Portland - Eating, Drinking, Sleeping

Aaron and I left for Portland on Saturday for the long weekend. Somehow it took us five hours to get down there. How does that always happen? I think it is a problem with the space/time continuum that I sometimes encounter, which makes me late. Nonetheless, we arrived at the Jupiter hotel at about 8pm and checked in.

There was a wedding going on under a tent across from the hotel lobby, people were hanging out in the parking lot and more people were chillin' in the courtyard having drinks. It was definitely a party atmosphere. I was looking for more of a romantic anniversary weekend getaway (Yep, it was our two-year wedding anniversary on September 2nd, y'all!), so I was a bit annoyed. And I was hungry, so we went down the street in search of food.

On the way, we saw these guys tearing it up on their Casios.

They were right outside this radio station

so I'm guessing they were broadcasting live.

Nearby, we found a trendy and dimly lit dining establishment that was so hip, there was no name on the front. It was at 600 Burnside. We poked our heads in and asked if they served food - they did and there was seating available! After we sat down, Aaron looked up the address on his iPhone. We were at Rontoms.

Rontoms was pretty cool. It was great for people watching (hipsters galore!) and the food was very tasty. We had grilled cheese/tomato soup, deviled eggs and cheddar fondue. Mmmm! Next time we're in Portland, I will definitely check it out again.

The next morning, we went to the Doug Fir for breakfast.

They have a wonderful menu

and even though it was lunchtime, we could still order breakfast. I had the croissant French toast and Aaron had salmon eggs Benedict. It was a perfect way to start the day.

After that, we headed out to do some shopping and had lunch at Ringler's in the Pearl District. They had great minestrone soup.

For dinner, we hemmed and hawed and finally went to an Italian restaurant in a hotel downtown, which was conveniently located a couple blocks from Mary's.

Going to Mary's was an opportunity for interesting social observation. (Yeah, that's what they all say.)

The next morning, we were powerful hungry and decided to try one of the breakfast spots that our friends had recommended. We found the J&M with no problem, but there was a 25 minute wait. We had that I'm-so-hungry-I-could-throw-up feeling, so we decided to go back to the Doug Fir for breakfast instead.

We had to wait a little while there, too, but they have a plush lounge area that is very comfy.

Breakfast at the Doug Fir was excellent again.

I had the bacon, egg and cheese croissant sandwich (a "croissandwich", if you will) and Aaron had the croissant French toast. We also split a berry smoothie, which was delicious.

Then we hit the road back to the great state of Washington, stopping only in Tacoma for lunch at the fabulous Dairy Queen.

It was a wonderful ending to a wonderful weekend.