PORTLAND
Transportation
the friend M's took the $3 max ride from the airport which seemed like a no-brainer. The husband wasn't having the 40 min ride though - i compromised and we uber'd from the airport $26ish? not bad. Uber avail quickly/everywhere. Trains are efficient. We walked a lot too.
Hotel
The Mark Spencer Hotel great location BUT our room had a broken air conditioner, the bed had a mattress protector made of thick plastic, and people slammed their doors that shook the room all through the night. Def a not good hotel experience. The M's said their room was ok.
Food/Drink
Clyde Common - cocktails eh ok
Food Cart Tour - with Brent. A good choice. Informative. I wanted to try a lot more carts but we definitely did get full on the tour.
Deschutes - a beer/food place suggested by Brent, packed, We shared starters...all good.
Blue Star Donuts - don't open til 7!? did nothing for me. I'm officially a voo-doo donut girl. Jamie loved the biscuit one though.
Rae's Lakeview Lounge - yep a winner all around - shared a thunder bowl - fresh good food in what felt like a neighborhood bar/restaurant.
Veritable Quandry - Great space/light. And besides the cocktail I wasn't all that impressed. Everyone else liked the food though. It closes in September.
Multnomah Library bar - i didn't go. Jamie said he regreted going, it was a beating and the most exhausting experience to sit down to get a cocktail.
Imperial - cocktail was ok
On Deck - very touristy - one of the few places that had our baseball game though (tried Blitz and it had closed)
Henry's Tavern - bar anywhere usa - eh.
Ruby Jewel vs. Salt and Straw for ice cream - Both were (not amazing) but pretty good, I leaned toward Ruby Jewel...everyone else liked Salt and Straw better.
Other stuff
Portland City Grill - up on the 30th floor - yep definitely a great place for the city view, drinks were good too. Think even better that we went at like 3 on a Wednesday.
Mary's Place - heard about it from several sources.... knew it was topless going in. *it was there so, why not right?*
HAD NO IDEA IT WAS NUDE!
I definitely saw a lot more than i was expecting. Small place. We had a beer and left.
"Hike" - Lower Macleay trail to the stone house(witches castle),wildwood Trail to Holman Lane - Found a (thankfully) short but scenic 2 mile "hike" that sounded good. And it was. We took the train to 23/Marshall and walked to the Lower Macleay trail (stairs down on the right) entrance (bathrooms avail!). Paved-ish trail along a creek to the stone house (stupid people tagged it). Took a sharp right from there on to the wildwood trail that leads to Holeman Lane trail that gets you back into the neighborhoods. We then walked to Lakeview Lounge for lunch. Very much enjoyed it.
Powell's Bookstore - i loved. but i love books so....could've probably been there all day
Amtrak to Seattle - nice, easy ride! Glad we upgraded to first class.
Overall - loved Portland - would totally move there - a great Big Small city feel with personality and wonderful food.
SEATTLE
a couple factors worked against us here to color the situation:
We got there on a Friday at the start of summer. AND Jamie got (food?) sick.
Thoughts overview:
Pike's Market - it was freaking madness - potential here to be a highlight but I'll never know...I was done with it after 20 yards. 1:30 on a Friday is NOT the time to go. I did snag some cherries though. They were good.
Matt's in the Market - things looked up with finding this kinda hidden place, we (barely) snagged a table and looked over the masses in the market for lunch- really good food here!
Rob Roy bar - wonderful neighborhood-ish cocktail bar
GoodBar - stopped on the way to the ball park. eh- ok i guess?
Safeco Field - def in top 5 of my favorite ballparks - roof closed but it still had an open feel. They did a good job. Nice ball park. We tried the garlic fries (good), and sushi (good!), jamie had the fried clams (?). Karaoke fireworks after the game was a blast.
We stayed at courtyard marriott - no complaints.
Jamie slept and didn't/couldn't recover til around 3pm - nothing we could do about it.
Seattle Central Library - nice building, good library
Tat's Sandwiches - good, no complaints
Fuel Bar - good feel bar - saw the US soccer game
Shawn O'Malleys - surprisingly good Irish food here!
Overall - Seattle just felt like a big city. While I would've liked to have seen the outer limits I don't feel like I missed anything interesting in the city. Sunset colors over looking the water were pretty. SeaTac is definitely what they say - if you don't have pre-check definitely get there early.
Finished - The Darkest Torment - I actually reviewed this one - "I'm trying to recall why I'm just kinda "eh" about it. I read it. It flowed. I was entertained! But... I guess all I can say is that I wasn't completely absorbed like with Burning Dawn (or the earlier Lord books). I'd put this one down and came back to it in intervals. Again, I continue to hang on for Cameo and William with this series. And Puck! ooooo who the heckfire is Puck!!!!"
Beautiful Boss - good quick read/find - I barely recall this pair, they read young/new in dealing with each other. is it weird that I would've been ok with them cutting out a sexy time scene for more details into the wedding?
And I'm just gonna say this quickly - this weekend saw another mass shooting. I'm not wholly informed on all that happened (or how/why) but I've been around guns my whole life. Assault rifles should not be an option and especially to someone who's been questioned by the FBI. I don't understand...
