My, what a busy weekend! We had a mom and an aunt in from out of town. They needed an introduction to our fair city, and this is how the itinerary went:
FRIDAY NIGHT
A run by It’s My Pleasure to check out toys, magazines, and gift items.
Dinner at Pambiche. Our guests really enjoyed their drinks, appetizers, and dinners, and I forgot to remind them to save room for dessert, so we missed out on the yummy specialty desserts.
A walk along 28th Avenue to point out the neighborhood, and a drive to check out some gorgeous houses.
SATURDAY
Breakfast at Hollywood Burger Bar, where we sat at the counter and chatted with the regulars. Mom was fascinated by the short order coooking process. “Look at how seamlessly they all work together!”
A wander through the Hollywood Farmers Market proved to be a big hit. We picked up fresh scones for Sunday’s breakfast, lots of fruits and vegetables, and organic meat for dinner.
Next stop was Washington Park to see the International Rose Test Garden and the Japanese Garden.
We headed up the hill to Pittock Mansion and took the tour of the house. Wow! I’m ashamed to say it was my first trip where I took the tour — every other time I had been up there it was after the house was closed. Wonderful to finally see what I was missing and learn a lot about Portland’s history.
Absolutely exhausted, we retired at home to cook a completely organic meal with our haul from the market. Lamb shanks with mint jelly, wild green salad, fresh asparagus, and roasted root vegetables. YUM!
SUNDAY
After a leisurely Sunday morning nosh of market scones, we hopped the MAX to Saturday Market. Picked up several types of soap, some unique flower-display devices, and a sketch portrait of John Lennon.
The smells wafting from the food court caught our attention, but we were set on having lunch at Ole! Ole!. Their food doesn’t disappoint, but their other customers can. The place filled up as our food was nearly ready, and there was one table left. The food for a young couple with a baby showed up before ours, and after watching the mom balance a tray laden with tacos and a fussy infant in the other, we took pity on them and gave them our table. THAT was a big mistake! Turns out their entire extended family was dining with them (keep in mind this is a tiny restaurant that primarily caters to the take-out crowd) and they commandeered additional tables by force, leaving us to huddle outside in the cold with our lengue and carnitas. I don’t think they thanked us for giving them the table, either — their table karma points will be in the pits of hell for months on that one. Anyway, some very nice ladies watched the whole interaction and made sure we got their table when they were ready to leave. We had to sit in close proximity to table-acquisition-through-deception family, but I was so happy to be indoors it didn’t matter.
Cruised the Eastside neighborhoods, pointing out memorable places such as Belmont’s Inn, where Aaron and I went on our first date.
Dashed into Pix Patisserie and picked up world-class sweets to enjoy for dessert after dinner.
Hooked up with Mexican Mochas (mine with mint!) at Touchstone Coffeehouse. Mmm…
Made it to Spa La La just in time for our pedicure appointments. Mimosas all ’round!
While we were in the neighborhood, Aaron did a walk-in at Bishops Barbershop to get a snazzy new haircolor (lavender!!!) and a slick do. During the coloring, Mom, Aunt, and I walked around Wild Oats and picked up snacks.
That wasn’t our true shopping destination, though. Mom had been clamoring to go to Zupan’s since the moment she arrived in town, and we spent plenty of time crawling the aisles and marveling over the wonderfully gastronomically-pleasing selection.
MONDAY
Monday morning we were off and running again, this time exploring the shops of Trendy-Third.
All that walking works up an appetite, so we enjoyed an early lunch at Kornblatt’s New York Style Deli. We even got coloring books!
A trip to Powell’s City of Books rounded out our shopping excursion. Since cel phone signals are weak at best in the building (intentional? I hope so!) we agreed to meet in the northwest corner in half an hour so everyone could browse their favorite rooms. That wasn’t enough time, so we agreed to meet in another half hour. Still not enough time, but by the third try everyone was satisfied enough with their purchases to depart the legendary independent bookstore.
OVERVIEW
We were on the move all weekend, and there are still many places we missed. Kell’s. The Grotto. Rimsky Korsakoffee. Any of the McMenamins. Theatre pubs that don’t belong to McM such as Laurelhurst Theatre or Clinton Street Theater. Public artwork. Too many other things to list!
I made them promise to visit again soon so we can continue our tour.