Trip Report, Portland Oregon - July 3rd 2014 - Pearl Bakery, Powell's Books, First Thursday

This trip was a mini-reunion for my husband's siblings and their relatives by marriage.  My husband was one of four children who grew up and scattered across the country.  Nearly-annual reunions gave them a chance to get together.

Now the group is diminished, as two siblings have passed on.  More unfortunately, one of them was the Information Gatherer, who researched restaurants and things to do, and the other was The Decider, who kept us from spending a lot of time asking each other "What do you want to do?"

Now we five resemble a group of ducklings without their mother as we start out our morning looking for a breakfast place 'someone' had recommended. Of course we have five different navigation systems and five opinions on how to proceed. Finally we reach our destination, only to find that the restaurant is closed for renovation. Fortunately, we are near Pearl Bakery, and it turns out to be excellent.

From wonderful bread they make excellent sandwiches. Pastry is also very good.

Next stop is Powell's. This place is huge and well-stocked and entitled to its title of "City of Books". Fortunately, there are friendly staff to direct people to the right shelf, aisle, floor, or building.  I could live here.

The Rare Book room at Powell's.

Lunch is at Lardo's, home of all things pork. I have a cucumber salad.

Recommended

Then my husband I head off on our own, because one of us has forgotten some of his pills. We take the Max(light rail) to a branch of our HMO and spend about three hours exploring the Overlook Park area in Northeast Portland while the red tape needed to refill the prescription is tied up in a neat bow. My husband reassures me this sign was not for pedestrians.

Heading back we walk pass the crowd waiting outside of Voodoo donuts and decide to skip it for now, although we couldn't resist a brief stop at Leonida's chocolates.

Then back with the group for a visit to "First Thursday" an evening event in the Pearl District where many art galleries stay open late and put out refreshments. There is a lively street scene and an outside art mart for local artists..

We visit a few art galleries and head over to Deschutes Brewery for dinner. Good beer, nice decor, middling food.

End of July Third Day

A note on Portland Guides: The widely-distributed Portland Visitor's Map put out by the Portland Concierge Association relies on contributions from some of its 'featured' restaurants and attractions, and concentrates on the downtown area, so be warned. lt is better than nothing, but you would be much better served if you just asked a passing stranger for recommendations. Better yet, go to the Tourist Information Center in Pioneer Square.