A Perfect Portland Weekend – a Quick Guide

Portland is, without a doubt, my most favorite city in the whole country!

This city is where my heart is happy and my soul is at peace. Portland is beautiful anytime, but positively spectacular on a sunny day! And we were lucky enough to have some of those magical, rare, sunny days last weekend when we met for a “working” weekend to kick off this Sisbehaving Blog.

Getting to Portland

For me, Portland is an easy flight from Denver; for Patti it is an easy 3.5 hour drive from Eastern Washington, how could we resist? So bright and early on Friday morning, I boarded the plane, settled into my upgraded seat (thanks United Airlines), ordered a mimosa and tried to contain my excitement!

First Things First – Brunch

A couple of hours later, Patti picked me up and we were headed to brunch at the Screen Door; we had breakfast cocktails to drink and plans to make! Screen Door is a southern focused restaurant and serves brunch every day. Yes, every day. I know you agree that brunch is the best meal of the week so this is genius! The food is amazing and the restaurant has great energy. It involves a bit of a wait on the weekends, but is worth it.

Hotel Roulette

First on the agenda was to find a hotel. We knew we wanted to stay downtown and we each have favorites (Peggy is a Kimpton Hotel person, Patti favors StayPineapple) but decided to let Hotwire decide for us. And the selection for a 4.5 star Boutique Hotel in downtown Portland for $89/night…drum roll please…Dossier.

sister side note (ssn): this is a great way to get a luxury hotel without spending luxury dollars or points – you just have to be wiling to do it the day of and take what they give you!

Wandering Downtown Portland

After checking in, we strolled around downtown, did a little shopping, had a few drinks and just enjoyed the afternoon. If you haven’t been before, give yourself plenty of time to just take in the vibe. Portland is full of murals, statues, and street art. Plus, the architecture is magnificent.

ssn: If you are into architecture, consider a city tour, history tour or even a ghost tour. There are lots of great choices on Trip Advisor (our personal choice).

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Finding Some Food & Drinks

All that wandering, plus a little drizzle made us a little thirsty so we made a few stops…you know, for research purposes.

• First was Dar Salam, a Middle Eastern restaurant with interesting cocktails such as a Beet Margarita and a Cardamom Gimlet. They have a buffet for lunch, and amazing colorful décor.
• Also, stopped into Fogo de Chao so I could introduce Patti to my new obsession, Cachaça. We had delicious passion fruit Caipirinhas and a nice chat with the owner.
• Patti saved her favorite pick for our last stop before getting ready for dinner. Barlow. Crazy cool place! In addition to traditional cocktails, to experimental creations made by the bartenders. We had unique and beautiful cocktails, were entertained by talented bartenders, and met the sweetest couple from LA who were celebrating her obtaining US Citizenship! Now that’s something to celebrate!

After drinks and touristing, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. I was super exicted to take Patti to my favorite Portland hot spot, Toro Bravo!

Toro Bravo

Dinner at Toro Bravo was such an experience that it is covered in it’s own Instagram post! But seriously, go here. I can’t stress this enough.

ssn: After all that hype, Toro Bravo Restaurant Group has permanently closed. We are heartbroken.

Portland, Day 2

Day 2 started like all mornings should start, with mimosas in our room! We had a very busy day ahead and made a weak attempt at planning and getting organized. The best part of the day was sure to be brunch with my college besties! We chose Tasty N Alder, part of the same restaurant group as Toro Bravo.

ssn: We again have found that Tasty N Alder has permanently closed.

After checking in with the hostess for the wait (expected, and well worth it), we went for coffee and a walk.

Across the street was a place called Never Coffee! I love coffee, I mean LOVE, so I get pretty skeptical about trying new places. This was a full-on experience! Cute little coffee shop with pastel decor, and their own specialty menu of coffee and tea, using a local coffee roaster. I had an “Oregon” with Cascade Hops, Dulce de Leche and Jacobsen Sea Salt. It was so good! Patti had a “Yuzu & Salt” with notes of yuzu fruit, sansho pepper, burned sugar and coconut cream (the burned sugar really came through in a lovely way)

More Wandering

With coffees in hand, we walked down to the famous Powell’s Books to kill some time. This is always a must see for visitors! Powell’s consistently hits all lists of things to do in Portland, with good reason. Powell’s is the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. It stretches the full city block; there is every book you could ever want under this roof.

Back to Brunch

Our table was ready so we headed back. Brunch was fabulous and made even better because it was shared with my best friends in the world! My besties are Portland natives and graciously met us to enjoy a whirlwind of food and hilarious chatter!

The food was served family style so we got to enjoy all the “tasty” selections! They have a wide range of options from sweet dishes (we all shared some of Auntie Paula’s French Toast as an appetizer to symbolize bringing in the Lunar New Year with sweetness), boards & sandwiches, small plates, big full-plate options with unique twists like a breakfast Bim Bop or Korean Fried Chicken and steaks.

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ssn: Don’t miss out on the breakfast cocktails, they are not just your average mimosas!

St. Johns & Cathedral Park

After brunch we drove up to St. Johns neighborhood to get some pictures of the famous St. John’s Bridge and Cathedral Park. It did not disappoint…gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!

Chinatown

After a quick stop by my Alma Mater, University of Portland (Go Pilots!), we needed to head to Chinatown to celebrate the Lunar New Year! Old Town Chinatown is the oldest Portland neighborhood and is an eclectic mix of old and new, shopping and dining, arts and entertainment. We were just winging it but were sure we would happen upon the festivities!

ssn: We missed the entire Dragon dance and parade. Be sure to always verify schedules, haha.

We stopped in to the Society hotel for a couple of drinks on the rooftop patio so we could check out the happenings from above.

ssn: there was a couple obnoxiously making out in one corner *awkward* and a group of 20-somethings pretentiously discussing the shortcomings of cities in Italy <eye roll>

More Walking Sights Downtown

This is also where you’ll find Voodoo doughnuts. Yes they are famous; yes, they are popular; yes, they are fun (who doesn’t giggle at a Cock-n-balls) but to us, they are not even in the top few best donuts in Portland. A little over-hyped and not worth waiting in line, but if you feel you must then you should!

From there, we walked to the waterfront to continue enjoying the beautiful weather. Portland has a fabulous waterfront park along the Willamette River where they frequently hold music festivals and events, there is the Maritime Museum and River Boat cruises. One of the coolest things to do March through December is the Portland Saturday Market – the largest, continually operating open-air arts and crafts market in the country – fabulous artists, great food, performers, homemade goods and products.

Then, after a fantastic dinner at Frank’s Noodle House (long noodles for long life!), where Frank himself makes homemade noodles, sadly, we had to prepare ourselves to leave early the next morning. Our spontaneous, sisbehaving weekend was quick but full of fun!