Oregon adventures: last one, I promise

On our last full day in Oregon, we wanted to enjoy more of the city.  We ventured down to Old Town to try out Voodoo Doughnuts and also catch the Saturday Market.

We were blown away by the trees that were in full bloom along the walkway.  It was a busy space with people out walking, running and biking along the path and later, the photographers came out in full force.

I loved the color and the contrast between the natural and the industrial, man-made elements.

I had wanted a photo of the iconic Portland sign with the deer.

It was beautiful at every turn.

I was also celebrating the blue sky and no rain.  We were lucky to have very little of our trip impacted by rain.

Perfection.

We, of course, were super early to the Saturday Market, a street fair that includes vendors with all kinds of art and items.  We decided to go back to a bar we saw a couple of blocks away and watch some basketball while we waited for more vendors to open.  In the process, we discovered the bar had Scottish eggs on the menu.  It was something we had never tried, but ended up taking a chance and really liking them.

After we shopped the Saturday market and walked around some more, we went back to Chinatown. 

We happened on this cute little store with this modified bike parked out front.  First, when did we stop using the word haberdashery and why?  That's a great word!  Second, I wanted to buy everything in the store.  They carried design supplies and these amazing handmade carpenter's aprons.  I wanted an apron so bad for no reason other than they were a rustic type of beautiful and still felt functional.

 

Plant geek: Oregon adventures continued, Portland Japanese Garden

A stop on this year's trip to Portland was the Japanese Garden.  We missed it the last time we visited and it had been on our wishlist.

We hoped for good weather for the day we had planned to visit and while it was cool, the sun was shining and we had a pretty clear day.

We started by touring the Rose Garden.  It was so early in the growing season that there was little blooming in the way of roses.  Yet, the views were pretty amazing and we liked seeing the layout of the garden.

We then ventured up, and by up, I mean up hill on this gorgeous winding path to the entrance to the Japanese Garden.  It was beautiful and serene.

The property consisted of five "rooms" or styles of gardens.  We took our time and walked around.

This garden was one of my favorite stops.  I loved the form and the beautiful blossoms.

Then, you walked around a corner and saw this view to remind you that you were still in the city, yet you felt so removed and protected.

 There were plants in bloom!  I loved seeing the color after a winter that seemed to last forever.

This was one of my favorite blooms - perfect and delicate.

Oregon adventures continued: McMinnville

Yes, we are still sorting through photos from this spring, including our spring break getaway to Oregon.  I keep telling myself to move on to other blog topics, but there are so many great memories and things to share about our finds from that trip.

Near the top of the list was McMinnville, Oregon.  My favorite "small world moment" from this year happened at Community Plate in historic downtown McMinnville.

First, you should know that I love this place for a thousand reasons.  I won't name them all, but here are a few...it has an open kitchen and I am insanely curious about how food is prepared and am fascinated in thinking about how so much food is prepared so quickly.  The space is this cool, historic building with open storage and vintage decor.  Check out their website to get a feel for it.  The seating is a mix of large community-style seating and some smaller tables, too. 

Now, the small world moment.  We were ordering and the person at the counter asked if my Wildcats shirt was for Northwestern.  And, I said no, it was for K-State where I went to school and work.  He's says that he went to school there, too.  So, naturally, I geek out...trying to do so quickly because of the line behind us.  I ask him where he grew up and he says he went to high school in the same county where I grew up.  Get out!  He's much younger than me, so we didn't know anyone in common, but what are the odds that on the other side of the country, I would meet someone from my same home county.

Other than the chance meeting, you should also know the food was out of this world.  We also bought some granola to take home with us and it was fantastic, too.  Super huge fans of locally owned, great food making, community supporting, and kind people sort of places - this place had it all.  It had a similar vibe to Biscuithead in Asheville, another of our favorite places.

We stayed at Hotel Oregon, a McMenamins' property. You might remember that we want to be the McMenamins when we grow up - the two brothers that renovate historic properties and turn them into great places that honor the past and create a place where people can dine or stay and just enjoy themselves.  This was a great stop. The bar downstairs had awesome food and enough tv's to get our March Madness fix.  We skipped the rooftop bar because it was kind of chilly.

Our room was pretty spectacular.

Price wise, it was comparable to what we would have paid at a mid-tier chain hotel, but this place had tons of character.  The walls had quotes and notes about the history of the property and the bed was really beautiful.  I loved the old sink in our room and all of the character throughout.

We really want to return to get the full experience of the town.  We were there midweek and kind of "off season," so many places were closed.  And, we are freakishly early risers, even on vacation and factor in the time difference and we were always up at the crack of dawn.

