After spending weeks in the remote portions of Canada and Alaska we both welcomed a few days of city life. Don’t get me wrong, we both love nature and all, but we hadn’t been to a major city in weeks! We decided to spend a few days in Vancouver, BC before we left Canada and made our way to Portland, OR. We spent a total of 4-nights in the area and had a wonderful time exploring two new cities and experiencing the city life.
No visit to Vancouver is complete without a stop off on Granville Island and a tour through the market place. Local markets are one of our favorite places to visit. They give you an opportunity to interact with lots of locals, sample local goods, and really tap into a city’s culture.
Shoppers enjoying the wide selection at the market
We also took a stroll through Chinatown, and enjoyed some of the local dim-sum in addition to going in and out of all the little shops and grocery stores.
Our favorite part of the city though was Gastown! Filled with great architecture, many little shops, and tons of great restaurants and bars it was a great place to finish up our evening! We spent a bit of time exploring the area and made a stop by one of the local landmarks, the steam-powered clock!
The clock is steam powered and blows whistles instead of chiming!
We also enjoyed the local architecture quite a bit.
Hotel Europe in Vancouver
We found a great restaurant and brew pub called Steamworks and would highly recommend it to anyone who visits. Their collection of micro-brews can be sampled for a great price!
Ready to start drinkin’
The food was also top-notch pub grub! I ordered the Mediterranean lamb burger with a side of the Canadian classic poutine and I was thrilled with the dish!
Lamb Burger and Poutine!
After a great day in Vancouver we were sad to leave the next morning, but it was time for us to make it back to the United States. We decided to head South to Portland, OR. It’s a city we missed on our last trip to the Pacific Northwest when we spent a day in Seattle instead.
We left our hotel relatively early the next morning and said good-bye to Canada…
Good-Bye Mr. Mountie Moose !!
And Hello to the United States!
The US Border crossing took about 30 minutes and then we were off to our La Quinta Inn in Vancouver. No that’s not a typo, we booked our hotel right outside of Portland and ended up saving about $30 a night, in the town that was coincidentally called Vancouver, WA. The next morning we decided to head out to downtown Portland and see what the city was all about. We knew 3 things about Portland before we arrived. Everyone appears to be stuck in the late ’90′s (thanks Portlandia), they have a TON of beer breweries, and you can get AMAZING doughnuts! It turns out all three are true
Our visit to Portland began at a local landmark called Voodoo doughnuts. They’ve been featured on the Food Network and for good reason! We stopped in and gave it a try. Lauren had a delicious raspberry jelly filled voodoo doll which was delightful.
ARRRGGGGGHHh I’m filled with Jelly!
I had the “No Name Doughnut” which is a classic doughnut covered in chocolate, rice crispies, and drizzled with peanut butter (don’t judge me it was amazing!)
They call it “No Name” I call it FAMAZING!!
Afterwords we decided to take a visit to the Pearl District, which houses quite a few brew pubs and distilleries along with a bunch of shops. We started off at Deschutes Brew Pub. I had their Black Butte Porter while we were in Alaska and it was excellent, so we decided to order a couple of flights to sample the rest of their line. We were more than pleased with what they had to offer and would definitely recommend the food and beer to anyone visiting the area.
6 beers of my choice?? Yes Please!!!
After drinks and lunch we spent some time walking through some of the shops and then mysteriously found our way the Rogue Distillery and Public House. We’re both fans of Rogue so we decided more flights were in order.
It’s beer flight mania!!!
Once we had our fill of the Pearl District we made our way to south Portland to visit Salvador Molly’s. I had heard about it on the Food Network and decided I had to give it a try. Molly’s is famous for one appetizer on their menu, Great Balls of Fire Habanero Fritters. We decided to be brave and we ordered 3 to share.
They are small but Fierce!!
One fritter later I decided I was done
I wish this was milk and not water
After lighting out mouths( and throats and bellies) on fire we were happy to see our entrees arrive. The menu features an eclectic mix of fusion island flavors which were both authentic and delicious! Lauren had the Kulua Mojo Pork while I enjoyed a Tandori Lamb Sandwich.
Tender Juicy and Delicious!
After spending the day in downtown, an afternoon of drinking and a great dinner, we decided to call it a night. Welcome back city life, welcome back!
