To say I've missed our much-loved campervan this summer would be an understatement. I'm really quite sad that we sold it - not least because it's been fantastic camping weather for the past 4-6 weeks, sunny, hot and dry. I sure miss those easy, last-minute ventures out of town to relax and hang out amid the mountains, lakeside campsites and black bear territory just a couple of hours' drive from Vancouver. Sunbathing, kayaking, walking, picnicing, eating outdoors and chilling out by the campfire with a cigar, a beer and a sky chockablock with stars, satellites and galaxies far, far away.
That said, Lorne and I promised ourselves that, even without the van, we'd still make a few trips away and so this past weekend (and as a belated wedding anniversary gift to ourselves) we enjoyed our fourth visit to the fabulous city of Portland, Oregon. One of my favourite cities - laid back, funky, excellent low-key bars and restaurants, good atmosphere, great music scene, outstanding craft beers and a rich supply of well-maintained or rejuvenated heritage buildings and converted warehouses. Oh Vancouver, you could have learnt soooo much from Portland's urban planning and transit network before you went throwing up such an ugly abundance of generic, glass-walled, shoe-box-condo towers. Devouring every last trace of the city's history, character and skyline in your voracious appetite for wealth. Yup, given the opportunity, I'd happily move to Portland in a heartbeat!
Hard to believe then, that this was our first time back since 2009, when we drove down the Oregon coast in our trusty campervan (did I mention how much I misst the van?) and rounded off the trip with a night at the incredibly cool "Kennedy School" - a former elementary school creatively converted by McMenamins into a fabulous hotel and brewery. If you ever go to Portland, I highly recommend a stay or, at the very least a visit, to the Kennedy School.
We booked this latest trip a few months ago, having found a deal on Expedia.ca that gave us direct flights and 2 nights at a really nice hotel for about $500 each (incl. taxes), little more than a lower-rate hotel and a 10-hr journey each way by train. Bit of a no-brainer at that point really, even though our original plan was to travel down by train just for the adventure. Unfortunately the flights were with Alaska Airlines, apparently notorious for last-minute cancellations, which is exactly what they did this time. Our plans to fly out at 7am Friday morning and be in Portland by 8:15am for 3 full days were quickly scuppered by a text at 6pm the night before informing us the flight had been cancelled, "due to mechanical circumstances". After a frustrating 45mins on the phone and a lot of negotiating, Lorne managed to get us booked on an Air Canada flight - albeit leaving at 5:30pm Friday evening, i.e. a full 10.5 hours later than originally planned. To say we were disappointed & completely p'd off would be an understatement, hence pushing for further compensation which has been offered to us in the form of a $250 voucher each against our next Alaska Airlines reservation. Heck, at this rate we could keep booking trips with them and simply accumulating more vouchers for the next trip.
That aside, the travel plans went smoothly and our 2-night stay at Hotel deLuxe was wonderful, with its rich art-deco and golden era of Hollywood decor and beautifully maintained original features from 100 years ago. I'd happily stay there again. And ironically, in that 'small world' kinda way, the hotel's name was inspired in the 40's by the Deluxe film laboratories that brought colour to the silver screen. The same Deluxe I worked for here in Vancouver until they laid off at least 20 of us from Post Production in July 2008.We got to the hotel around 7:45pm, after a 45min cab ride from the airport - Vancouver's airport seems so close and easily accessible by comparison. Our room was lovely, with modern but elegant art deco features right down to the bathroom taps.
We quickly got changed and then headed out to explore the delights of the nearby Pearl District in search of a drink and dinner. The Pearl District is very similar to Vancouver's Yaletown neighbourhood, with its converted warehouses, cobbled streets and a wide variety of shops, restaurants and bars with patios to enjoy good food and a drink. The main difference being that PD is fabulous and funky but doesn't feel nearly as pretentious and is not suffocated by a throng of monotonous 20 to 30-storey condo towers that stare in on one-another and devour any natural light.
I've always found Yaletown to be incredibly ostentatious, a place where Vancouver's wannabe-elite strutt around comparing their designer labels, fancy cars, bejewelled purse-dogs and over-priced nail salons. If you want to remind yourself of just how obnoxious yuppies can be, then look no further. (And for anyone too young to remember, here's a defnition.)
