Portland, Oregon

In the Spring, Johnnie took a couple of work trips out to Portland, Oregon.  He kept telling me about what a great city it was (I'm pretty sure he was particularly fond of all the breweries that were within walking distance to his hotel).  :)  In early June, I was finally invited to tag along on another work trip to check out the Rose City for myself!

I had a great time exploring the city during the day.  There was so much to do and see and like the breweries, it was all within walking distance!  It happened to be Fleet Week in Portland the week/weekend we were there, so we saw tons of really cool boats constantly cruising up and down the Willamette River.  

  

The Portland Rose Festival was also taking place while we were in town, but we were not in attendance because Johnnie "does not do carnivals."  :) 

Portland has a very vibrant, green, hippyish feel to it.  The whole time I was there, I couldn't help but compare it to Austin.  Then, I saw this painted on the side of a building and I knew I was in the Austin of the Northwest:

And Portlandians (I don't know if that's really what they are called) are doing their best to live up to the motto!!  This had to be my favorite example:

While I had fun checking out the city solo, I really couldn't wait for the weekend so Johnnie and I could enjoy what Portland had to offer together.  On Saturday, we hit up the Saturday Market, where we were overwhelmed by hundreds of stalls displaying everything from chandeliers made out of utensils to hemp fairy wings.

And you know we had to check out a few of the breweries:

For dinner, we took the advice of the locals and had dinner at Old Town Pizza.  The restaurant is located in the old lobby of a hotel built in 1880.  It is also said to be haunted by resident ghost Nina (pronounced "Nigh-na").  According to the legend posted on the restaurant's website ( http://www.oldtownpizza.com/HauntedHistory2.html ), "Old Town Pizza sits in what used to be called the Old North End, a section of the city with a rather questionable reputation.  Despite the upstanding clientele of the Merchant Hotel, even it was known for offering one of the oldest professions in the world: prostitution.  As legend goes, one of the young "working women" was Nina, sold into this life by a thriving white slavery market.  In an effort to clean up the neighborhood, traveling missionaries convinced Nina to share information in exchange for freeing her from a fate she did not choose.  Nina cooperated but soon afterward was found dead in the hotel, now Old Town Pizza.  Thrown down the elevator shaft, Nina is reported to have never left the building.  Could it be Nina who carved her name in the brick of the old elevator shaft, now the backdrop of a cozy booth in the rear of the restaurant?"

Oooooooooo...I love a good ghost story.  Unfortunately, we did not feel a presence or smell any "faint wafts of perfume" as is often reported after a Nina encounter.  Don't be fooled by this picture...Johnnie was shaking in his boots the whole time:

All in all, we had a lovely time in Portland.  If Johnnie has to go back for work, I will gladly volunteer to accompany him in his travels!