef pho and Kim got a rice box with chicken and vegetables.

We sat and ate this whilst waiting to board the plane.

We eventually boarded and away we went! Left Portland just as quick as we arrived, but it was an really nice break.

New Call of Duty

We got back home and Kim went right to training! She was excited to be back.

Curtis played the new Call of Duty, which has just come out, and he has been very excited!

One Kim was back home, we had some scrambled eggs, which was a great decision.

One more day of work and then its already the weekend…odd to be going back into work on a Friday, but it’s just the one day!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

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Portland,OR

Place 71 – Day 6: Portland, OR – Brunch, Beer Tasting & Lukas Graham!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Brunch

We woke at a fairly decent time and went out for brunch.

We went to a place we went to when we were last in Portland called Cheryl’s.

Kim had a croque monsieur and Curtis went a bit out there and had a biscuit and gravy, which was…odd.

We ate our breakfast and then went for a bit of a walk around the city. It seems we remembered a lot of the city and where things were, which helped us out!

Games Room

We wanted to have a bit of a relax and remembered that there was a games room in our hotel, so we went there to check it out.

We played some bubble hockey and some shuffleboard…we spent over an hour here!

Brew Pub

We finished up with the games and then walked to a Deschutes brewpub for some beer tasting!

We had 12 beers to try, which turns out was too much, and we didn’t even really like them!

We finished up with the beer tasting and then got some McDonald’s for dinner.

Lukas Graham!

We came out to Portland for one reason…Lukas Graham!

We had a concert booked for Portland in February, but it was postponed until today, so we were super excited to finally get to watch the show.

We walked down to the ballroom, which was beautiful and it was a very intimate venue, too, so we were very close!

We watched the support act who was pretty good and then had to wait for 30 minutes for Lukas Graham.

The show was amazing. It was by far the best concert we have ever seen together. The lighting was amazing, the whole group looked like they were enjoying it and of course, the music was incredible. We loved it so much, though our legs did not, with all the standing.

We left the concert and had to get our legs working again.

We got back to the hotel, drank the rest of our wine and watched a couple of YouTube videos before sleeping.

We fly back to Vancouver tomorrow, so a short stay but it’s been great!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Portland,OR

Place 71 – Day 5: Portland, OR – Terrific Lunch

Kim & Curtis Hale

Finally, Some Sleep

We both slept great last night, so much so that we had 10 hours sleep and woke up a bit later.

Our flight out of Portland wasn’t until 19:00, so we had to find something to do for the day.

We sat and ate breakfast then we got ready, packed and checked out of our room.

We looked for some things to do, but we only had 3-4 hours so we couldn’t go too far.

Eventually, we bit the bullet and went to watch a film.

Isn’t It Romantic

We took the short walk to the cinema and bought our tickets for a film called isn’t it romantic.

Isn’t It Romantic

Our Rating:- 5.5/10

We hadn’t seen much about this film, so it was more just to kill time.

It was alright, but nothing to write about (literally!).

Amazing Lunch

We still had about an hour to kill before getting the train, so we went for some lunch.

We heard about a place nearby which is meant to be fantastic, but when we got there it was busy and they only had the bar area for food, which was a little cramped.

Luckily, they told us about another place just down the road which is where we went.

This place was called Cheryl’s and they had a lot of options.

Curtis ate an eggs benedict and Kim had a croque madam.

This food came with a side of a cheesy/oniony/potato combination, which tasted just like a cheese and onion pasty. Weirdly, this was topped with cornflakes.

Cheryl’s On 12th | Portland, OR

Rating:- 9/10

The food was great and the staff were great also. We couldn’t have had a better last day in Portland!

Airport

We got a train to the airport which took about 40 minutes, and it was a quiet train, too.

We got to the airport and used the machine to check in. This printed something saying we would get our seat assigned at the gate, which worried us a little.

We were flying with Delta, so we went to their desk to ask about this, but they said that is normal for the cheap ticket we have purchased.

We sat and relaxed by the gate for an hour or two and then just before boarding we got our seats which were, luckily, next to each other.

Flight #1 – Portland > Seattle

Our flight was easy and fast once we got on it.

We were sat right at the back and had some good leg room.

Airport Antics

We landed in Seattle and had to take the plane train to the S gates.

We got to the correct gate and realised there was nothing nearby, so we went back on the train to B gates so we could grab a drink from Starbucks.

We got our drink and went back to S so we could go to our gate.

We got to our gate and then it said it was now in an A gate, so we got back onto the train and got to the A gate.

As soon as we got comfortable, we realisedthe gate has moved again, so back on the train we went and this time to a B gate.

We got to the B gate and finally boarded the flight!

Flight #2 – Seattle > Victoria

We realised we had comfort plus seats, which was great! We got to board first, had a charging port at our chairs, more leg room and a comfortable chair.

We had a fun time listening to a couple of passengers debate behind us, which helped pass the time!

Victoria

We landed in Victoria and once getting through immigration, we got the transfer bus we booked to the city. Our driver was very funny, cracking multiple jokes and funny lines.