Thankfully this does not seem to be the case (at least no so much so) in Portland's Pearl District, where I enjoyed THE most orgasmic Mac & Cheese ever, courtesy of Brix Tavern. Wow, simply outstanding - I needed a flippin' cigarette afterwards! (And I don't even smoke.) Unfortunately the menu neglects to mention that it comes sprinkled with a topping of real bacon bits, so I had to send back the first plate, but it was well worth the little extra wait, I promise you. Heck, I'm already planning a return trip to Portland just for this delectable dish!
Another thing I love about Portland is Happy Hour at bars and restaurants, which is actually longer than an hour and happens twice a day, at most places from 3pm - 6pm and again from 9:30pm - 12:30am. (The Happy Hour concept of is long-since banned in Vancouver by the Fun Police who felt it simply encouraged binge drinking and, heavens forbid, the threat of people eating, laughing and generally having a good time.)
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| Another cool McMenamins hotel/restaurant - as long as you escape the disgusting troll clipping his nails at the next table! |
We actually had lunch here too - well, it was a late lunch during the afternoon Happy Hour at the upstair Zeus Cafe, before leaving on Sunday. A delicious portabello mushroom burger and tasty beer (of course) spoiled only by the repulsive troglodite at the neighbouring table who literally started clipping his nails at the table!!! I can't stand that awful sound at the best of times. Especially when it's in public and especially at the dining table!!! Seriously???? I was utterly disgusted and irate. Lorne had to hold me back from saying something (I wish he hadn't). I could not believe my cringeing ears, especially when I saw he was doing it right there - at the table!!! How bloody revolting - and yet the woman with him said nothing, even when I turned and gave her the look! (Unfortunately he had his back to me though he must've felt my eyes boring into him in horror and nauseated disbelief.) And I swear he had a hundred nails because he just kept on clipping...and clipping...and clipping, pinging shards of dirty nail across the restaurant, for close to 10 minutes! Who does that??!!! I very nearly threw up! Dirty, scuzzy, revolting freak!
(Daffodils and meadows.....daffodils and meadows....daffodils and meadows!)
Anyway, without further ado, let me try and wrap up this post since I´ll have plenty more to waffle on about once we´re back from our upcoming trip to Germany.
After a delicious breakfast at the hotel Saturday, we wandered around the city center and did a little shopping before finally giving in at 1pm to our desire to join the beer festival crowd (Oregon Brewers Festival) - and WHAT a crowd there was too! Rumour has it, about 35,000 of us turned out on Saturday - it was a great party atmosphere, but still none of the lines were too long. We never waited more than 15mins to refill our 0.4l festival glass full of more delicious, hoppy goodness. The more beers we drank, the more they suited their rather creative names: Transgression.....Clusterf$ck.....
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| 84 featured breweries and 85,000 visitors over 4 days! So many outstanding beers, so little time :-( |
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| This was only half the beers on offer but, as the hoppier selection, they were our pick! |
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| Just a portion of the 35,000 people that shared our enthusiasm for fantastic brews - Saturday, July 27. |
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| Lorne looking pretty 'chill' and ready to taste another beer. |
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| Does this beer make my nose look fat? (Yes, I'd have to say it does.) |
We were somewhat blurred by the time we left there, about 4;30pm. I vaguely remember grabbing a bite to eat before we headed back to the hotel and took the essential afternoon-drinking nap. Bliss!
We headed out for dinner and just a single beer later but Lorne was particularly pooped, so we didn't make it a late one that night.
Next morning we wandered over to Lloyd Centre for a bit of shopping, but not much- then headed off to the fabulous Saturday Market by the bridge (yes, even when it's Sunday). So many talented craftspeople in Oregon, I marvel at their talents.
On the way to the market we passed this place, Voodoo Doughnuts - and could NOT believe the line of about 150 people. What makes a doughnut that good, I wonder....not being much of a doughnut-eater myself and especially not a fan of Canada´s freakishly renowned Tim Horton's dounuts at all!
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| Admittedly, it's a pretty funky sign... |
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| ...but I can't imagine what could possibly be sooo special about Voodoo doughnuts that'd make me endure a 90-min wait in line! |
So, after a slow day meandering the market and around town, it was time to collect our bags from the hotel and head to the airport - thankfully our homeward flight wasn't cancelled!
All-in-all another wonderfully enjoyable stay in Portland - I love it there, really I do. And, with the $250 voucher we each got from Air Alaska, we're already planning on when to go back :-)
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