Oregonians for a Weekend

This time of year, Hub is really busy with work. Like, gone from the house for 14+ hours from the house kind of busy. Regularly. Anyway, we try to do extra things to let the other know we are thinking of and missing each other. But, none of it makes up for lost time. This year, I decided we needed a little getaway and sure enough, I came across a Groupon  for a hotel in Portland. Hub and I have seen different things on TV pertaining to Portland and mentioned that we may want to trek down there but hadn't gotten around to it yet. I decided, "Why not," and purchased that Groupon.

I kept hinting to Hub that I had a surprise for him. He hates when I do that. So after what seemed to be a particularly awful day at work for him, I told him he could look at the Groupon. He got really excited and I think he was pretty surprised that I splurged on something kind of big like that.

Hub and I are kind of funny because we really love good food and we don't eat out a lot. We like to think we make good food. However, we love trying restaurants as well. So I did some research and found a few places I thought we could visit. I was determined to have stuff for us to do and see. We had an amazing time and I am so happy that we had this little, two-day getaway. There is nothing like just being "away from it all," with no plans, no agenda but just time to spend with each other.

Hub got home from work Friday night and we were both practically bursting at the seams with excitement. It had been a while since just the two of us had gone anywhere alone together. Probably since our honeymoon, come to think of it. We had a quiet evening and hit the sack pretty early in anticipation of our early morning departure. We left about 6:30am and arrived by about 10am. We navigated our way to a small cafe we had seen the night before on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Thank goodness we saw this because it was delicious! Check out Pine State Biscuits if you're ever in Portland. And yes, the picture on the homepage is what we ate.

After that we headed to the west side of the Willamette River and ventured into the Pearl District. The area had tons of shops, bars and restaurants, antiques, and even food carts! We came across the food carts and of course had to do some sampling. We had a lamb gyro and a Korean Bulgolgi Beef Burrito. Heaven. Both. Delish. As you can see.

Pretty sure I have mentioned multiple times that Hub is from San Antonio. Well, to our dismay, we came across this at one of the food carts:

Hub got to pay a little respect to his favorite team's coach, Greg Popovich. One of his favorite stops in Portland. Go Spurs Go!

We wandered around for a good part of the afternoon and ran into the Rogue Pub.

Right when we walked in the door we were blasted with the scent of the strong ales served there. Luckily we found a couple of stools in the crowded pub and ordered a couple of beers. We looked at their book that explained the ales and talked about ingredients and competitions won and then of course, ordered a couple more beers.

By this time, it was time to go to the hotel to check-in so we did that. We stayed at The Mark Spencer Hotel  and although it is definitely an old hotel, the ease of getting around the Pearl District from it and being right downtown was so nice. It was clean and perfectly suitable for what we needed for our one night in town.

The hotel was having a wine reception when we checked in so we had a glass of wine and relaxed for a little bit. We then decided to Yelp a pizza place after trying to go into Henry's on 12th, which is obviously the "happening" place to be because it was packed. Yelp took us to a small Italian restaurant called Ristorante Roma that actually didn't even have pizza on the menu. However, we had clams as an appetizer and shared a pasta dish and a bottle of wine. The pasta was handmade and delicious and it was all we could do to drag ourselves back to the hotel we were so tired and full. Oh yeah, we had a canoli for dessert also. Hub looked at me during dinner and said, "I'm pretty glad we didn't get into that crowded 'single's' bar and are actually able to sit hear and actually hear each other talk." How cute, is he?

We woke early after having fallen asleep pretty early and went across the street from our hotel to Kenny and Zuke's and had breakfast. I had Challah french toast and Hub had a Lox omlette. We then headed just a block away to:

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Hub and I love to read. And this was a whole city block filled with books! Heaven. Could have wandered forever. Both of us just kept saying, "I can't believe there are so many books."

We then wandered, slowly, back to the hotel while drinking a cup of coffee and headed back to the other side of the river to check out one more restaurant that we saw on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. {We must like Guy. Or just the food he finds.} We found Pok Pok in a weird quaint part of town that was slightly residential but with some businesses. And a homeless man that kept yelling at us about the president trying to stop drinking alcohol and his (the homeless man) doctor putting him on too much pain medication. Slightly weird.

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The menu was sure different than many Asian food menus we have seen, however we were eager to taste. Hub had a version of Phad Se Ew which we love. This was my meal:

Some sausage with spices, a green chili dipping sauce and Thai pork rinds. Kind of weird, but good. Both of us agreed it was good but not life changing. 

We hit the road after this and had a nice drive home. We arrived home and went to my parents' to get our dog. We missed her and she was tired out from her playing time. At this point, the evening began to grow somber with the impending "Monday Morning." We had a great time but as always with a "vacation" coming to close, it is sad to see it end. We would highly recommend Portland, the hotel we stayed at, all of the places we visited above and basically just weekends away with your love. That's what it's all about right?!