Trip Review: Portland(ia)

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Gimme Some of That Voodoo That You Do

That Voodoo You Do That Voodoo You Do

The second part of our road took place in Portland, Oregon. They take their unofficial slogan of "Keep Portland Weird" seriously here (though, our tour guide said she preferred the term "quirky" herself). One of Portland's famous institutions is Voodoo Doughnuts, home of some of the "quirkest" doughnuts you'll ever stomach! You can spot their many slogans in our pictures, but the bizzare looking doughnuts seem to speak for themselves. We got "Bacon Maple Bars" (DELICIOUS! Bacon, how can you make anything better?). Others included "Gay Bars," (some kind of jelly-filled one) "O Captain, My Captians" (has Captian Crunch Ceral on it) and "Voodoo Doughnuts" (Shaped like a spirit with a pretzel stabbing it, blood-colored filling squirts out on eating it!) Which doughnut would you choose?

Portland(ia)
Portlandia A long way InPortland-10 InPortland-11 chair leprechaun hunting

Blogger Confession- I was most excited about the shopping in Portland, mainly the thrifting and more unique boutiques of Hawthorne Street. (Um, Wyoming is so remote there is not much shopping in general. Even box stores seem very exotic. I was also excited for Forever 21 though it was not nearly as cool). I got a great find via the Buffalo Exchange and, after months of unsuccessfully hunting for a petticoat that was both long enough for my needs and that did not require international shipping (or exchange rates!) Actually, every single store we walked in that day had petticoats. Portland is the Petticoat Capital of America?

So, when Amos wanted to do a tour of Portland, I thought it might be a good idea, since he was going to be putting up with shopping (no matter how much he says he likes that too.) Boy, I'm glad I listened! The tour was fun, focussing on how Portland came to be such a green, sustainable place. We saw the famous Portlandia Statue, which is the second largest copper statue in he US (next to The Statue of Liberty). We also saw several fun nods to Portland's many "sister cities," such as the mile post (note the milage "A Long Way" for Tipperary!) and this unique chair. It was suppose to symbolize what the artist thought of when he thought of Portland. I'm not sure what I think of what he thinks either. We also learned about the world's smallest park! It made the record and everything. Supposedly, the city made a hole for a lamp post, but no lamp post ever appeared. After one journalist complained for several months about the ugly hole he could see out his office window, he took matters into his own hands. Some greenery and clovers got planted; the park became famous through his column, which he filled with exploits about the leprechaun that lived there. Sadly, I couldn't spy any little men to give me a pot of gold... but our tour was treasure enough. Try one out on the next trip you take!

 Making the Grade at the Kennedy School
Kennedy School chalkboard chalkboard Kennedy School Tall Bike Tom Thumb


Called one of America's Quirkiest Hotels by Trip Advisor, Micmenamin's Kennedy School was a fascinating and delightful stay! It is a hotel that is housed in an old elementary school! Signs of its past are alluded to everywhere, from the names of places to the unique artwork on the walls. Also housed in this building are several resteraunts, bars, a movie theatre, a soaking pool and multiple conference rooms! All of these are open to the public, so even if you don't stay with them, the school is worth checking out! We liked the food served in the Boiler Room, and the beer is brewed right on the premise (another thing to add to this list about the multi-functional building!) We may have taken advantage of the soaking pool every night, but other guests got a kick out of smoking a cigar in dentation (while funny, our choice is clearly the healthier and more relaxing! The pool was in the teacher's lounge. if only all teacher lounges had this!)

All of the hotel rooms, originally classrooms and cloakrooms, had both the original chalkboards and storybook names! We stayed in Thumbelina's Room, but next to us was Mr. Toad's Room....so I drew a tribute to them ;)

Stay tune for more Oregon Summer Fun at the zoo and the beach, or check out what other road trip adventures we had! 

P.S. Don't forget to go enter my Care Package Giveaway! 

5 comments

  1. Love your skirt and great pictures! I def want to try those donuts lol!

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  2. lovely! Every time I've gone to Portland I've skipped voodoo (crazy, I know). My manfriend's family lives there, so luckily I get the chance to go up there often :)
    Nicole

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  3. looks like so much fun - my god those donuts look unbelievable!!

    xxx
    www.ladyalamode.com

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  4. Those doughnuts are magical O.o

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