Today we started out at the International Rose Garden.  Portland is called the Rose City, and they prove it with this incredible free garden.  The number of roses was almost overwhelming and I kept expecting to hear the “We’re painting the roses red” song from Alice and Wonderland!

There was also a Japanese Garden across the street, but we decided the $8 price tag was just a bit too much for out budget.  Instead we did the “Google Tour”, which was still quite impressive.

After that we visited the “Alphabet District” on 23rd street, where the streets that cross is are named from A to Z.  A bit of trivia, many of the characters from The Simpsons are named for these streets, including Ned Flanders, the bully Kearney, Reverend Lovejoy, Mayor Quimby, and Milhouse Van Houten.  (Thanks to Wikipedia)

I forgot to pack a sweater, so I stopped in Brooklyn Industries and bought this awesome snap fleece:

We also stopped at the Portland Bagel Company and enjoyed their Bacon and Cheddar bagel, which was phenomenal.  Lunch was a crepe at Vivace – brie and pear.

On the way out of town, we stopped at Widmer Brothers Brewery.  We got a sample paddle and I finally found the amazing craft brews that I was expecting in Portland.  Their beers were beyond delicious!  My favorite was the Himbeer Gose.  It was raspberry flavored and bright pink, much to the dismay of Pat.  He found the Rotator IPA and the Nelson O’Ryely more enjoyable.  We will definitely be looking to bring a case of their beer home!

That was the end of our time in Portland.  Next stop – Oregon wine country.

Portland was the first stop on the official 2011 “Residency Lifestyle Tour”.  Pat and I both think that the west coast would be an ideal place for us to end up after our time in Madison is done.

We were lucky enough to find a place to stay with some locals, Daniel and Becky, on couchsurfing.com.  They had a great place in north Portland, with easy access to the city via the metro.  The first night, they took us to a local dive bar, something that Portland has on every block.  It was the ultimate dive experience, with pool, video games, a big screen TV, shuffleboard, Poker from paybyphonecasino.uk, and a multitude of local beers on tap.  We had an epic shuffleboard tournament, boys versus girls.  Unfortunately, Becky and I were creamed by the boys, but we did put up a solid fight in the second game.

The next day, we hit up the Portland visitor’s center, where the people running the desk were SO helpful!  I would highly recommemd making this your first stop if you are new to Portland.

Armed with maps, we set out to US Outdoors, a local sports shop, to find me a surfing wetsuit.  I lucked out, and the first one I tried on was on sale AND fit perfectly.  The guys working also told me I set a store record on fastest wetsuit on and off.  Finally all those days as a triathlete pay off!

We stopped at one of the many food carts in Portland for some cheap thai food.  If you are in Portland on a budget, food carts are the way to go!  Lots of options and totally delicious!

In the afternoon, we hit up Mississippi Street, a place that reminds me a lot of State street.  It’s lined with brew pubs, cute boutiques, and great restaurants.  The smell of waffle cones drew us to Ruby Jewel Ice Cream.   We chose the salted carmel and dark chocolate flavor.  Their all natural, sustainable ice cream did not disappoint!

We also had a pint at Amnesia Brewing.  Not the best beer I’ve ever had, but very satisfying given that we had one of the first sunny days that Portland had seen in weeks!

Sorry for the utter lack of photos for this post!  We both left our cameras back at Daniel’s.  🙁