We had a food tour booked for this morning at 10:30 so we had a little something at the restaurant in the hotel before heading over there.
I had a bagel with cream cheese, salmon, capers, tomatoes, greens and onions and it was sooo good.
I just love this combo (I did have to requrest extra onions though, I am an onion maniac)
My Honey had his mexican breakfast he likes so much.
It was actually a very good breakfast - we were pleased.
We had a bit of trouble finding a place to park to meet up for the food tour.
We ended up being late and she called us to see if we were still coming.
We were only about 5 minutes late when it was all said and done but we should have been early so we were feeling a little frustrated with ourselves.
There was only one other couple on the tour and the guide was really good about making us feel at ease and ok about getting a late start so that was good.
Our first stop was Cacao.
They are a chocolate specialty shop.
They sell all sorts of chocolate from different countries.
They really play around with the cacao bean itself and try different roasts with it (same as you would a coffee bean).
I wanted to go back later and try a passionfruit chocolate they had there but never made it.
Our taste sample for the tour was a cup of their hot chocolate.
It was delicious, rich and chocolatey.
This is our guide, Pam - she was excellent.
Next we hit up Flying Elephants Delicatessen.
They started off as a food truck/cart and now have this very successful place.
We tried their tomato soup which had a special ingredient we tried to guess.
None of us guessed that it was orange.
How neat is that?
Tomato orange soup and strangely enough it worked and tasted really good.
They aren't stingy with their recipe either.
It is available right online for anyone that wants to have it.
We passed this little guy on this cool bike.
He was a funny little one, kind of ornery and grumpy for some reason.
He wasn't in a friendly mood at all but it was kind of funny and cute.
We are lucky that the sun came out today and looks like we will have lovely weather for this food tour today.
Our next stop was a food cart called Bing Mi.
It is a super popular cart here.
Apparently the lady who opened it was travelling in Asia and had these then came back and perfected her own version of the recipe.
It is called an Jianbing and is a traditional chinese breakfast crepe filled with egg, pickled vegetables, herbs and a crispy wonton.
I've never had anything like it before and I really liked it.
If you are ever in the Portland area, you need to stop and try one.
Next stop was a coffee shop for a latte.
It was good.
The place wasn't anything fancy.
Pam was telling us that what they specialize in is freshly ground coffee beans.
You can order it up and they deliver it to you and if you don't use it up in a timely manner they will take it back and replace it with new stuff.
I really had to sneak into the ladies room on this stop and when I came out we all posed for a picture for this fellow.
He wanted us to all look confused.
I got there just in time to be in the photo but I missed the reason why.
He was a really fun guy though and last minute on our way out I got him to pose for a picture for me so I could remember him.
He made a Where's Waldo joke because of his shirt.
I think he has an instagram that he puts these pictures on but I would have no idea how to go about looking for it.
A little while later as we were walking around on the tour still, he drove by us in a car and honked and waved and laughed.
It was fun.
The Pearl Street Bakery was our next stop.
We had to wear hair nets as we went in the back to have a bit of a tour.
They do all their measuring by weight here and they factor in things like temperature and humidity.
So basically they really care about the product they are putting out.
It smelled super good in there.
We tried a few things.
Some bread, a croissant, a dark chocolate cake thing and a Gibassier.
The croissant was fabulous but I fell in love with the Gibassier.
It was soft like a bun but sweet with ornage peel and anise in it.
Strange flavor combo but OMG - I couldn't get enough of it.
I will definitely be back to get a whole one to eat to myself.
Next spot we headed to was a little bit of a walk.
We saw some interesting things along the way, like this.
They took this old warehouse and turned it into a building with a couple of restaurants in it.
It is a very environmentally conscious place.
All the building materials used were reclaimed and they have lots of "green" projects going on.
The vendors they allow in the building have to very enviromentally friendly as well and they are very strict about the guidelines.
Even have an electric car our front.
The building inside is really fabulous.
Just love this archway and the brickwall.
They left as much original in the building as they could.
HotLips Pizza was our next stop.
There comes Pam with our pizza.
We each got half of a slice.
They make their own pop there as well and this raspberry version was really good.
The pizza was just ok.
The floors are really gorgeous too.
Any time we are out anywhere I am always thinking about the place we are eventually going to build in PEI and filing away ideas in my brain.
Walking toward our next stop we saw more cool things.
Another Christmas tree in a park.
Funky artwork
Then our next stops was another McMenamins.
This is the half of the other couple that were with us on the tour.
These places have so much to see inside of them.
They decorated this place after a trip to an Asian country so you can see that inspiration a little in the decor.
Ha ha, love it!
Our sample item here was beer.
We got to try 4 differant kinds.
I don't like beer at all but I didn't want to be a party pooper so I at least tried a sip of each.
Strangely enough, the one I found the least distasteful was when she mixed the lightest with the darkest.
I enjoyed this stop though because we got to sit and chat a bit.
We learned that Pam's husband works at the bookstore we were in the other night that we loved so much.
He also sings and they are both into performing.
The couple with us were originally from Melbourne, Australia.
They had super strong accents so it wasn't hard to tell.
They recently moved to California (for work) but they have lived all over.
They even lived in China.
He lived in Malaysia growing up and they have travelled in Asia a lot (it is super close to Autstalia).
So we asked what country they recommended we visit and they said Malaysia or Vietnom.
Good to know!
This bathroom sign cracks me up.
It's the second time I've seen one like it now.
Our next stop - Lardo.
We had a pork belly bahn mi.
Normally I find pork belly fatty and not to my taste but I did really like this.
It was extremely busy in there too so I think it is a great spot.
Our final stop was for a dessert at Ruby Jewel.
We had home made ice cream sandwichs.
They were a great way to end the tour.