We walked from the bus stop to a hotel which Linda kindly booked for us to stay at for a few nights!

We got in and then went to get a bit of McDonald’s as we were feeling a little hungry.

We got back to the room, exhausted, and went to bed.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Portland,OR

Place 71 – Day 4: Portland, OR – Riverside Walk, Beer And Spirits Festival & Arcade Bar

Kim & Curtis Hale

Riverside Walk

We had our breakfast with our new found friends and had plans to go to the Saturday morning market.

It just so happened that the market is not on until March, so we couldn’t do that.

We all walked towards the river, stopping for a coffee on the way.

We started walking down beside the river, until we were getting hit by rain and hailstones, so we changed our plan of action and walked towards downtown.

We went into a few quirky shops and looked around a bit before we all decided we were tired and wanted to go back to the hostel.

The people we were with went for a trip quite far away to a waterfall but we relaxed for a bit as we didn’t sleep great last night.

We did go out briefly to grab a slice of pizza, which we got from somewhere called ‘Escape From New York’.

Escape From New York | Portland, OR

Rating:- 8/10

Beer & Spirits Festival

In the evening, we went to a beer and spirits festival.

We got an Uber to a brewery which had tents full of ‘parings’ of a beer and a spirit. We were given 10 tickets for our $25 every fee. This got us different drinks depending on what we chose.

We had a pairing to start, but the beer wasn’t great so we just went around and had a few different spirits. There was a cool band playing and making it a pretty good atmosphere

We left after not too long and being a little tipsy, we got back in an Uber and went back to the hostel.

Dinner

We got back and saw some people from our hostel but then we needed dinner so we walked to a place called August Moon for some Chinese food.

The food wasn’t tremendous and neither was the service, but it did do the job.

August Moon | Portland, OR

Rating:- 3.5/10

Arcade Bar

Later in the evening, after dinner, we went with one other person to an arcade bar called Ground Kontrol.

This place is a bar in which there are a lot of oldschool arcade machines and pinball machines.

We paid $3 entry each and then each machine was between 25c – 75c.

We played for an hour or two but didn’t need any drinks so didn’t buy any of those.

Kim Playing Pinball

Curtis Playing Pinball

The place was pretty cool and unique, a little busy and warm and all the good games are always taken, but it was worth it!

Ground Kontrol | Portland, OR

Rating:- 7.5/10

We got back and it was pretty late so therefore bedtime.

We leave Portland at 19:00 tomorrow.

We’ve had a really great time here and met some great people, so we’re really happy we’ve done this trip.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Portland,OR

Place 71 – Day 3: Portland, OR – Chinatown, Downtown & Food Trucks

Kim & Curtis Hale

Admin Morning

We were up early and were ready to go!

We went down for our breakfast and were reunited with some of our crew from yesterday.

We then went upstairs, got showered and planned to start the day.

We did a bit of admin and before we knew it, it was 14:00!

We decided we should go out for a bit, so we walked down to Chinatown for something to eat.

Very Stylish Looking Buildings Near Our Hostel

Chinatown

We had thought that Chinatown would be awesome, as it is in most places, but it was very disappointing.

There was very little to eat and it was very run down.

A Bit Of Wall Art In Chinatown

Downtown

We left Chinatown and went to the downtown area, which was very built up and actually looked really nice.

We walked around a bit and around some malls, but before that we stopped at a Vietnamese street food place called ‘cuòn‘.

This place had really good (but not perfect) Banh Mi & incredible Vietnamese iced coffee.

Cuòn | Portland, OR

Rating:- 8.5/10

Beer Tasting & Uno

We got back and chilled out for a bit before we did the free hostel beer tasting.

The hostel has beer on tap and we were able to get 6 to try and then a pint for $2 discount after, so we got the group from yesterday all back together and had some drinks.

2 girls, one from France and another from Denmark were playing Uno next to us and so we all joined in and had a few games of Uno, which was great fun!

Food Trucks

We planned to got to a comedy show at 22:30, so we all headed to town to get food first.

We were informed of some food trucks, so we went to find those and see what there was.

There was a lot of greek/turkish, so we decided on kebabs!

Kim had a chicken kebab and Curtis had a pork one. They were just what we needed. We all stood around and ate our food before going towards the comedy show.

The Gang!

The Comedy Show

We got to the venue and were unable to get a seat at the comedy show, so we sat up in the bar area instead.

We had a drink and chatted between us, as well as speaking with some other people in the bar.

It got pretty late so everyone headed out, but we had another awesome day!

We have fun planned for tomorrow so should be an interesting one.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Portland,OR

Place 71 – Day 2: Portland, OR – Nob Hill & Brewery Tour

Kim & Curtis Hale

Free Breakfast

We didn’t pay for free breakfast, but we got it! There was only cinnamon & raisin bagels left, but that was perfect for us! We smothered them in butter and Kim had an orange juice whilst Curtis had some of the ‘Portland hostel blend’ coffee.

We got ready and then went out to have a walk around. We walked to Nob hill which is a ‘hipster’area of Portland. This is the top place to visit on tripadvisor so we thought we should take a look.

