Portland – City of Roses

 

God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.

 

Day two of our whirlwind tour guiding services in the Portland area started early.  Actually, we always start fairly early and I really can’t blame the Weavers for that.  I can try but doubt they would let us get away with it since we’re the ones that set the time.  You know how it goes, the early bird gets the worm.  Really we think the early bird misses most of the crowds. That we like to do … miss the crowds.

Portland is also famous for the water fountains.  A list of them are here.

Portland – City of Water Fountains

We were going to start with Breakfast at Valerie’s. This is a little restaurant in a strip mall east of Vancouver. We’ve had breakfast here a couple times and will probably continue going back again and again. Portions are huge, service good and prices very reasonable … at least that’s the review for the place when we’ve been there. However, breakfast was not to be as other folks felt the same we do and packed the restaurant with lines out the door. We were sightseeing this day and had no time to wait in any lines so off we went.

Portland's Saturday Market

Entertainment - Playing plastic buckets

Our first stop was downtown Portland in a lot just around the corner from the Saturday Market.  I love going to Saturday Markets just about everywhere.  You never know what you’re going to find.  Most of the items are unique and it’s usually fairly festive with lots of street entertainment.  We weren’t disappointed.  We both even made a few little purchases.  Ironically, some of them were the same things.  It’s also a great place to do a people watching.  Again, you never know what you’ll see.

Shopping at the market

Boombox Anywhere as seen on Shark Tank!!

Paul and Marsha were sure that Chinatown would be an interesting place to visit.  After all, they had spent a little time in the Chinatown in San Francisco.  We assured them that Portland's Chinatown didn't compare to San Francisco's.  However, we were only a couple blocks away so headed that direction.  They did finally agree that there is no comparison.

Entrance to Chinatown

It was still early but we wanted to show them one of our favorite places, Dan and Louis’ Oyster Bar.  We weren’t really ready to eat yet (after all, we had just downed a big cinnamon roll) but we did get a chance to walk through it and take a look.  This restaurant is right across the street from the Saturday Market so if you’re downtown and looking for a unique place to eat, check this one out. 

Next stop --- Washington Park and the Rose Garden.  Portland is known as the City of Roses.  Thus, you knew there just had to be a special Rose Garden someplace close.  At about two miles from the center of town is a gorgeous park filled with Roses.  It’s a close jaunt to the Japanese Gardens and the Portland Zoo from here via the Zoo Train.  Saturday was a gorgeous day and people were everywhere taking in the fragrant roses and view of the city from the park.  We joined in and did the same.

Portland – City of Roses

From there it was a quick drive to get on the I-405 which drops down to I-5 to cross over into Washington State and a late lunch at Who-Song and Larry’s.  We chose this place because it had outside seating along the Columbia River.  We were in for a treat because as we sat there watching the marine traffic we also got to see the bridge raise for a freighter to pass through.  Our timing just happened to be right and the Weavers hadn’t seen this before.

Across from Who-Song & Larry’s is the Old Apple Tree Park. Marsha and I wanted to see the old tree so we took the short walk across the road to check it out.   It’s a really, really small park but mainly there because of Vancouver's Old Apple Tree which was planted in 1826 on Fort Vancouver land.  It is thought to be the oldest apple tree in the Northwest. It is also considered the matriarch of Washington State's apple industry. Vancouver's Old Apple Tree is 186 years old.

That was it.  It was another great day.  We certainly enjoyed it with Paul and Marsha and reminding ourselves what a beautiful, clean city Portland is.  Check out their post on the activities of the day for more on the Saturday Market and a little different look at the area.

Vancouver's Old Apple Tree

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‘Tis life on the road.