Newport to Portland

This day starts out differently than the others so far on this trip, because we actually have to be somewhere at a certain time - we're picking up Nancy at the airport!

But first, our customary morning coffee and gallop down the beach. The morning was so gorgeous with the pictures to match, so I'm just going to throw them all up!



Back up the stairs to our little room.

As we're driving I see this sign:


Which seems curious, just sitting in the middle of nowhere til I see this next door:



Balance, my friends, balance...


Trees!

Given the need for speed (t-minus 3 hrs til Nancy's flight lands) I decide on AM/PM coffee for breakfast. I'm peckish while in the store and make the terrible, awful, gastrointestinally disastrous decision to grab a sandwich too.

Good!!!BAAAAAAD!!!

It was all smooth sailing until I approached Portland airport, and then.....


whhaaaaaaaaaaaa?!?!



Ohhhhhhhh.

So I was a little late to pick up Nancy, but really, who here is surprised?

After grabbing Nancy we headed to downtown Portland and out home from the next three nights, the Hotel Vintage Plaza. VP is another in the Kimpton chain of boutique hotels, which is the same chain I stayed at in San Francisco and will again in Vancouver. The one in San Fran was awesome, and the VP followed suit.


The lobby


The seating area and lobby



Looking up from the lobby - the center was open all the way up to a skylight with rooms situated in spokes out from the middle.



Our very nice room


They left a little bear on my pillow


And since I am a Kimpton member (I signed up, for free, when I was in SF) and they knew I was bringing Zack, they left a package of cookies and dog-related stuff for Zack, a cookie for me, and a little giving me 20% in their highly related restaurant downstairs. Nice!

After settling in and relaxing for a bit, we decided to go search out dinner. We set off with no particular plan, stopping in different spots as we walked. Nothin quite hit our fancy. There was a couple bars with burrito menus, some diners, some swankier looking eateries, but... nothign caught our fancy. Everything seemed grey (and I'm not talking about weather) and sedate and boring.

So we trudged back to the hotel and brought down Zack and got a table outside the Vintage Plaza's Pazzo.

This turned out to be an awsome decision. We started off with a bottle of wine, and an appetizer of prosciutto wrapped asparagus.



All of the entrees looked amazing, so we decided to get two and split it. With the server's approval, we ordered up:


Pork shoulder braised in milk, over big giant beans and topped with a slaw of celery, radish and leek and i think parsley or cilantro? Can't remember. I do remember that we just touched the pork and it fell apart, which means it was aaaaaaawesome.



And pappardelle pasta with lamb ragu and mint. So. Freaking. Good.

One of the most delicious meals I've had in a long time. We were pretty stuffed but the very friendly server talked us into getting a half order of their specialty dessert, pistachio semifreddo


which was really semifreddo layered with chocolate cake and topped with roasted, salted pistachios.

Oh - and a side of Fleet Week:

Tee hee.


Nancy likes...... the asparagus! Not the sailors. Nooo....

After dinner we decided to wander and find an after dinner drink. The Spanish Coffee at Hubers was recommended, but they wouldn't let us drink it at their outside tables. Apparently the tables are not for sitting. Ok. So instead we walked until we came across Rock Bottom brewery where we sat outside and had a couple of amaretto coffees.


The view down the street from Rock Bottom

On the way back we passed:




The train


A bucket of seals


Me kissing a seal




A coupla beavers (tee hee)


A woman pushing her dog in a stroller.


The flowers at Pioneer Square



What happens when someone when someone with pale skin and a proclivity for bruising carries a heavy bag around all day - those are broken blood vessels, btw. Sexy.

As we got ready for bed we noticed that people across from the hotel were camping out. I know our arrival in Portland was probably the most exciting thing thats happened there since... oh... I don't know, ever??? But camping out to catch a glimpse seemed a bit over the top



Hmm.. we'll have to sort out this mystery tomorrow....