We rolled in at about 5:30pm, which was the middle of "wine hour" at our hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Monaco. Their esthetic is eclectic, yet swanky. It was where I wanted to stay originally, but Aaron wanted to try out luck on Priceline. And, "I'll be damned", as my Grandpa used to say. Priceline hooked us up with Hotel Monaco! Awesome! So we got to stay there for $125 a night AND they upgraded us to a suite. It was, ah, sweet.
So, they have wine hour every afternoon from 5pm to 6pm. You can have a glass of wine or beer. It's free, but there is a suggested $2 donation per glass. (The money goes to charity.) The hotel has a beautiful lobby area with seating, a piano player, video games (a Wii - Aaron said the game was Mariokart), and an art corner. They supply acrylic paint and small canvases. We didn't partake, but a lot of other people did.
The Hotel Monaco is a pet friendly hotel, so there were quite a few dogs that accompanied their people. We considered bringing Monkey. He's pretty chill for a cat, but I'm not sure he would have appreciated so much canine company.
The first night, we went to a record store called the Record Room Vinyl Lounge that Aaron wanted to check out. It was a record store, but they also serve beer and have live performances. It was cool and the bartender was really nice.
We hung out there for a while and then cabbed it over to Mississippi Ave. to see a show at Mississippi Studios.
We saw Aqueduct and Boat.
They were both good, but I especially liked Aqueduct. Aaron bought a Boat record and an Aqueduct CD.
The next day, we had breakfast at Imperial. It was delicious, but we were so full that we got sleepy. So we went back to the hotel for a nap.
That evening, Aaron wanted to go to this place called Ground Control Classic Arcade. As you might imagine, they had a ton of arcade games and pinball and - wait for it - a full bar. Whoa. They also had the coolest bathroom I've ever seen.
I watch a lot of HGTV and they've never featured a Pac-Man tiled bathroom.
After a few last games of Champion Pub, we decided to skeedaddle back to the hotel.
On out last day in Portland, we went back to Mississippi Ave. to have breakfast at Gravy. Words cannot describe. Best. French. Toast. Ever. Yum!
Then we went to a shop called Land, where I bought a print by Nikki McClure and some prints by Ryan Berkely. We later discovered that Land Gallery was where they shot the "Put a bird on it" sketch for Portlandia!
Aaron wanted to go to this store called Control Voltage, but it was closed. I do, however, plan to steal their thread wall art idea.
After a quick cup of coffee, we hit the road to head back to Seattle.
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