Travis (otherwise known as T Lowe) and I have been together for a little over 9 years now. A couple years back the subject of past Christmas and birthday gifts came up. Neither one of us could distinctly remember all the gifts we had given each other; obviously the more sentimental ones we did remember. We eventually came to the conclusion that we remembered trips and experiences WAY more than material gifts, but don’t most people? So we decided to gift each other a trip each year in lieu of presents for our birthdays and Christmas. Our trip to Boston and New York was the first trip that covered Christmas and our birthday gifts for that year. Last year I surprised Travis with a trip to Austin Texas for his 30th birthday to go to the Formula 1 race, and this year we went to Portland (Oregon, not Maine) for my birthday.
So here we are- our travel blog for Portland, Oregon. Like past trips I’ve written about, this post is going to be about where we stayed, how we got around, and what we did. Tomorrow will be a post about everything we ate in Portland (because that deserves a post of it’s own), and lastly, I’m going to share a breakdown of how much the trip cost us, and our (first ever) Vlog of Portland!
WHERE WE STAYED
We stayed in our first ever Air BnB. I know we are late to the party, but we (um, more I) was skeptical of it at first. This is coming from a person who still won’t uber or Lyft by herself. Delta airlines had a good deal for new Air BnB customers that we couldn’t pass up; 5x points/$1 spent on a reservation and $25 off first reservations. I probably spent a good weekend researching Air BnB’s in Portland, reading all the reviews, and figuring this whole staying at someone else’s house thing out. We finally came across this small cottage in the perfect location and booked it immediately.
Our host was very responsive, considerate, and kind. We couldn’t have asked for a better first Air BnB experience. Better yet, our place was a couple blocks away from some of Portland’s best eats! We enjoyed our experience so much that we just booked all of our Europe accommodations via Air BnB. ha!
*Heads up, if you reserve an Air BnB through the above links, I will be compensated for sharing with you. But bonus, you get $20 off your first reservation!
HOW WE GOT AROUND
Portland does have it’s fair share of public transportation (buses, and a commuter rail), but it isn’t extensive enough to get us where we wanted to go . So needless to say we passed on the public transportation and just rented a car for our trip. It came in handy anyways because we drove to the coast one day and then to the mountains another day. One afternoon we did rent bikes to ride them around town.
WHAT WE DID
PITTOCK MANSION
I read that the best views of down town Portland were at the Pittock Mansion. It’s a very short drive from down town and free to park and roam around the grounds. There is a small fee if you want to go inside the mansion and explore, but the views from outside were breathtaking.
VISIT PITTOCK MANSION: http://pittockmansion.org
DIVISION STREET
Our Air BnB was on the East side of the river, a block away from Division street which made it convenient to explore the eccentric street. After grabbing donuts (as one does) we walked up and down Division and peeked inside a couple of the eclectic shops that lined the street one afternoon. If you are into Vintage clothes shopping, I would think that these streets are the place to shop!
VISIT DIVISION STREET: https://www.travelportland.com/
ACE HOTEL
If you’re a hipster and don’t stop in an Ace hotel to take advantage of the Photo Booth did you even go to Portland? If we were social drinkers, we would’ve stopped by the bar and hung out a little longer too. Such a cool hotel that fits in perfectly with Portland’s quirky vibes.
VISIT ACE HOTEL: http://www.acehotel.com/portland
MULTNOMAH FALLS / THE GORGE + GOVERNMENT CAMP 
So our plan for one of our days was to go outside of Portland and find a hike. I guess I forgot that there were devastating wildfires the year prior that had left a lot of the trails damaged. Our plans were to go to Multnomah Falls and hike, but when we pulled up, we walked up to see the falls and everything was fenced off. We couldn’t even walk on the bridge you see in the pictures.
We decided to continue driving East to Government Camp / Lake Trillium and it was the most gorgeous drive! I initially wanted to drive down to Lake Trillium, but the roads down to the lake were covered in snow. So instead, we parked in a parking lot and had so much fun just playing in the snow! Moral of the story is, everything does indeed happen for a reason.
PS: Wait for our Vlog, Travis does indeed wear shorts and jump in the snow -ha!
VISIT MULTNOMAH FALLS: https://www.fs.usda.gov
VISIT GOVERNMENT CAMP: http://mounthoodinfo.com
RODE BIKES AROUND DOWNTOWN
If a city has a public bike system, we will find it and take advantage of it. We’ve rode bikes in Nashville, and Columbus and had the best time. It’s a great way to see the city you wouldn’t otherwise see in a car. We weren’t huge fans of the system Portland used, but riding the bikes around town is always fun.
BIKE AROUND PORTLAND: https://www.biketownpdx.com
POWELLS BOOKS
Whether you’re a book reader (me) or not (Travis), you need to stop into Powells and just marvel at the endless supply of books. We kept going up and down stairs and into other rooms, it was like a maze that we were having so much fun in!
VISIT POWELLS BOOKS: http://www.powells.com
CANNON BEACH (HAYSTACK ROCK)
For our last full day in Portland, we decided to road trip to the coast. It took us a little over an hour from Portland (by car). We Went to Cannon Beach to marvel at a rock, yeah Travis wasn’t convinced that this rock was anything special either… until he saw it. Haystack Rock is a pretty neat marvel. If you are there during low tide, the tide pools at the base of the rock are pretty neat to look at. The beach was fun, but I would love to come back during the summer and vacation in the small town right on the coast, it was just so quaint and lovely!
VISIT CANNON BEACH: http://www.cannonbeach.org
ROAD TRIPPED TO TILLAMOOK CHEESE FACTORY!
Of course I would save the best for last! From Cannon Beach we drove about 45 minutes down the coast to Tillamook County to visit the Tillamook Cheese factory! And yes, it was just as great as you would think it is; the cheese that is. I think I was expecting the drive to be similar to that of driving down the California coast. Parts of it were amazing (see above picture), but it was no where near as gorgeous as the drive down the California coast. We made it to the cheese factory. Unfortunately they are redoing their visitor center (which is normally attached to the factory). So we had to settle for their temporary visitor center. But, hey give me all the cheese samples and a fridge full of cheese and I’m a happy girl.
VISIT TILLAMOOK CHEESE: https://www.tillamook.com/cheese-factory
We did a lot of sight seeing, but we mainly ate our way through Portland and saw the sights in between. I’m so excited to tell you guys about all the places we went to eat! Check back tomorrow for that post!
XO
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