Our 5th day will
be known as the day that we tried to strike a balance between exercise and
eating all the sugar. It started out with a 10-mile bike tour of Portland. We
met up with our group and our cute little guide, Ana. And Lo’, what a coinkydink!?! The only other folks in our group were a pair of sweet ladies from
Milledgeville, Georgia! Judy and “Whoa, Cindy” (“Whoa, Cindy” also answers to “Hold
it, Cindy” and “Look out, Cindy”. She made a fine riding companion for “Careful,
Thomas!” whose bike riding up to this point has taken place mostly on the
neighborhood sidewalks of Marietta, not cruising down the street in a large
city. Fortunately for us, Portland is biker friendly and Ana kept him reigned
in for the most part.
Hey Teddy! |
The line for Voodoo doughnuts was insane (which we
expected). Ana, our guide gave us the intel that Blue Star Doughnuts were what many
Portlanders prefer! OMGolly they were good!
Voodoo Donuts, ain't nobody got time for that. |
Blue Star Donuts! |
To ensure we didn’t gain any health
benefits from our bike ride, we also stopped at Cacao and sampled a flight of
drinking chocolate. I knew I was in Portland when three cops came in, passed
out some stickers to the kids, and then one of the cops asked if they could
make his drinking chocolate vegan…..I mean, I just can’t picture one of
Marietta’s finest men in uniform ordering Vegan drinking chocolate with a straight face. We're not in Kansas anymore.
We
stopped in Bridgeport Brewing Company for lunch and a tasting of a different flavor. This time for Mr. and Mrs. Bullington. Bridgeport is the oldest
Brewery in Portland and it is housed in a really cool old building in the Pearl
District.
Poked our heads in Powell’s books which is the World’s oldest
independent bookstore.
We decided that we would reach our next stop on foot to try and offset all of the junk that
we’d eaten so far. And parents, take my advice. You should definitely make your
kids walk up a 2-mile hill to see a bunch of plants. They will never forgive
forget! The International Test Rose Garden was next on the agenda. This garden was started when a concerned citizen wanted to preserve
European roses during WWI. Europeans began sending roses in 1917 and the rose
garden idea started to take root! The garden boasts over 10,000 rose bushes of
all shapes and sizes. Over 650 different varieties! Portland is called the city
of roses for a reason!
Well, pin a rose on your nose! |
On the way home the kids wanted to try this place that
serves up scoops of straight cookie dough.
Because. Sugar.
Diabetic shock in 3...2....1 |
We ventured into an
interesting little neighborhood for dinner to try a restaurant my friend, Marci
with an “i” and a heart had recommended. Por Que' No serves up some delicious Mexican
fare and all of Portland agrees. The line was down the block. Portlanders are a
line-standing people. We dutifully waited in line with all of
the nice people of Portland. Because, something I haven’t mentioned. The
people of Portland are capital letter NICE! Everyone we met was so laid back
and agreeable. Maybe it has to do with a certain legalized substance. We have enjoyed our time in Portland. It is beautifully laid out and easy to navigate. Lots of trees and happy people!
We toured the rose garden too. Beautiful and so many. Did notice the blue crosses offering legal drugs. Didn't partake though.
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