Day Pass

Today I felt like a visitor in Portland. A good day to see the town in all it's holiday glory. A good day to get a Tri-Met day pass. For a mere $5, we can walk two shorts blocks, tour the town and be safely delivered back by dark. No parking issues, no lame last-minute drivers to deal with, and we can enjoy a beer or two and a hot holiday toddy to top off the tour--> without our car.

First stop, Portland Luggage. Hali has a bag fetish. I don't know what it is: the pockets, the straps, the clips, the zippers? I call her the Bag Lady, me, the Bag Dad. No, actually we're looking to retire my 30 year old Eagle Creek pack for something similar but much younger.

Pioneer Square is considered Portland's living room and worthy of a visit, especially today. Take a seat. Enjoy the magnificent Douglas Fir lit up and serenaded by a symphony of 222 tubas, right in the middle of this living room.

passports and postcards

A short walk away, Saturday Market. A staple downtown open all year featuring local craft and a great opportunity to people watch. You can spot the locals wearing beanies, sporting pork chop sideburns, and tattoos jigsawed over every inch of flesh. The poor tourists waiting in line, in 30 degree drizzle for a donut? I don't get it. There's a Voodoo Donuts a couple miles away on the other side of the river~~never a line. Time for a beer.

Dan and Louis Oyster Bar was packed so we head up the street to a hole-in-the-wall taco joint, Santeria. Is that a voodoo word? Who cares? For five bucks you can get two meaty tacos al pastor with all the fixins' and FREE house made chips&salsa. A craft beer will set you back another $3. Only one beer, this place shares a rest room with Mary's, Portland's oldest strip club. Go ahead, take a pee(k), it's FREE too.

From here we jump on the street car for uptown. In the lobby of the Hotel Deluxe is the swanky, dimly lit Driftwood Room. This is the first place I've ever seen glögg on the cocktail list and the bartender gives us a generous sample, probably because no one outside of Stockholm even knows what glögg is? Glögg was good but we went for the hot toddy beside the cozy driftwood bonfire.

Holiday Toddy

Back to the tram which passes right by Powell's Bookstore. Get off! This store is so massive, each genre is given a different colored room. It's easy to get lost so go for it! Get lost! Meet later at Sizzle Pie just across the street for a slice and a beer. The veggie is loaded with roasted peppers, artichoke hearts, romas, olives, and feta. Pair that with a local IPA. The best pizza pie west of Vatican City.

Sizzle Pie

Walk a block or two to the bus mall and your bus will be there soon. Tri-Met, there's an app for that. Count the Christmas lights on your way home as the bus driver escorts you to your stop.

What a day! One more beer and I just may have gone "local" and tattooed a small backpack on my shoulder at the parlor adjacent to Sizzle Pie. Crap!! I left my beanie on the bus!! Dang Distractions!!