A tourist in my own town...

For our anniversary we decided to get a hotel in Downtown Portland. I spent the last week in Portland visiting family and after work Matthew joined me and we headed to downtown. It was a wonderful weekend.

First we went on a walking tour, "the underground tour" from Portland Walking tours. It was an informative walk, we learned a lot about Portland history. We learned that Shanghai was legal in Portland. The tunnels in Portland were initially used for moving goods from the river inland, and later used as speakeasies, for gambling, and as opium dens. Also being naked in Downtown Portland is legal, hence the naked bike ride.

Old Town Pizza has a great Pesto Pizza, which is where we ate after the tour. Also on the back of the menu there is a story about a ghost who hangs around the restaurant (the former Merchant Hotel). Next we did a little window shopping, at Powell’s Books, and Buffalo Exchange.

The Hotel we stayed at is located on the water front so we had a wonderful stroll along the shops and restaurants on the South waterfront and sat on some rocks down by the water to drink our Henry's Root beers. It was a beautiful night.

The next morning we slept in. Our first night without Neva sleeping on a bed warranted some sleeping in. Then we wandered downstairs to eat the continental breakfast, which was amazing. You could get anything you wanted Eggs, potatoes, waffles, French toast, yoghurt, granola, donuts, bagels, fruit and multiple beverage options. We thoroughly enjoyed our late breakfast.

At 11:00 we had an appointment to paddle on the Willamette. Though it would have been a much nicer paddle early in the morning (less power boat traffic), we felt that sleeping in was worth it. Next time though, I think we would sign up for a sunset or an early morning kayak.