A Portland Experience

This past weekend we had an unexpected sweet time of traveling up to Portland to meet my parents over night.  (Dad had a meeting prior to that in Seattle, and they said if we could drive up to Portland and meet them, they'd drive down after his meeting and why not stay the night and we'd all get a chance to be together?)  We were excited; the kids especially couldn't wait to see Grandma & Papa!  The boys hadn't seen them since Christmas, (Maggie got to see them at the wedding) - it was a great time together and very fun to experience more of Portland.  Honestly, we are usually just driving right on through with the once-in-a-blue-moon stop at Ikea or maybe a quick bite to eat before we hit the road again.  I kid you not, I think almost 90% of the time we've passed through Portland, it's been sunny and beautiful.  I know, not the norm there and we know it doesn't get the rep it has from nowhere.  2 years in, and we definitely know about the Oregon rain. ;)  But I'll also say, that's part of the beauty why things get so lushly green and gorgeous, too.  I digress ;)... anyways, it was so fun to look forward to time with my folks, and time experiencing the city.  We purposely drove up early so we could walk around and check out parts of town.  By dumb luck, we ended up in the alphabet district (OH.MY.AMAZINGLY FUN AND SPUNKY!)... we got lunch at this PB&J cart.  Yeah, a food cart, on a sidewalk.  But not just any ol' PB&J.  They do the most crazy renditions that you'd read on a chalkboard menu and think twice about whether you even wanted to stay, and then try a bite and you're like, "Um, ok, I get why this place had over a thousand reviews with 5 stars." ;)  After a delicious and quirky lunch at the cart, we checked out some of the shops and just enjoyed the atmosphere, sunshine, blue skies, people of all walks and styles, and soaked in the certain "free and eclectic, happy-go-lucky" vibe of the neighborhood.  There was one shop that had a line out the door every time we passed by, "Salt and Straw."  If you're an Oprah follower, you would probably recognize it because we have since learned she loves the place.  We hadn't heard of it, and couldn't figure out what the big deal is.  Someone on the street informed us it was an ice cream shop and they had coffee too.  Sounded good enough, but worth waiting in line for a half hour for a scoop?  Maybe another trip...   We met my folks at the hotel and went out for this fantastic Hawaiian/Pacific Rim dinner over in Vancouver.  I think better than the delicious meal, was the overwhelmingly beautiful view of crystal-clear Mt. Hood against the river, the blue tree lines, and in-your-face Pacific NW beauty on the drive across the bridge to get to the restaurant.  Stunning!!  I don't normally talk a lot about food, or maybe I do and I'm in denial?... but I think now that I'm so used to cooking/baking all the time, every day, it's such a treat to go out and enjoy someone elses' cooking or the opportunity to sit in a restaurant and enjoy the ambiance and live music.  At one point, I did have to laugh.  Among 7 of us, 5 were plugged into their devices checking the Gonzaga scores. ;) hahah.  Can't blame 'em! Go Zags!! :)  Mom & Dad were up for watching the rest of the game at the hotel with the kids happily curled up in jammies next to them, so it gave Ken &I an opportunity to take our first date out since last April.  A date, every year, is almost embarrassing.  But it was soooooo much fun and mega refreshing to be sans kids, just us, enjoying the city lights and time alone.  We headed back to that little ice cream shop in the alphabet district, Salt & Straw.  The line was still out the door.  STILL.  At 8pm!  I guess it's like that all the time, all day long.  Just what's the big deal?...  how 'bout that every flavor is very original and completely unlike anything you've had before.  Don't believe me?  They actually have an olive oil ice cream.  Strawberry with balsamic vinegar, coffee and bourbon, sea salt and caramel, spicy banana and walnut, almond brittle and ganache, pear and blue cheese, .... yeah.  Before you crinkle your nose at some of these and think, "Blaghk, can't imagine it tasting delicious or even choking a bite of that down,"... let me say, they don't have that long line for nothin'. ;)  It is INCREDIBLE ice cream, friends.  If you are in Portland, GO THERE.  We tried several different flavors and ended up with double scoops for each of us 'cause it's just so hard to narrow.  (coffee bourbon was a mutual fave, sea salt & caramel, and Ken also had the almond brittle and ganache.)  If I had to go back, I'd get the spicy banana walnut next time because it was that good too.  It's like, the best bite of homemade banana bread you've ever tried, but in this cool, rich, scrumptious ice cream.  Our hotel room wasn't far from our fave breakfast place introduced to us by the amazing Hook family!, "The Bakery Bar."  Heaven for breakfast....  goodness they do a phenomenal job.  So, it became a memorable weekend for the time with family, the special date unexpectedly squeezed in, the foodie experiences that are so out of our norm but oh so much fun!, and the beautiful weather to enjoy the Pacific NW landscape.  Feeling spoiled... ;)  And unfortunately, now I'm craving some of that ice cream. ;)