Spring adventures: Oregon natural wonders

 We wanted to share a few images from our trip to Oregon.  I fell in love with this place when I visited as a college student and we visited as a couple around seven years ago.  The beauty of this state and the kind people just swept us away. We had hoped to plan a return trip and made it work this March.

Here are some of our favorite natural wonders we enjoyed along the way.

Crown Point and the Vista House is one of those iconic stops along the Historic Columbia River Gorge Highway.  The view from the vista is really beautiful.  On this trip, we were able to tour the Vista House and go to the observation deck for the best view.

 No photo can do justice to the vibrant yellow-green lichen (if that is the right word?  Biologist friends, what is the right term?) on the side of the waterfall.  This was a large waterfall, but not the largest or most famous.  We still loved the short hike to the fall and back.

 Along the highway, there are so many great places to stop.  These stone bridges are all along the roads and trails and they usually have a mossy covering.  I loved this one with the moss and ferns adding so much character.

 This is the famous Multnomah Falls.  I visited this spot in college and called my now husband (then boyfriend) to rave about the beauty and power of this place.  It was so special to visit here with him a few years ago and to come back again.

This time around, we learned that the bridge over the falls was closed because the bridge crumbled.  If you look in the photo, you will see on the right side of the bridge that there is a break and some fence is closing off each side.  We felt lucky that we had hiked to the top and also over the bridge during our last visit.

And, Mount Hood from a distance.  We left Hood River on our way to a lilac farm - which ended up being a bust because it was too early in the spring and it wasn't yet open for visitors - and had this great view.

 The beaches are so cool.  I love that you have so much variation across the landscape.  While the day was windy and cool, we still loved walking along the beach and hearing the sound of the ocean.

Beautiful views and an awesome mist in the air to make it magical.  We loved the drive along the coast because of the beautiful views all along the way.

Spring adventures: McMenamins Edgefield

 

We are still sorting through photos from our adventures in Oregon over spring break.  One of our first stops and perhaps my new favorite find was McMenamins Edgefield. We were just off of the plane and a little tired since we had a very early start to the travel day.  The first order of business was lunch.

We decided that we would search for a local place.  A sign caught our eye - McMenamins Edgefield. We thought we would take a chance, but we felt pretty confident because we were familiar with the McMenamins name.  On a previous trip to Oregon, we learned about two brothers - the McMenamins - who bought historic properties and renovated them into bars, restaurants, hotels and other great places that people could enjoy.  In fact, we planned to stay in one of the McMenamins properties later in the trip.  (I think I want to be the McMenamins when I grow up.  What better mission than renovating historic properties and offering wonderful food and places to gather?)

We discovered that McMenamins Edgefield has a restaurant - The Black Rabbit.  We not only enjoyed our first lunch of vacation, but also went back for dinner that night.  We enjoyed delicious food and a great environment.

The story behind the property was really fantastic.  It was built in the early 1900's as the county poor farm.  There is now a working vineyard, brewery, gardens and a little golf course.

After we enjoyed lunch, we walked around the gardens.  I was really excited to see that the daffodils were in bloom.

 We spent a little time walking through the wine production area and loved looking at the vines in their vineyard.

 I am really fascinated by the wine making process and loved seeing all of the equipment.

 Our visit was a little too early in the spring to have the gardens in full bloom.  It was still really easy to imagine the beauty.  We found the place to be peaceful, quaint and magical.  This little garden cottage was adorable with the vines draping over the side. This would make the perfect backyard studio.

I am a huge fan of great local food and places with a story.  We hit the jackpot with this find!

Vintage finds: backroads of Oregon

 Over the past few months, we have enjoyed several trips.  Over spring break, we returned to Oregon and had the chance to revisit some of our favorite stops from a trip we took in 2007.  We also found some great new places.

On a rainy afternoon, we stopped in a small town and found a bakery.  After enjoying a couple of cupcakes, we asked the staff about any good vintage shopping in the area.  We were directed to a small town a few miles away.

There, we discovered a two-level stop with so many treasures!  Some of my favorite finds are the sweet, primitive wooden wagon.  It has moveable wheels and the BEST color.  I am in love with the chippy-looking paint.  This found a home on my studio table to hold gift certificates and coupons.

 We found these two tin lunchboxes - one with a cowboy motif and the other with an American-Indian motif.  We first found the lunchbox with the red lid and I was pretty sure that I wanted to buy it, but was stuck on the price.  We decided to employ the "walk around" strategy to see if we still loved it after a little more shopping.

Then, we rounded a corner and found the brown lunchbox in another booth on the other side of the floor.  It has the child's name written on the top!  I was sold!

And, how could you leave one behind?  These are the perfect addition to our kitchen.