For my wife and me, after two weekends of looking at each other in the same location, we start to get wanderlust. You know the ailment that affects those who love to travel, adventure and discover. Well we had that feeling recently and when it hits (it does often), we tend to pull out the map and pick a city that we have never visited. San Diego has been in our crosshairs for some time. It meets our three preferences for a city to visit; Warmth, near Water and Cheap eats. One additional factor is that it helps when it is low cost (cheap) or as I was to find out that factor doesn’t exist in southern California. With those basic tenets in place, we were set to visit San Diego until we found that the cost of a hotel room was going to be more than the cost of the discounted tickets on Southwest Airlines (The Company Plane).
NEXT! were the following words out of my mouth! We then decided to pick a place that was under the radar for us PORTLAND, and boy are we glad we did!
Portland, Oregon is outright beautiful. With its mountains, valleys and views, it is something out of a mystical movie. Even landing at the airport is serene because of its transposition next to the river. The first thing we noticed were the people. You get a “right out of Woodstock” vibe from the locals. If you are unique, Portland seems to have welcomed you. I find that quite appealing and were always smiling because of the originality that people demonstrated. There were the hippies, the grungies, the yuppies and to mix it all up a smattering of color to show true inclusion (not much however as Portland is very monochromatic). What it may mix in color however, it makes up in friendliness and accessibility.
We could not have arrived at a better time than for the annual food and wine extravaganza the “Bite of Oregon”. It was there that we sampled some of the areas best Gyros, Beef Jerky, Tacos, Fish dishes and Wines. My wife was so enthralled at the wines that we decided to visit a few of the 100+ wineries within 2 hours drive of Portland.
Visiting the wine country is a special trip. We rented a car for a day (we only rent a car for the time that we need one) and drove to the world renowned Tillamook cheese factory to taste their famous cheese. After lactose revenge registered, we then drove along the coast to see the beauty of the trees and coastline. We were both mesmerized by the immense size of the trees and their gracefulness. An hour and a half later we arrived at our first winery to sample the wares. Let me warn you, not all winery’s make great wines! You have to find your favorites by sample. Some charge…some don’t. In our case, we came prepared with suggestions from our local wine shop owner who gave us the must sees and try!
The visit to the wine country was one of our highlights during this week trip. In retrospect, we should have taken two days to visit the wineries instead of just one. I guess that leaves another visit to plan. Back in the city, you will find Portland as one of the easiest to get around. In fact their public transportation was voted the “Nations Best” and it sure made traversing the city easy. If you are in the central city, there is no charge for the bus/train system!
As always, we ask the locals to suggest a few eateries and we were not dismayed. We tried the city’s most famous pizza, donuts, Thai food, chocolate & desserts, Coffee house, Seafood restaurant, Gyros to name a few. A little secret in Portland they have a happy hour that you can have “lunch” for $1.95. We learned later in our trip that you can taste some of the cities best for only a fraction of the regular cost.
I’ve never been in such an eco-friendly environment. I made the statement with all the hybrid cars observed, the hotel mandated water-saving programs, and I’ve never see so many cigarette smokers! What a juxtaposition. There was a hybrid car show that we attended and gained a deeper respect for what we could do if we chose to reduce our oil dependence. I vowed to do my part.
My final comments are all positive about Portland. Of course I visited when it is warm (I don’t do cold!) They tell me it doesn’t get very cold there and snow is negligible, but I’ll leave it to those who own a coat. Take a moment to visit the farmer’s market for a treat. The magnitude of the freshness is unbelievable. We kept saying we wish we had a stove and a fridge at our hotel or we would have bought out the town! Visit the Pearl District and especially Powell’s Bookstore (nation’s largest). You won’t regret the visit.
Till our next trip!
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