Monday, July 23, 2018

July 2018, Oregon, Day 5



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!








1 comment:

  1. We toured the rose garden too. Beautiful and so many. Did notice the blue crosses offering legal drugs. Didn't partake though.

    ReplyDelete