portland: day one

Despite being up until 4AM the night before, we managed to get ourselves to breakfast at the Tin Shed at a reasonable hour. This coffee cup was amazing, but the food was even better. Biscuits and homemade raspberry jam, grits, and so much more. This is a place you must visit when in Portland. Also, they let dogs in, so we all got to pet two black lab puppies at the same time! The black labs would be a highlight for me (I'm a bit dog-crazy) until this little guy (big, actually, for a pug) showed up. Two pugs, actually! Saturday was the day of double dogs.

We walked around Alberta Street quite a bit, checking out my favourite art supply store, Collage, and then discovered what would become Ryan's most favourite Portland place: Ray's Rib Joint (good photo opportunities, you see).

Afterwards we went to Little Winter (great! I'll share some photos of my treasures soon), Powell's, and ate hot dogs. Our real dinner at Farm a few hours later was to die for. Toasted Oregon hazelnuts with brown sugar and tabasco as a starter...need I say more? Finally, Kurt Vile ruled and Voodoo Doughnuts sent us to bed with a sugar high (and, yes, Ryan did try the maple bacon doughnut). So good! I would never, ever accomplish this much in one day at home. I love how vacations can be super busy but you don't have to feel rushed or stressed because you really have no where in particular to be. And Portland is as good a place as any to visit, there is so much to do, way too much to eat, and really friendly locals. I've still got more pics to share from our last day there where we checked out a neighbourhood we hadn't been to before. Stay tuned.