Posted on April 17, 2024
  
Posted by Athena Scalzi   
 

In a recent post of mine, I said that I felt like I wasn’t doing much of the things I enjoy lately. One of these things is travel, and another is spending time with friends. When the opportunity arises to combine the two, who could say no? So at the end of March, I popped over to the West coast to spend a few days with an old college pal who is currently living in Portland, Oregon. She played tour guide and showed me around to some amazing spots in Portland. We hung out, had good food, good drinks, and had a great time overall. I thought I’d share some highlights with y’all!

I had been to Portland once before, when I was sixteen for the 2015 Westercon. From what I remembered, I quite liked Portland, and coming back almost ten years later seemed like a lot of fun.

My flight arrived into PDX at 8:30pm, and I ended up making it to my friends place at about 9:30, so they suggested a place that was open late for food. Specifically, a place that is only open late, that being between 7pm to midnight, and they only serve coffee, tea, and desserts.

I thought that sounded just like my cup of tea (ha!), and we walked a few blocks to Rimsky-Korsakoffee House. I was so excited to try it, but when we stepped inside I realized I had literally been here before. Some very cool people from Westercon had taken me here, and it was only when I saw that familiar, whimsical, cozy string lighting that I recognized it. Regardless, I was more than happy to be back, and had a difficult time choosing what dessert to get.

I ended up getting the Ginger Cake with Warm Caramel Sauce, and an orange cappuccino. The ginger cake was for sure an amazing choice if I do say so myself, as it was warm, moist, and spiced to perfection. The orange cappuccino was a wonderful pairing. Honestly if I lived in Portland I would make it a point to try every dessert listed.

The next morning, it was a short jaunt over to Flour Bloom, a coffee shop that has plants, pastries, and, you guessed it, coffee!

There was art for sale from local artists, tons of plants you could buy, and a photobooth. My friend and I both got “The Flower Child”, which is a honey-lavender-rose latte with cardamom and dried rose petals.

(Though we got the same drink, my friend got hers with oat milk, so it’s a slightly different color than mine.)

After our coffee, my friend took me all around the Industrial District and we explored so many different and super unique antique/vintage/thrift stores.

One of them had this vintage style kitchen that was totally to die for.

As well as this super cool wall of old stereos!

After gettin’ my thrift on (I bought so many trinkets), we headed to McMenamin’s Kennedy School. It’s basically an old elementary school that got repurposed into a hotel and restaurant type of thing.

Again, I realized I’d been here before, but my friend and I got to do something I didn’t do last time, which was spend an hour in their soaking pool. I love me a good warm body of water to relax in, especially when accompanied by a crisp, cold cider. I got the blackberry cider and my friend got the blood orange ginger cider. I didn’t take any pictures of the pool or anything because it was prohibited (which is totally understandable). It was a great time despite it being a little crowded.

For dinner we went to a modern Japanese place not far from my friend’s apartment called Wa Kitchen Kuu, where we tried a sake flight, some seriously good chicken, and I also got a roll.

Everything was so delish, I was tempted to go back for dinner or lunch another day, but my friend said we should try to avoid repeats and I agreed.

After dinner we went to Studio One to see a movie, and it was unlike any theater I’ve seen before. Each auditorium has a different name and is set up with all sorts of comfy furniture, like couches and plush chairs. There’s also tables for your drinks and food. Which, by the way, you can order your drinks and food right from your seat! Like real, hot food, not just movie theater popcorn. And also drinks with alcohol in them! It was so luxe.

We had already had dinner so I just got a drink and a crème brûlée, which was extremely yummy. We had intended on seeing Godzilla: Minus One, but accidentally saw Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. It was very bad. But honestly laughing at it the whole time with my friend was so fun it was worth seeing that garbage.

And that completed my first full day in Portland! The next day, my friend and I got breakfast at a place called Harlow which is classified on Google as a health food restaurant and I can totally see why. I got the pesto garden scramble which was eggs, seasonal vegetables, yams, potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, and kale, with walnut basil pesto. Plus a side of quinoa.

This was so tasty and filling, and I felt so healthy eating it! The bee pollen on top of my turmeric golden latte with coconut milk might’ve been too healthy for my taste, but these veggies, eggs, and pesto really hit it out of the park.

Later on we grabbed a quick bubble tea from Mochinut. I got the Thai tea which is one of my favorite kinds of boba to get.

That night we were going to a club called 45 East for a rave, and I had nothing to wear to said rave, so we went shopping at this very interesting shop that had Halloween costumes, huge platform shoes, lingerie, wild accessories, all sorts of funky stuff! I threw together an outfit of a black dress, neon green fishnets, and these absolutely amazing Demonia boots.

I’d always wanted to go to a rave and I was not disappointed. The music was boppin’, the people were friendly, the lights were colorful, and it was so much fun. My feet definitely hurt from dancing, though.

After that we popped over to a nearby restaurant for a quick bite and a drink, and I got a seriously delicious drink called “Dirty Pretty Dirty Chai” which was chai infused vodka, Mr. Black cold brew, miso-vanilla, and oatmilk. I also got these strange, fried deviled eggs.

They were certainly something.

The next day I got to go to the infamous Portland Saturday Market. It’s basically a giant art vendor market and there’s also things that aren’t art, like clothing, home decor, and food (not that home decor and clothing can’t be works of art).

There was so much to see, so many more vendors than I thought there would be! If I hadn’t had to fly home with my suitcase, I would’ve bought way more stuff. But I ended up buying a few items like a shirt, some stickers, and I got some food, too. My favorite thing I ate was this rice pudding.

Following the market, my friend took me to Lan Su Chinese Garden, which was a beautiful place full of Chinese history, culture, and gorgeous foliage. Not only did we walk through the tranquil gardens, but we stopped at the lovely tea house and had tea and pastries. I honestly didn’t take many pictures because I was trying to really soak everything in and just enjoy the flowers, tea, and nice weather. It was an excellent time.

After walking around downtown for a bit and exploring some more, we stopped at Dan & Louis Oyster Bar, and I was so excited to get some West coast oysters while being in the actual West coast!

These oysters were really good, I honestly wanted to get more but I ended up being pretty full from the clam chowder, calamari, and shrimp cocktail we had.

That night we went to my friend’s friend’s party, a Queer Prom, and I met so many amazing people and had such a fun time, and the party lasted late into the night.

And then the next day I flew home!

My time in Portland was time very well spent, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I loved hanging with my friend and meeting her friends, had so much good food, saw so much unique, cool stuff, and was just glad to be out doing something I like to do. It was great.

Have you ever been to Portland, or maybe even live in Portland? Do you have recommendations for me for the next time I go? Do you like thrifting and West coast oysters? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!

-AMS