Portland (Part 1)

May 17 to May 24

Let me start by saying, I love Portland. Most people (not from Portland) thought I should stay away because they hear the news on what goes on downtown. The conflicted area is a tiny portion of Portland and the city has much more to offer than the downtown district, quit letting the news fool you. Most people are getting back to living a normal life and the energy throughout the city was high, I had an absolute blast.

The apartment that I stayed at was in the Alberta District so naturally I spent most of my time in that area. My aunt was an awesome hostess and showed me around the neighborhood, pointing out all of the good spots to get coffee, food, and drinks.

I ended up spending most of my "work time" at Great Notion Brewing. They have a really great beer selection and a cool patio area to hang out. I'm pretty basic when it comes to beer so I stuck to an IPA called "Puppy Love". For the folks who like to try unique beers, this place is for you. Most of the beer list featured culinary inspired brews, they have a great app too that allows you to ship beer direct to your house. Definitely check out their website. The first night I was in town I went to a bar on Alberta called Parts and Service. Really laid back place to grab a drink, bomb pizza next door too. As far as food goes in the Alberta district, you got options. One of the the most popular places to get breakfast was called Pine State. The biscuits here were bitchin'. My favorite was "The Reggie". Bacon, fried chicken and cheese topped with gravy, get in me. Another really great place to get food is the Radio Room. They serve breakfast lunch and dinner with a patio view. Always a little bit of a line but the wait was never too bad. Locals considered Radio Room to be a must when visiting the Alberta area. I never stayed out too late because I usually had an early start planned but apparently the place for some after hours fun is The Hilt. They have a big ass patio and around 6 or 7 it started to fill up. If I had to guess I'd say that's where the party's at. My favorite place to grab a morning coffee was called Barista. Just down the street from there is an "Oprah approved" ice cream shop named Salt and Straw. There was always a line there, I swear people were having ice cream for breakfast, keep Portland weird.

On Wednesday I received a text from a friend that I haven't seen in year's saying, "I reserved a bath house for an hour at 1pm for us". I had no idea that bath houses existed, I thought he was joking, he was not. To be continued...