Jape Jape

So, are you tired of Portland yet? Me neither. But, this is the last Portland blog post (at least until our next visit!). We had a full three days in Portland, with an extra full day for traveling there and again for traveling back home. It took us about 11 hours to drive home (oy) and even though Becks was such a trooper (mommy and daddy complained more than he did), we would definitely fly next time if possible. We had such a great time and can't wait to go back and explore the city some more! Here's the last of our Portland photos (with some from the drive home thrown in for good measure)...

For our last morning in Portland, there was only one place I wanted to go: Screen Door. When planning our trip, I did research on the best brunch places in the city and Screen Door was rated really highly. What really sold it was that their specialty is chicken and waffles. Husband is obsessed with chicken and waffles. Loves them with a deep and fiery passion. So, that's where we went! And they did not disappoint. The wait was long (it always is for brunch in big cities), but not tooo long, just about an hour. Becks was happy hanging out in the sling while we waited. The food was amazing (especially the chicken and waffles!). I got one of their specials for that week, the cornmeal pancakes with berry compote.

After brunch and naps, we went to the Portland Aquarium, which we weren't really impressed with. It was small (really, really small), we were in and out of there in less than 30 minutes. Most of the exhibits were "hands on" so that people could feed the fish (although we didn't partake), and some of the kids didn't seem well supervised. Part of our disappointment might be that we've been spoiled with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is (in our opinion) one of the best aquariums in the world. We can't wait to take Becks there!

 For dinner, we went to a cute little Mexican restaurant called Cha Cha Cha! that was lovely! Then for dessert, we went to Salt & Straw, an amazing ice cream shop that uses local, organic ingredients. They have some really great, creative flavors (Honey, Balsamic Strawberry with Cracked Pepper for one) and their shop couldn't be cuter! There was a long line (25+ people) when we got there, but it moved really quickly and everyone was really nice. Mark had the Freckled Woodblock Chocolate and Double Fold Singing Dog Vanilla. I had the Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbon and Coffee Bourbon. Wow! I loved all of the flavors, but the Sea Salt with Caramel was...! Ridiculously good. So good. Oh, and when you go you have to get a waffle cone. I'm not usually a waffle cone person (I'll take my ice cream in a cup please), but these were necessary. They were making them right then and there and you could smell the waffle cones from the street while you were waiting in line! And when they handed you your ice cream, the cone was still slightly warm! A must for sure.