There were a lot of quaint shops here and it felt like a really nice, chill, neighbourhood.

We were walked back down the road and saw a ramen place and instantly wanted you have a ramen.

We shared a ramen as we knew it would be too big, but we got the most traditional which was pork broth, pork belly, noodles and an egg.

We ate our pretty good ramen and followed it up with some joto nigori sake, which we thought had a flavour between whisky and white wine.

Boxer Ramen | Portland, OR

Rating:- 7.5/10

Washington Park

We left and walked to Washington Park, which includes a few gardens. As it is cold, there were no roses blooming and all the gardens were pretty dull, unfortunately, but the park was nice to walk though. There was also a holocaust memorial there.

Mochi Ice Cream

We went to the supermarket and had a look around. Kim then found some mochi ice cream to buy.

Kim ate these once we got back to the hostel and she wasn’t too enthralled.

Brewery Tour

We saw a sign at the hostel for a free brewery tour, up the road at Kells.

We met our group at the reception of our hostel and we all then walked to the pub.

Once we got to Kells, we were met by the head brewer who was very passionate.

We started by tasting their lager which, for a lager, was tasty!

We moved onto their stout which Curtis though was better than Guinness.

We walked around the brewery whist the head brewer told us about the process. We even ate malt directly from the bag!

We got to look inside the vats and ask as many questions as we wanted.

We tasted some lager from the tap and then we all sat around with the brewer and had a pint whilst chatting about everything and anything.

All Packaged In House And Distributed

A Lot Of Spirits

Kells Brewery | Portland, OR

TourRating:- 10/10

Dinner

We were suggested a placed called North 45 for dinner, so our whole group went for some food.

There was us, another person from the UK, 2 Americans, 1 Brazilian, 1 Australian & A Japanese man.

Kim ate steak and Curtis had a burger.

The food was pretty good, but nothing too special.

North 45 | Portland, OR

Rating:- 6/10

Hostel Chat

We stayed up for a bit when we got back to the hostel and chatted with everyone we had met today and then it was time for bed.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Portland,OR

Place 71 – Day 1: Portland, OR 🇺🇸 – ‘Merca!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Early Morning

It was an early morning start for us, getting the remaining items packed and getting ready.

We skipped breakfast, showered, said goodbye to Linda and walked down to the central bus station to await our bus.

We went to the cafe there and got a cappuccino each. The bus arrived shorty after to take us to the airport.

Flight 1 – Victoria > Seattle

Breakfast

We arrived hassle free at the airport and got checked in.

We went right to Tim Hortons to try out the breakfast. We had a farmer’s wrap each, which was just ‘meh’.

Security

After we relaxed for a bit, we breezed through security, though we did both get ‘randomly’ selected and put through the machine, but of course we had nothing. They also checked out one of our bags!

Waiting

Once we were through security, there was nothing to do but wait. We sat an waited for a few hours and then our plane was delayed for a little, but nothing drastic.

The Flight

We flew with Alaska Airlines, who we have not flown with before so were a little unsure.

The flight itself was great. The plane was tiny, with two chairs on each side of the aisle!

Our Tiny Plane

We had no problems on the flight and, as it was only 25 minutes, we were up in the air and back down again in a flash!

Flight 2 – Seattle > Portland

Customs/Immigration

After landing in Seattle, we had a couple of hours before we had to get on our next plane.

We went through customs/immigration easily and the officer there was incredibly friendly and nice.

Security #2

After that, we had to go through security before transferring and, of course, one of our bags got checked again…

Plane Train

We hopped on the ‘plane train’ to the correct terminal, got a Starbucks coffee, and waited for our flight.

The Flight

This flight was very busy, but it was fairly painless. We did also get a free alcoholic drink, even though it was only a 45 minute flight! Curtis got a beer and Kim a wine, but we had to drink it by the time they came round to get the rubbish!

Alaska Airlines

Rating:- 8/10

Train

We exited the plane and, as we had no checked bags, left the terminal easily.

We walked to the train platform to get a ticket for the train and waited the 10 minutes for it to arrive.

We sat on the train for about 50 minutes before getting off one stop too early and hopping back on just in time to ride the one (long) stop more.

MAX Light Rail | Portland, OR

Price:- $2.50 for 2.5hrs Travel

Accomodation

After the train, it was a short walk to our accomodation. We are in a hostel/guesthouse but we are staying in a private double room (shared bathroom).

The place is certainly nice, but maybe just a little old. It does the job and is pretty comfy!

HI Portland Northwest | Portland, OR

Current Rating:- 7/10

Chipotle

We went out to get a quick dinner, which ended up being burritos from chipotle. We were pretty disappointed.

It was bland and all just fell apart.

It worked for food, but not sure we’d go back.

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Rating:- 2/10

Walk Around Portland

We walked around Portland for a bit, not doing anything in particular, just walking around at night.

We got back and just chilled, watching some TV and catching up on things we haven’t watched. We have also been planning what we will be doing in Portland as we planned to come here for a concert but it was cancelled!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale