Day 5: Doing as the Portlanders Do.

Since we went to Portland with potentially moving there in mind, we wanted to dedicate our time to doing as the Portlanders do. We wanted to submerge ourselves in Portland culture, so to speak, and not try to fill our days with touristy things. Our first order of Portland business when we woke up on our first full day was coffee! Though I know there is an array of excellent coffee shops in Portland, we decided to go with the classic that we've heard about for ages, Stumptown! They make a pretty delicious cup and I definitely preferred their latte, atmosphere, and baristas over Blue Bottle's. Sorry, San Francisco!



While we sipped our coffee in the car, we checked out a couple of apartment complexes we had seen online and got an idea of their neighborhoods were like. We headed into downtown to see if any of the food carts were open for lunch and strolled awhile. While food trucks and carts are definitely not unique to Portland, they offer a huge variety and can be found stacked upon each other in "pods." Most of the DT carts were closed, so we drove across the Willamette to another pod we had passed on Hawthorne. The famed Potato Champion caught our eye. Who doesn't love french fries? We shared pulled pork and chili cheese fries. The kids loved them just as much as we did. Emerson also loved sitting in the "tent" while we ate.



We headed to the Tom McCall Waterfront park for an afternoon stroll. I feel like I don't need to keep saying it, but we really love being on the water. It was really the perfect park for us! It's quite long, which allowed Em to run and run till his heart was content. Eisley enjoyed the breeze and loved seeing the ducks. The way she "quacks" is adorable. Emerson fell in bridge love again. We stopped at the Old Town Portland sign to snap some pictures, then made our way back to our hotel.

If you hadn't noticed, this pose was thrown out often throughout our trip. Half the time he loves having his picture taken, half the time not. This is him being a drama queen.


We unashamedly grabbed dinner at Whole Foods again so we could eat in peace in our hotel room. After some down time, we finished our night at VooDoo Doughnut. Brian went for a vegan peanut butter, oreo, chocolate drizzled masterpiece. Em got the "em & em." I chose their version of my favorite, a "Portland cream." Emerson was called a mini Westley of Princess Bride by one of their employees and we all had a laugh. Pretty perfect end to a perfect Portland day, I'd say.