Oregon is beautiful! Driving up from Crater Lake to Portland you go through some gorgeous scenery. Beautiful forests, windy mountain roads and people who seem to understand road rules! We tried to get some good pics, but that was a bit of a fail. Oh well! You get the idea.
Eugene
On the way up to Portland we did a lunch & a puppy play stop at Eugene. Eugene is definitely worth its own visit. There’s so many great places to eat! A quick google search showed us there are HEAPS of dog parks! We stopped at the Amazon Dog Park, and it was awesome @kevinfromfinance loved it! Lots of room to run around, but not a lot of shade. Kevin is not good in the heat and it was super hot! I didn’t think Oregon got that hot!! But a new friend stop always makes Kevin happy.
After giving Kevin his run around it was time to let Al have his play time, at a brewery.
Falling Sky Delicatessen
Falling Sky have a few locations around Eugene but the deli is where you want to go. They make their own pastrami, how can you go past that? I had been working on not overeating in this trip and this place threw those good intentions completely out of the window. The Reuben sandwich was delicious, as expected, but the vegetarian poutine was phenomenal. It is possible they have put some kind of crack in it, it’s that addictive. I thought the beer was good too, for what it’s worth. You can take your puppy straight out to the back patio. Breweries are great for being dog friendly! This one is definitely worth a stop.
Portland
I love Portland! Jax & I went in winter, and I knew I wanted to see what it was like in summer. It’s a whole different city! First stop was a dog friendly part of the river, Sellwood Riverfront Park for a splash and a play. We went here everyday for a swim. It’s a great local spot, everyone is really friendly, you’ll find people picnicking, kayaking, swimming, whatever you want.
It goes without saying that Portland is an amazing place for food. This trip, our pursuit of yumminess took us to some new neighbourhoods, all of which I could happily move to.
Proud Mary
This Aussie cafe is amazing!!! It’s in a super cool neighbourhood with a lot of great looking places, but stay focused. You don’t want to miss the experience of Proud Mary. There are a few tables out the front or you can do what the locals do and tie your dog up outside (they don’t seem to be afraid of people stealing their dogs like we are in LA). We got their just before they opened and queue was already forming, so if you go any later be prepared to wait. But it will be worth it.
The menu is lovely. Full of light, vegetable rich food, which was just what I needed. I was tossing up between the cauli-Town and the avo toast, after advice from the waitress I went the avo toast and it was amazing. More than avo toast and a good reminder that pretty much everything goes with avocado! I added poached eggs, but it probably didn’t need it. Definitely didn’t need the bacon on the side either, but Kevin appreciated it (yes we spoil him). Al’s crab omelette was also amazing. I’m not a seafood for breakfast person (any other time of day though) and I thought it was great. Spicy noodles and a lovely combination of herbs.
When it came time to pay I couldn’t go past the baked goods, I mean, they do Aussie pies!!! So I got that (we ate it the next day and it was so, so good) as well as some cakes, also good. Proper cake, not the over sugared stuff you normally get here in the US. If I lived in Portland, this place would seriously be my regular.
Yonder
On the recommendation of the exceptionally talented @zendonesian we headed out one evening to try out Yonder. It’s a “bit out” of the center of the city, which means about a 10 minute Uber but you will be rewarded with some amazing Southern food. I think this may have been Al’s happy place. It a casual local restaurant and it is BUSY! I’m glad we made a booking. They also have out the back a separate restaurant Mae that does a less casual menu (it looks delicious).
The menu isn’t huge, which means you can order pretty much everything (one of my favourite things to do) and it is all really, really good.
Whatever you do get the biscuits. These are the new “best biscuits in the world” they were even amazing 2 days later when I heated them up camping for breakfast 😂. They had a special which was heirloom tomatoes on biscuits, these should be permanent menu item.
Other things of note for me:
- the catfish. So good!!! It’s crumbed and fried in cornmeal which is super crispy. I get a sore stomach from too much fried (not fries) so I ended up picking most of it off even though it’s yum, and the fish was really good without it as well.
- Fried green tomatoes. Yup I ordered a stack of fried food even though it makes me sick. It’s a problem 😂😂 but these were great, I’d never had them before.
- Beans & rice: yeah!! I love beans. These were super meaty
So there were way more restaurants tried, but more on them later, it turns out there’s more to Portland than eating 😂😂😂😂 There’s drinking too!! We explored heaps of breweries and distilleries which you can find out about here.
Forest Park
This park is a must do!! It’s like being out in the country, but you’re in the city! There’s so many great hiking trails in this park and you can’t come to Portland and not hike.
Rose garden
This was recommended by a local on our hiking path and was a diversion worth making. I’m not a massive rose person but you can’t not be in awe when you see this place. So many different types of roses! I guess that’s what makes it the international test garden.
Jilltopia 