Portland and Seattle

It's been a while since I've posted, but thought that I would give an update on my most recent trip. I ventured my way out to the Pacific Northwest at the end of April. It was my first trip and added states 41, 42 and 43 to my list. Only Idaho, Alaska, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma and Kansas remain. I spent a couple of nights in Portland and one in Seattle. After getting in late Thursday Night to Seatac (Seattle Tacoma Airport area), we drove down to Portland. We got a hotel on the east side of town out near the Columbia Gorge. We woke up early Friday morning and took a little trip out the scenic 15 mile drive that runs along I-84. In all, we saw 4 or 5 waterfalls, one that was more than 500 feet and it was just simply amazing. If you have the time, it seems like a great place to hike. After spending a couple of hours out in the gorge, we headed to downtown Portland to check into our hotel. We stayed at the Westin, which is an older boutique type hotel that was very pleasant. The bar downstairs was nice, as were the servers and bartenders. There were very insightful on places and things to do in the area. After checking into the hotel, we went over to Widmer Brothers, Caroline's choice for the 1 of 30 something brewpubs within the area. We had an appetizer (a fantastic cheese dip with sausage) while enjoying a couple of samplers that included every beer on their list. I enjoyed just about all of them, except for their flagship beer, the hefeweizen. It's just not my style. After the samplers, we took the tour of the brewery. It was very entertaining and would rank just behind New Belgium overall. They gave out free pint glasses and bottle openers, which is always a plus. After leaving Widmer, we went to a place called McMenamins. It is also a local brew pub just down the street from Widmer. We had another appetizer (Scooby Snacks, little bitesize corndogs without the stick, simply amazing) while sampling a couple of their beers. The Hammerhead was my favorite of the bunch. After enjoying the beers at both McMenamins and Widmer, we went back to the hotel to get ready for our anniversary dinner. Before heading out to Portland Grill, we stopped at the Hotel bar for a couple of drinks. Caroline enjoyed some kind of fruity drink, while I got my first Fat Tire of the trip. It was as good as it always is. For dinner, there simply cannot be a better place in Portland. The Portland City Grill is located on the 30th floor of a large office building within the CBD. I had the best steak I have ever tasted and the view is simply top notch. It offers views of the Willamette River and Mt. Hood, an 11,000+ peak that soars over the city of Portland. After dinner, we went back to the hotel to relax. After waking up on Saturday morning, we went to Voodoo Donuts, a very unique donut shop close to our hotel. Caroline got a normal crueller, as well as a Cock'N'Balls. It's a very large penis shaped donut that was for her roommate would was celebrating her 21st birthday that weekend. I got a chocolate cake donut with cocoa puffs and a chocolate glazed with peanut butter and rice krispies. They were definitely some of the best donuts I have ever had, not to mention the most unique. They offer many different assortments including just about any kind of cereal, donut combination. After our donuts, we made our way up I-5 to Seattle. Along the way, we caught several nice views of both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier. Mt. Rainier is amazing. It soars over everything that is around it. On a clear day, its visible from Seattle. Upon arriving in Seattle, we made our way to Elysian Fields Brewery. The food and beers were average, but it has a great location near Safeco. Safeco is one of the nicer stadiums that I have been to. We got seats about 30 rows behind homeplate for $25 each, less than half of the face value price. We didn't have any ballpark food, but the philly's looked really good. We also walked the waterfront area, which was nice. It reminded me a little of the Wharf area in San Francisco. After the ballgame, we grabbed dinner at All-Star Pizza. It's a local pizza joint that makes their dough out of sourdough. I would consider it better than average. We stayed out in Bellevue, which is just east of Seattle. Sunday morning we woke up and went to a little place called the Pancake Corral. Its in the Bellevue area. They offered up a fabulous southern style breakfast, which I was very happy about. If you are in the area, I definitely recommend the place. After Breakfast, it was off to the Airport. Overall, Portland and Seattle are two places that I would like to spend some more time in. I could spend a week just traveling to the National Parks in the area. Aside from Mt. St. Helen's and Mt. Rainier, Olympic National Park is also in the area. Skiing is available at Mt. Hood, near the top of my list in places to go for snowboarding. Portland has about 30 other breweries that I would like to try out and I would love to head south and make a trip to Crater Lake. It would be very easy to spend several weeks out there and not really get to see everything that you would want to see. Next on the list is the Road Trip which will include D.C., Philly, Baltimore, NYC and Boston. Stay Tuned.