Baby Plotnik in Portland

Portland may be one of the only places where we weren’t ready to come home after three full days. From the scenery, the food, the people, and everything in between, I can confidently say for the both of us that we instantly fell in love with Portland.

If I can choose walking over any other transportation I will. Being 30 weeks pregnant on our trip that didn’t stop us from walking over 20,000 steps the first day and not too much lower the next two days. Portland has a lot to see and I didn’t want to miss out by being in a car!

Here’s a lowdown of how we spent our three days BabyMooning in Portland:

Day 1:

From the airport we went straight to our hotel to change before heading out for breakfast. We stayed at the Ace Hotel Portland and we could not have been more happy. The vibe was so cool and I highly recommend staying there. Or at least in that area because we were walking distance to so many sights and food. For breakfast we went to Pine State Biscuits where all my biscuit dreams came true. I went for the class biscuit, sausage, and egg combo while Joel went all out with a biscuits and mushroom gravy. Was the perfect start to our Portland eating adventure!

We then walked north to Good Coffee to hangout before walking east on Hawthorn Blvd to House of Vintage, Crossroads, Jackpot Records, and other fun shops. We then stumbled upon Laurelhurst Park and sat there for about an hour eating some snacks we picked up from a local grocery store. From there we too an uber to Eb & Bean Frozen Yogurt.  I ordered the Salty Pistachio & Mexican Chocolate (both dairy free) topped with crumbled vegan waffle cone. Holy no-cow that was good!

We ventured back to the hotel for a quick rest before walking to Powells Books. Really surprised we didn’t get lost in the store because it’s HUGE. We found our way to the children’s section and bought Baby Plotnik a Dr. Seuss book as a souvenir. We were there to celebrate her after all! After wandering Powells we worked up an appetite and walked  to Dicks Kitchen. Dicks Kitchen is a paleo dream come true. We aren’t Paleo but we can definitely appreciate a delicious grass-fed burger. I ordered the Thai Burger Bowl, Joel got the Zizou Burger (with a margarita on the side), and we split an order of sweet potato fries. I’d walk 30 minutes for this burger bowl multiple times! We popped into Whole Foods after dinner for a night-cap, aka a Gingerade Kombucha to split at the hotel.

Day 2:

We woke up ready to take on another day of eating. We have Blue Star Donuts in LA but since it came so highly recommended we had to make a stop! We split the Raspberry Old Fashion donut and regretted not getting our own five minutes later. Blue Star Donuts went way beyond our expectations. We live dangerously close to the one in LA and I know we’ll become frequent customers. After our donut we went to Heart Roasters to grab some much needed caffeine. I went full caff on this one and got their homemade macadamia almond milk latte. Usually I don’t notice a difference in homemade milks and store-bought but this one you could totally tell! The latte was creamy and absolutely perfect.

From there we walked to Waterfront Park enjoying the water and finally found Mills End Park, aka the worlds smallest park. You really can blink and miss this in the middle of the street. As silly as it seems, I’m so glad we stopped for a photo because it makes me giggle every time I see it! It’s worth the stop if you have a spare second. We walked back inland to Pioneer Square where there were multiple food trucks lined up. I saw a bright yellow truck named “Fried Egg I’m in Love” and knew we had to eat there. I ordered the “Smells Like Protein Spirit” with veggie sausage and Joel got the Sriracha Mix-A-Lot. They have a special hot sauce that set Joel’s mouth on fire! That’s saying a lot coming from a man who loves everything spicy. They have a few trucks around Portland so stay on the lookout!

We made a pitstop at a random Stumptown Coffee for a decaf coffee before relaxing at Ira Keller Fountain Park and a photo opportunity at the White Stag Sign. The White Stag Sign was difficult for us to locate because we were under the bridge! The security guards we saw were super helpful and directed us to the top of the bridge. Was a bit difficult to get a photo because there was so much traffic but we got it!

Since my husband is a video game lover (secretly me too but don’t tell anyone 😉) we headed to Ground Kontrol, a classic Arcade that serves alcohol and food. Plus it’s attached to a music venue and you might like to see someone who’s playing! After gaming our hearts out we walked to another one of Joel’s favorite things, cookie dough. Portland has a Cookie Dough Cafe and all their cookie dough is egg free making it safe for all to consumer, especially this mama-to-be! I got the Vegan Brownie while Joel got the classic Chocolate Chip. We tried about 20 samples each so one scoop each was all we needed!

After some downtown at the hotel we felt ready for dinner. One thing I’ve craved my entire pregnancy is pizza. I could have pizza everyday, for every meal, and be completely satisfied. We could see Sizzle Pie from our hotel room and we could not wait to check it out. Sizzle Pie filled my high school soul with heavy metal music and food puns for pizza names. I ordered the “Cops and Robbers” vegan slice and the “Rabbit” salad with vegan ranch while Joel ordered the “Mad Men” meat slice, the “Bandit” veggie slice, and the “Caligula” salad with vegan caesar dressing. The crust was thin, just how I like it, and the salad was fresh. Highly recommend Sizzle Pie if you’re a pizza lover! After pizza we went to Clyde Common (adjacent to the Ace Hotel) and enjoyed the rest of the evening with my sweet husband. He got a fancy whiskey drink while I filled up on sparkling water. Kind of wished we were still hungry because their food looked incredible!

Day 3:

Our last day was bittersweet. We had another full day planned but not before taking photos in the photo booth at the Ace Hotel. I’m a sucker for photo booths and this is such a nice memory to have! We grabbed some coffee and a piece of banana bread with cream cheese from the Stumptown connected to our hotel before we were off to breakfast!

We took an Uber over to the Tin Shed to enjoy a hearty breakfast. I ordered a few sides: a toasted english muffin, two over hard eggs, and chicken sausage and Joel ordered “The Stay”- potato cakes with sweet potato hash, collard greens, scrambled eggs, and a rosemary mushroom gravy. The Tin Shed is very dog friendly, they even have options for dogs on the menu! We had plenty of time to spare after breakfast so we walked about 45 minutes to Coco Donuts to enjoy a Carrot Cake Donut with a donut crumb topping and Joel ordered a Raspberry tea to sip on.

After charging our phones we walked around Mississippi Ave. up to Mississippi Records then all the way to Swift and Union for Joel to enjoy a cocktail. Their food looked amazing but we had our hearts set on Cultured Caveman for an early dinner. The atmosphere was casual but the food was 5 star. Cultured Caveman is Portland’s first paleo-friendly restaurant and I’d go paleo if I could eat here everyday. I ordered the lamb Shepard’s Pie with a cabbage jicama coleslaw and Joel ordered the pork carnitas on coconut flour tortillas with a side of bone broth soup. We ended up splitting both meals because we were each bragging about how amazing our meals were. Really wished we had time to go back again because the coconut chicken tenders were calling my name. We made one last stop for a breath of nature at a park nearby before heading to the airport. Portland really surprised me with how many flowers were throughout the city! My heart had never been so happy being surrounded by nature and city life.

Portland was good to us and we will definitely be back, but next time with Baby Plotnik in our arms instead of my belly. #WhatRobinEatsForTwo #BabyPlotnikInPortland