Visual Journal: Portland in November
This is one of the few photos I took all weekend. Oops.
A couple buddies and I decided on Thursday afternoon (noticing a trend here?) to take a trip over the long weekend. We considered spots as close as Vancouver Island, and as far away as San Francisco & New York. Sadly, there was a storm warning for the island and the latter two weren’t available on Aeroplan points. We eventually settled on Portland, Oregon — a city we’d all previously visited and were willing to explore again.
Portland is about a six-hour drive from Vancouver, and when you factor in the border crossing, it feels like a proper road trip.
We hit the road bright and early at 6am on Saturday morning. I’m pretty sure I was still half-asleep; luckily, I wasn't on driving duty — thanks Johnny! We picked up Gordon and witnessed sunrise as we headed for the Peace Arch border crossing.
Once into Trump’s America, we stopped for a quick breakfast at McDonald’s in Bellingham. Never before had I been approached by an employee following up with, “Are you guys doing okay?” This happened twice. Impressive service, McD's.
Continuing on the road, our progress was derailed when we got pulled over by a police officer. Johnny got a citation for going 85 in a 60. If memory serves correctly, we were blasting 'Strawberry Swing' by Coldplay. Whoops.
We made a spontaneous pit stop at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room in Seattle. I’m not usually a huge fan of Starbucks, but I had a pretty satisfying Nicaraguan pourover coffee and some savoury pastries.
We passed through Washington state and into Oregon, stopping again for lunch at Bridgewater Bistro in Astoria. Situated along the water, I envisioned how unreal a spot it must be in the summertime. Although it was an overcast and rainy November sky, the meal more than made up for it.
Our final pit stop on the way down was Cannon Beach. I’d visited years ago as a teenager with my family, and under much better weather. This time around, it was cloudy, spitting rain, and winds were gusting. We decided to venture out to Haystack Rock anyway. Thirty minutes in, the wind picked up and we got soaked by a deluge of rain. As we scurried back to the car, we witnessed a couple getting married on the beach. They were accompanied by about a dozen, (clearly) good friends.
We made it to Portland unscathed after nearly running out of gas in the middle of the woods. We checked into our hotel — Hyatt House — in downtown Portland.
We took an Uber to the Pearl District for dinner, and after being told the wait would be 45+ at Deschutes and Andina, we settled on this place called Paragon. It turned out to be a great spot for food. We then met up with some locals at the River Pig Saloon — a neighbourhood sports bar — and finished the night at Dig A Pony, a bar with a DJ spinning funky tunes with actual vinyl records. We didn’t have to pay cover even though the place was packed, hardly anyone was on their phones, and it didn’t feel pretentious; it was a completely different vibe from what we’re used to in Vancouver. It made for a refreshingly interesting experience!
On Sunday morning, we tried to visit Multnomah Falls. Sadly, it was closed because of the recent wildfires, so we kept driving and stumbled upon the Bonneville Dam Fish Hatchery instead. We learned quite a bit about chinook salmon, but unfortunately didn’t get to see any in the flesh.
Afterwards, we drove south to Wilsonville (a small suburb outside Portland) to visit one of Johnny’s friends from exchange. He lived in a sizeable bungalow with a backyard on the water. On the surface, he was the picture-perfect stereotype of small-town America: Caucasian, loved guns and hunting, Trump supporter, and his family owned a farm. He even owned a Hilary Clinton dart board. Some, myself included, might've jumped to conclusions with this superficial knowledge. However, he couldn’t have been nicer or more hospitable. He shared some incredible stories from his worldly travels. We even stopped at his parents’ house down the road, and they welcomed us with beers and open arms. It really helped me realize firsthand that people with opposite political ideologies can still manage to find common ground. Odd as it may sound, it was beautifully humbling.
On the local’s recommendation, we made an audible for dinner and had burgers at this spot called Stanich’s. It’s this super divey sports pub that would never score high on ambience and the food took a while but boy, it was worth it. The Special is probably the best burger I’ve ever eaten. Pay them a visit if you’re in Portland, and thank me later.
After dinner, we hung out with another one of Johnny’s exchange friends (why do they all live in Oregon?) at his startup office in the Pearl District. Funnily enough, the office was right across from Paragon — the dinner spot from Saturday.
We made our way home on Monday (but not before a stop at Din Tai Fung in Bellevue). All in all — despite the dreary November weather — we had a solid weekend away with a much-needed change of scenery. Till next time, Portland!