I like someone's artwork here.
After the tour, we found where we parked the car and believe it or not, headed to another place to eat.
In doing his research before we came, My Honey found a Thai place called Pok Pok that he really wanted to try so we figured now was as good of a time as any to get that done.
We found it, it was on another cute little street full of shops and restaurants.
There are all kinds of them it seems here in Portland and I just love that.
Pok Poks was super busy, we put our name on the list and they figured about an hour and a half before they could get us a table.
They took my number so they could call me when it was ready so that was good.
We walked around a bit but I had to use the ladies room so we found this little mexican place, Stella's Tacos.
I have a rule that we have to buy something at an establishment if we use their facilites so...
I got some tortilla soup.
I was happy to see it on their menu as I'd been craving it.
Unfortuantely, it was really disappointing. I didn't even eat it.
My Honey got a few tacos and he said they were good.
We left there and walked around some more.
We passed another Salt & Straw location and it was lined up down the block.
True to their word, we got a call right around the 1.5 hour mark from Pok Pok to let us know they had a table ready for us so we headed over there.
Pok Pok
They have quite the menu.
I told My Honey to order whatever he wanted for us to share.
The only thing I did want was the brussel sprouts they had on the menu.
Pok Pok selfie!
We got lots of food.
The brussel sprouts I wanted.
They were ok but don't even come close to the ones I love at Original Joe's
Their wings were my favorite thing we tried.
This is a dish My Honey ordered up for us, I am not really sure exactly what was in it but I didn't care for it that much.
Our overall experience is that we were not that excited about the food there.
I wouldn't be in a rush to go back.
When we left, there were lots of people still waiting to get in and eat.
It looked like they pieced together a few differant buildings, some were even just kind of like tents, to make this place up.
Reminded me of the Ethiopian place we like in Edmonton.
The lights look like bows on top of a present.
This is the entrance, it is covered but I wouldn't say it is really a building but there is a bar there that you can sit at.
Then there are "buildings" off to each side with seating areas in them.
After we ate, we headed over to the Peculiarium which we'd also seen when we were doing our trip research.
This girl from "The Ring" is super creepy.
They had a few creepy things outside the doors like this fellow in the wheelchair who almost looked like a real person at first glance.
Thought he was just a guy hanging out there.
This fellow was a little less creepy, reminds me of Michael Jackson when changes in Thriller for some reason even though he turned to a zombie and this is a gorilla/werewolf.
It was very interactive, you could touch the displays and sit in their laps, ha ha!
???
I think these little write ups they had were my favorite part of the whole experience.
Vampire Killing Kit
Hard to believe people actually believed in vampires and carried this around.
A "crime scene" doll house.
Kind of morbid and neat at the same time.
Apparently this ventriloquist dummy was convicted of murdering his partner the ventriloquist.
He was sentanced to die by eloctrocution.
Ha ha.
I should have stood beside this for perspective but you can kind of tell how big it is from the "regular" size footprint right beside it.
No, they weren't performing experiements on My Honey, I can just never pass up a photo op so he is always my model.
They had some iconic memorabilia on display too.
Big Foot or Sasquatch is rumored to have been seen around these parts and we can confirm that it is true.
The fellow working at the Peculiarium took this picture for us.
He was very friendly and helpful.
We picked up a few souvenirs and he was so thankful.
He really truly wanted to make sure that we had enjoyed our vist and appreciated that we came.
It's a great little place and I would definitely recommend checking it out.
We left there and I needed to use some facilities again (the Peculiarium didn't have any) so I had to find a place to go.
Of course there was a McMenamins right around the corner so we decided to go in and order some dessert so I could use their washrooms without feeling guilty.
This location was decorated in a similar style to the others - lots to see.
Like this artwork on the ceiling.
This place was more of a bar setting with pool tables and it had some western themed things too.
My Honey ordered a brownie/blondie with whipped cream.
I choose a strawberry milkshake - it wasn't very good.
We left there and walked up the street which ended up being 23rd ave.
We happened upon the Salt & Straw location that we'd gone to the other evening, just came to it from the other direction so that was kind of neat.
It had a line up right out the door so I was thankful again that we'd gone and checked it out the other evening when it was much quieter.
I thought I would pick up the hat I'd seen the other day but the store was closed.
I have been wanting to see Lady Bird so we found a theatre downtown where it was playing and got there just in the nick of time.
I think Saoirse Ronan is a great actress.
We were lucky enough to see her live on Broadway a few years back in The Crucible.
She did not disappoint on Broadway nor did she disappoint tonight.
We had parked the car in a car parking garage and when we left the movie and tried to get back into the garage, it was locked.
We had a heck of a time trying to find the entrance that was still open but we did do it eventually!
Once we got back to the hotel, I popped on Facebook to see what was up and these Facebook Memories popped up.
Christmas 2014
My Honey got me a trip to Las Vegas for Christmas that year and we left right after Christmas and spent New Years Eve there.
The hotels all still had their decorations up luckily and they were beautiful.
This is at the Bellagio.
The tree was enormous and just covered in ornaments, so pretty.
I love penguins so this made me happy.
It was like a winter wonderland in there.
My Honey & I
These romping polar bears are all made out of flowers, isn't that amazing?
This must take a lot of work but it looks absolutely fabulous.
We saw Joel McHale while we were there.
We loved watching The Soup which ended up getting cancelled so we were happy to get a chance to see him live.
I really enjoy his sense of humor - it was a good time.
Even with the car, we managed to get lots of steps in today.
It was gorgeous out, just like spring and I want to enjoy it as much as I can before we go home.
Back home they are having a cold snap right now, in fact they have declared it a state of emergency in same areas of Alberta because it is just that cold.
So glad I am missing out on that!!!
That is all for today, until next time, be happy!
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