Pottering around Portland and soaking up sunshine in Sacramento

Portland, you have also stolen my heart. As soon as we arrived I knew I would love it. We had already heard great things- the food trucks, the coffee, the beer. We stayed at McMenamins Crystal Hotel-a hotel with attached to The Crystal Ballroom- a music venue where heaps of amazing acts have played, and continue to play (The Strokes, The Avett Brothers, The Temptations, Alt-J etc). Each room was themed to a different band, ours was The Temptations and was covered in paintings and song lyrics. We were super close to everything, especially good food. It was recommended that we ate at Clyde Commons, so we went straight there (via some record stores and vintage clothing of course). The food was amazing! I had this chicken breast covered with some balsamic onion sauce and nestled in a bed of peppers, corn, spinach and tomato. So delicious and only set me back $12- a lot cheaper than the Melbourne usual! We followed this up by the best coffee I have had in America yet- a normal tulip cup size flat white, made with such care at Public Domain.

We wandered the streets, exploring. We soon found the whole block full of food trucks and took great pleasure in planning our meals for the next few days. You can get pretty much anything you desire for about $5-6 each, ranging from Polish and Fijian to Scottish fish and chips and Mexican. Today was and still has been the only day we haven’t touched a drop of alcohol. So the next day we made up for this and hit the breweries. We had anticipated doing a bike tour, but the thought of riding on the wrong side of the road scared us, especially when alcohol is involved. So we hit the pavement in the blistering sun, with a map that only basically showed us the main roads and the breweries. First up was Cascade Brewery where they brew the sour beers- had to try, and admit they had an intriguing and refreshing taste. The great thing about the South East is it is the most concentrated area for breweries (and bars), so as we sipped on our tasters at Cascade we were eyeing up our next stop-The Green Dragon. This was a very small brewery, but had 50+ beers on tap for no more than $5 a pint. We sat outside in the shade and enjoyed it so much playing connect four and eating mussels, that we stayed for a few. Now rested out of the fierce sun we made our way to ‘The Hair of the Dog‘ for a pint and some Portland famous mac and cheese. We wandered to find the bus, spotting an awesome looking pub ‘Dig A Pony‘. It was happy hour, so we sipped on our $3 pints and chatted to the bar tender. It was a horse shaped bar with a large space around it, very cool set up. We then had enough energy to visit our last brewery for the day Coalition Brewery. Then off back to the hotel for a change before heading out for some dinner and exploring the local bars.

Our last day we set out to explore The North West- 23rd and 21st streets. We had heard that it was a place to check out, but had also heard it was very ritzy and the ‘rich mum area’. The latter was correct, very un-Portland, and completely reminded us of Merivale in Christchurch! So we were quick smart out of there and straight out to the North West where we were last night. This time the shops were actually open so we wandered, stopping in for beers in between shops. We made the most of the food trucks for dinner, then lined up in the huge line to try the famous Voodoo Donuts! I am actually not a donut fan at all, but when in Rome. Most people were exiting with large pink boxes full of donuts, while we went for the smallest, plainest/most normal looking ones, only setting us back $1.90 total or something ridiculously cheap. They were ok, I don’t have much to compare it to, and there is something weird about American bread- it’s so dry/almost stale like (we had a cheese board earlier where the guy swore it was fresh, yet I think I could have knocked someone out with the bread slice!).

Our time in Portland had come to an end and we were off on a plane to Sacramento to stay with Simon’s Great Aunt and Uncle. As soon as we landed, we were in the car to try the famous In’N’Out Burgers- a Californian burger joint. We were advised to get the double patty animal style (extra sauce, cooked onions and pickles), and it was delicious! It is the prototype burger that all of these ‘fancy’, American style diners that are popping up in Melbourne. We relaxed a little before dinner and some beers at Simons second cousin’s place. She has the cutest twins, so we had a great time watching them playing in the garden, while we enjoyed home made pulled pork rolls and salads!

The next day we went out to Walmart- we had been dying to go! That place is just crazy, it has everything so cheap. I went mental in the hair and make up isle with products a quarter of the usual cost. We then started the drive through the Napa Valley to Simon’s other Great Aunt’s place in Calistoga. We again had beers and a delicious dinner before hitting up some local small town country bars! It was great to meet Simon’s American family, they are all so lovely!