Portland

Portland, is an amazing town. We stayed near the downtown area and walked everywhere. There is great food, great beer and great shopping all within walking distance of us. We had an amazing time. 


On Friday we went to Deschutes Brewery where we sampled some yummy brews and a yummy pretzel with cheese sauce. Oregon beer is really the best!

That night we went out to dinner and then to the Crystal Ballroom for an 80s night dance party! Every Friday in the ballroom they play 80's music and the videos to go along with the songs. Some people dress up, some don't. There we all ages there from 21 and up. We had a blast and danced the night away. The music was so good that it was hard to take a break. Totally worth it if you are ever in Portland!

The ballroom from the balcony

Dancing! My side pony had falling by this point.

On Saturday we went to the Saturday Market where there are blocks of vendors selling food, art, crafts, clothes, beer, wine and so much more. Some of it was along the river and it was a sunny day which made it fantastic. We didn't take any pictures of the market but it was a great experience. While we were walking around exploring Portland we came upon this huge tent and it was an Irish Festival. So we stopped in for a drink and some good Irish music.

Later in the day we went to McMenamins Kennedy School.  There are McMenamins every where in Oregon and this is just one of the few places they own. Here is the website if you want to explore more: http://www.mcmenamins.com/ The Kennedy School was the first one floor school in Portland in the early 1900's, it is now turned into a hotel, with restaurants, bars, a movie theater, pool, and the old gym is a place you can rent out for weddings or concerts. The bars were in the old broiler room, detention hall, honors room and classrooms. Drinking beer at school felt kind of wrong but a lot of fun.

The broiler room

Honors Room

Hallway

Detention a great place for a beer and cigar.

For dinner that night we met up with my old childhood friend Jeff and his wife Kathy. It was so wonderful to catch up and get to know him again. Our parents were great friends and it felt like we spent every weekend with them when I was younger. I don't have a picture of us, when we went back to Portland the weekend after this I still forgot to take a picture of the four of us, maybe next time.

This was hanging in our hostel where we stayed. So true

Later that  night we went to and old arcade called Ground Kontrol to play some great video games from the 70's, 80's and 90's.

Portland was fantastic and we went back the next weekend and had some more great adventures. Jeff and Kathy took us to Mississippi street where we had some great southern Creole food and a wonderful time. Pictures from our hike we did in the Columbia Gorge next post

I will leave you with great bike art: Portland loves biking.