There's so absurdly much to love about Portland, Oregon

[Note: I wrote this on August 3rd  but didn't have a chance to finalize & post.  We're home from the Oregon trip, and I have several other posts in process.  Stay tuned.]

We're having a fabulous time in Oregon.  So fabulous that I wanted to take a few minutes to jot down some notes here.

For instance, we are in a city where there is Trek in the Park, which involves live reenactments of classic Star Trek episodes.  We didn't get to go, but loved seeing it in the headlines of the local paper.

We stayed with our lovely friends Susan and Sone and their awesome kids, Leone and Evelyn.  Leone especially is really into super-heroes (particularly Batman) so he and Lucy got along famously.  Here they are in the middle-row seats of our car:

Yeah, they're crazy about each other.  Oh, and about that middle-row thing: we ended up, by total luck, to get a 7-passenger car (Dollar Car Rental's "Lock Low" deal!).  It was awesome -- Dads up front, kids in the middle, Moms in the back.  Good times.  Here are a couple of the heroes in action (yes, Lucy arrived with her own cape -- she is Wind Girl).

For now, here's a quick run down/review of the places we've been (and loved):

Favorite Bakeries:
Grand Central: This is a great place within walking distance of where we were staying.  Lovely and tasty and nice and close!
Things we ate: ciabatta bread,  donut muffin, chicken salad sandwich


Pearl: This place is spectacular, and located near some of our other downtown destinations (see below, "bookstore").  Here is Lucy, very pleased with her selection (notice the "eat bread." sign behind her).

(BTW, I am trying to figure out how to rotate this photo but it's just not working right now.)

Things we ate: cinnamon crown, roast beef sandwich w/ arugula & horseradish aioli, apple hazlenut bear claw, and finally, The Greatest Cookie Ever, also known as the Valrhona White Chocolate Sandwich Cookie.  It is amazing.  It really is the greatest cookie I have ever had the priviledge to eat.  There's a review/images here.

Favorite Bookstore, Ever:
Powells (obviously)
This place was just amazing.  You need a map to find your way around.  Susan kindly offered to read to the kids so Jake and I could explore a bit.  It was so lovely.  Our bags are much, much heavier for the return trip.  Also, I have a couple book reviews to write for an upcoming post!

Favorite Distilleries:

Clear Creek Distillery:
We've known about this place for a while and have always wanted to visit.  Awesome tasting room and all sorts of goodness.  Cheers!

Bull Run Distillery:
This was a new discovery for us.  The tasting room lady at Clear Creek actually recommended it and we're glad we went.  Terrific gin, rum, and bourbon.  Woo hoo!  Party in Manzanita!

Portland Farmers Market might be the best place I have ever been, ever.  We got amazing produce and ate delicious tamales and saw so many, many people and foods and such awesomeness.  And it happens every week!  It is King Awesome.

So from Portland, we're off to Manzanita for the week, and then returning for another weekend in Portland.  More on all that later.  But for now, Three Cheers for Portland!