Portland Adventures ❥ Weekend for Two

Beautiful waterfalls, amazing food, tax free shopping – oh I’ve heard so much about the City of Roses! No holiday, no vacation breaks, just a regular weekend, but DJ and I decided to pack our bags and away we went on this mini 2-day adventure to Portland, Oregon.

We arrived Friday night and stayed at the Westin (complete hotel review here). We grabbed late night bites a couple blocks down at Masu Sushi then embarked on our journey the following day.

Voodoo Doughnut

Dan & Louis Oyster Bar

Ninteen27 S’mores

The 1927 Original

Lemon Meringue

Portland Japanese Garden

Phew, that’s a lot of pictures for two days. But what can I say, we had an amazing time.

Multnomah Falls 
Absolutely breathtaking. Although we only took photos at the bottom, that was honestly already the best view of the waterfall. Plus you get that bridge in the middle of the frame, making this scene even more picture perfect. If you’re an avid hiker, definitely bring your runners. Great choice for a summer hike especially on a hot day, you get that refreshing splash of water walking past the fall.

Voodoo Doughnut
Everyone raves about these delicious devils, but the lineup was insanely long. We didn’t bother and ended up having oysters at the nearby Dan & Louis Oyster Bar. Good alternative indeed.

Nineteen27 S’mores
Smores food truck, bet you ain’t never seen that before! I found out about them from Instagram and it’s cute and everything, but I wasn’t too crazy about their smores. It was fun to watch them prepare the crackers, torch the marshmallow, and drizzle on them caramel sauce (believe me, it was a 5-star food porn show), but these smores were just too much on the sweet side for me. If you have a heavy sweet tooth though, or want to that Instagram worthy shot, you can check them out at http://www.1927smores.com.

Pittock Mansion
The Pittock Mansion is actually a French Renaissance-style chateau originally built as a private home for Henry Pittock, who was a rather successful publisher back in the days. Admission fee was $10 if I recall correctly and you get to tour this three-story mansion and observe its history. If you’re not up for time travel, still drop by for the gorgeous panoramic city views in its backyard. This was actually an itinerary suggestion from one of DJ’s friends from Portland. No doubt a hidden gem tucked away in the West Hills and guess it’s safe to say it’s a local favorite as well.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House
If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I’d been to the Edmonton branch last year in May. I returned again and this time we tried the 40oz Tomahawk ribeye (approximately $120 USD, $150 CAD). As much as it was visually astonishing (in terms of portion size) and delicious, it was just too much protein for me. If you got some extra cash layin’ around, make your way here for dinner sometime. You won’t be disappointed.

And there you have it, a quick summary of my spontaneous trip down to Portland. For more on what to do during a weekend adventure in Portland, be sure to give The Adventures of Panda Bear’s “3 Day Portland Itinerary” a read. See you in the next post!