Pinots in Portland

While in the Portland area, my plan is to try as many Pinot Noirs and Pinot Gris as my wallet will allow. While in town last week, I dropped by Thirst to try their Pinot wine flight. $17 for 4- 2 oz. pours.

• Biggio Hamina '11 - meh. Light. Not so much flavor
• David Hill Estate '10 - yummy. Heavy. Spice. Leather. Bold. Will try it again
• Purple Hands '13- oh so good, completely opposite of the David Hill. Light, fruity, bright. A definite taste again
• Hayden Road '09 - meh. Not bad. Not memorable though

  

My first visit to Portland in 2012 turned me onto Pinot Noirs. Burnside Brewery is where I fell in love with Amity Pinot. Oh man, is it good.  A little pricey by the bottle for me but well worth it.

A coworker gave me a bottle of King Estate Pinot Noir 2012.  It is one of the best I've tried.  Very smooth. Full fruit flavor.

Planet Oregon Pinot Noir 2012 is one that is sold by the glass at my work.  A mild wine that would be good for everyday drinking. Plus it has a cool label.

Viridian 2010 tastes low quality. Sharp alcohol start with a mellow finish.

Hopefully, there will be several more Pinot posts to come.

Donut Obsession

I am a donut addict. Yeah, I said it.  I'm obsessed with donuts.  I don't need to eat them all the time but if I'm out walking around, it's hard to walk past a donut shop without getting one to-go at least.  My craze for the last few years has been bacon donuts.  Have you tried them?  They are amazing at most places.

Portland, Oregon

Yesterday I stopped by Blue Star and got the beauties below: Maple Bacon raised donut and a Lemon Poppyseed buttermilk. They were both delicious.  The sweet and salty of the Maple Bacon complimented each other perfectly. Blue Star is definitely worth another visit.

<----- After 6 donut-free months spent in Alaska, I got this heavenly Maple Bacon longjohn at Tonalli's Donuts & Cream in NE quarter. I will be hitting this place up again.

No first time visit to Portland is complete without a visit to iconic Voodoo Donuts. Again, a Bacon Maple Bar as well as an Old Dirty Bastard made their way into my belly. I loved the full strips of bacon but the frosting was too sweet. Recommendation: skip it except for the tourist factor---->

Joe's Donuts in little Sandy, Oregon has a version of Maple Bacon, too.  

Not enough bacon! The slices were too thin. Their other donuts are delicious though.

Chicago, Illinois

2 Sparrows was my first ever try of a bacon donut. This one was quickly followed by many more: Do-Rite Donuts, Dinkel's Donuts, my favorite Glazed and Infused and several others.  Glazed and Infused has THE best candied bacon on their donut.

Oregon Survival Kit

This is my Oregon Survival Kit.  I carry it where ever I go because I have needed one or more of the items every day.

Flashlight and umbrella are the number one priorities

1. Phone charger - cold and altitude sucks the life right out of a cell phone battery
2. Hat - random snow storms
3. Dry socks - cause it rains here
4. Flashlight - I live in the middle of the woods and walk everywhere.  It gets freaking dark.  I've been caught without a flashlight much to my vivid imagination.  Try walking in the woods when it's so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face.  It's scary.
5. Umbrella - most Oregonians think an umbrella is for sissies.  Well, I'm a sissy.  If I have my winter coat on, I don't want to swap out into my raincoat.  I'll take my umbrella, thank you.
6. Raincoat - for the same reason as above.  It rains every day.  Sometimes a raincoat works better than an umbrella
7. Gloves - it's a damp cold here and I like my gloves
8. Reusable grocery bag - you never know when you are going to stop at store
9. Backpack - I've come to terms with the fact that I am a grown-ass adult who has to carry a backpack all the time regardless of where I live since I don't drive a car anymore.
10. Bus pass (not pictured) - obvious reasons

Eating in Portland

I am a huge fan of lists.  Just in case you didn't notice, considering my blog is called The Adventure List.  I enjoy making lists of places I've ate or went to while traveling.  The lists remind me of memories or moments I otherwise may forget.

Places I ate at in Portland:

1. The Blue Pig Cafe - delicious but closed
2. Portland City Grill - upscale with a great city view
3. The Grilled Cheese Grill - food truck
4. Sizzle Pie - average affordable pizza chain
5. Thai Noodle Inc. - good food, maybe a chain
6. Ben & Jerry's
7. The Sunshine Grill - local, my first Portland corn dog
8. Hungry Heart Cupcake Truck - food truck, delicious
9. The Burnside Brewery - local I think, wine and appetizers, may have swiped a beer glass (oops)
10. Voodoo Donuts - local, fantastic and over-the-top
11. Pix - local, good dessert but horrible service for an upscale expensive dessert/wine cafe, one of the few places in my adult life I did not want to leave a tip and I'm a server so I know better (I did leave a tip but grudgingly)
12. Roadrunner Cafe - local, breakfast place
13. Townshend's Tea - not impressed but by my own fault I tried something new and didn't like it
14. The Waffle Window - waffles and ice cream, didn't care for the ice cream I choose



Voodoo Donuts

VooDoo Donuts -
Maple Bacon and
Dirty Bastard 

Hungry Heart Cupcake Truck
Chocolate Peanut Butter Bacon
Cupcake

Grilled Cheese Grill





































Pix

Pix
dessert time
Molten Chocolate Cake and
Churros

The Blue Pig Cafe
Mimosa and Breakfast Corndogs

RoadRunner Cafe
crunchy granola breakfast

My Favorite New City - Portland

On a whim, my friend and I went to Portland, Oregon in June.  Actually, that's a lie. She asked how I would feel about living in Portland versus Seattle when I move next year. Do I want to visit Portland and check it out?  I responded with a definite Sure, let's go. And we did.

And I'm SO glad I did.  I think this picture says it all.

And if not, then the honesty this guy is demonstrating in begging for money should speak volumes for the city's laid back mentality.



I fell in love with Portland and all its quirks.  Portland felt like a big city within a small city.  Its a walking/public transportation community with cars.  You could be walking in a residential area and then Bam, there is a food truck pod or some random restaurant or cafe.  I was fascinated by the food truck pods.  The variety of food available was astonishing. Thai, Mexican, grilled cheese, cheese plates, rice bowls, bbq, deli, and on and on. 





isn't this cute?
don't you want to eat here?



Check out The Blue Pig Cafe's version of a Bloody Mary and Mimosa.



Those drinks were HUGE and cheap cheap cheap.  The breakfast corn dogs were pretty fantastic too.  Based on the number of times, I saw corn dogs on menus I'm dubbing Portland as the Corn Dog Capital of the World.  Yet another reason to move here.

(I'm sad to say that upon writing this post The Blue Pig has closed :(  I'm glad I got to experience it)

View from Portland City Grill

Random street scenes

While we were walking around downtown, we discovered the city's nighttime Starlight Parade was happening that night.  Hello. A parade. Ok, we'll watch. 

An adult marching band complete with flag corp? Really!? My dream come true! Another reason to move there.  The city is calling me.

 The author and her travel companion.  Shhh...don't tell her I posted a picture or two of her.

I'm the blonde. The bleach blonde.