Robert and I are back from our trip to the City of Roses.
Our trip was a pretty relaxed one as neither of us had much of an agenda in mind. My birthday was on Tuesday, so I used the holiday as an excuse to get outta town and visit a city I've wanted to check out for a long time. Portland has definitely gained a reputation as a Vegan Mecca, as well as a city with super sustainable practices, plenty of local microbreweries, and supportive of a pretty happening art scene. Believe you me, it didn't disappoint.
I feel like there has been some sort of diaspora of Lawrencians relocating to Portland (one time I even googled everyone is moving to portland! and had pretty impressive results) and after this trip, I might just have to add my name to that list. I was completely enamored with the city; it was the perfect mix of big city entertainment/culture and sweet home-town, neighborhood-y comfort.
We spent the trip visiting small galleries, book reading and coffee shoppe-ing, bar hopping, and of course dining at Portland's abundance of vegan-friendly restaurants. Thanks to Jess (no really, thank, thank, thank you!) from Get Sconed! and Stumptown Vegans, we were able to get the inside scoop on the best vegan eats and explore the city with full and happy bellies.
We stayed at The Jupiter Hotel in southeast Portland, and if you ever decide to visit Stumptown, I highly recommend staying there. It's sort of like a Motel Six dressed to the nines, with a cheesy but awesome glam rock meets IKEA feel; think glass taxidermy dear heads, bamboo gardens, and low lighting. There is also a pretty swank restaurant/bar/venue called The Doug Fir Lounge attached to The Jupiter, as well as a salon and even a tattoo parlor. The lounge can get pretty rowdy after hours, so I may redirect my recommendation to those that like that sort of scene or are just champion sleepers.
Here's our room:
The complimentary condom that was left to greet us:
and the sweet chalkboard door we used to leave each other messages/ draw inappropriate cartoons:
After checking in we headed over to the Pearl District for First Thursdays to check out a few art galleries and grab dinner. I'm always really hesitant to take photos at foreign-to-me galleries, so I don't have many images to show you. I did ask the gallery representing the artist of one of my favorite exhibits, Jim Riswold, if I could snatch up a few photos. Here's my favorite piece entitled Damien Hirst Makes A Rug.
So good!
Taking photos at restaurants is a little awkward as well, but I did manage to document the heck out of our food. Our first stop was Blossoming Lotus, a COMPLETELY vegan cafe located inside a yoga studio. Many of their dishes are of the raw food camp, and I was excited to give the place a try as I have not experimented much with raw entrees.
While I was intrigued, Robert was pretty hesitant, " You want to eat vegetables in some gym's cafeteria?" I could understand his doubt as the place was uber quiet and yes, it was hard to tell our raw pizza from its accompanying side salad. BUT. UH. WOW. All questions were shushed as our mouths devoured our really tasty raw pizza with basil and hempseed pesto, cashew cheese, and an explosion of veggies a top a spiced tomato and walnut crust. The salad was also delicious, with a really unique dressing I'm guessing had some of the same basil and hempseed pesto in it.
(F.Y.I. This photo was taken after most of the pizza was gone. I was so into eating up the pie that I forgot to take a photo until most of it was gone.)
I finished off meal with some awesome raw fudge. It was really rich and melted in my mouth. Well done Blossoming Lotus. You are kinda strange, but I liked you a lot!
That night we visited The Tube, a bar that looked like the inside of a double-wide trailer, with a chill, friendly crowd and awesome happy hour specials.
The next morning we walked a couple blocks down to Portland's ultra-awesome "vegan strip-mall" including Sweetpea Baking Company, Herbivore clothing store, Food Fight! vegan grocery, and Scapegoat Tattooing.
We nestled into Sweetpea for some yummy coffee and breakfast. While it may have been a cardinal sin to neglect to order any of their delectable-looking baked goods (check out their website, their cakes are incredibly beautiful!), I was really hungry and wanted some proper nourishment. I ordered a simple sandwich, a un-tuna on white bread. This may seem like a kinda lame choice, but the thing I don't think most people realize about vegans is that sometimes a cruelty-free recreation of a childhood comfort food-like tuna sandwiches on white bread- is the best thing ever. Most white bread isn't vegan, but since Sweetpea is 100% vegan, I knew I could trust 'em. I washed down the sammich with a spicy dirty chai with almond milk. Let me say that again. Almond milk. I love almond milk, and Sweetpea spoils us with a selection of hemp, almond, rice, and soy milk. Be still my heart.
So many pretty little cupcakes!
Okay. I'm gonna cut myself off here before this ode to Portland gets out of hand. I'll return soon with the rest of the tale of books, and bars, and soy-shrimp, oh my!
TTFN!
Recent Comments