This is The First Day of My Life: Walk, Drink, Eat Portland, Oregon

Portland Walks- Each day of vacation we started from our quaint little guest house in Woodstock, with the chickens and the homemade granola and coffee from Trader Joe's. We walked through the neighborhood to our bus stop to admire the lush landscaping in the neighboring yards. For us, Portland consisted of a lot of walking. A lot. I like to take in a new city by walking it. The Clarks booties that I wear to sling hair for hours on end are not conducive to pounding pavement for any length of time. Who knew? The first day, we walked 3 miles down Belmont, from a coffee shop to a cafe, admiring all of the beautiful old Victorian style houses that the "rich hippies" must live in. By the time we arrived at a.n.d cafe my feet were destroyed, and for the rest of the vacation, it was all flip flops all the time for me. I always worry that I have packed too many shoes when I travel. This time I packed four too many pairs.

Portland Drinks- One of my favorite things about Portland is Urban Wineries. Grapes from Washington and California are delivered to these winery warehouses/tasting rooms in urban areas. They make the wine, serve the wine, drink the wine, often alongside cheese plates and snacks, sometimes dinner. We started off Sunday morning at Hip Chicks Do Wine for a little tasting. When we told the owner what we were up to, she insisted on driving us over to Alchemy in her giant truck with the HIP CHICKS vanity plate on the front. By then, it was 11:30 am, we were drunk and were pretty certain that the guy at Alchemy was too. He drank with us as we tasted, served us a taste of the new wine that he was to bottle the next day, and entertained us until our cab arrived with stories of how he came to make wine, meet his wife, move to Portland and build his business. All of these winemakers are so inspiring to us because they strike a chord. They are doing something new with the urban winery. They are bringing something to the community that the community didn't know that they needed. They are making something amazing and lucrative and they "love doing what they do". It is this spirit that has led me to work for myself, do the job that I do and live the life that I live, and what drives Kayla and I in our endeavors together, to tap into that creativity and turn it into livelihood. And. Drink. Wine.

Portland Eats- Oregon's foodie culture is what inspired us to visit. We gathered recommendations from friends and the Internet and set out to eat at the very best places. Portland has a big food truck culture, but we skipped the trucks (and Mexican food) all together. We have enough of that in Texas. We sprang for the Asian food, the french inspired, the foodie food, and the local food. Two of my favorites were Pok Pok and Clyde Commons. They both left me craving more as soon as we finished our last bites. Other notables were Besaw's, Toast, The Delta, and A.N.D. cafe. I followed A.N.D. on Facebook for a couple of weeks, so I got to see photos of the daily specials and everything looked so amazing. It is a vegan cafe that also serves a lot of gluten free options. I am not vegan. In fact, I love meat and I adore cheese. So, I ordered the sandwich with fake meat, buffalo sauce and fake bleu cheese, because I will always order the thing on the menu that has buffalo sauce and bleu cheese. It was impressive! Afterwards, I was able to walk around without cramping! I felt full and satisfied, but still light and energetic. I am not jumping on the vegan bandwagon, but I did appreciate this food. We ate plenty of pork the rest of the vacation to satisfy my carnivorous desires. Last but certainly not least, my all time favorite was Bai Mint. I can not stop thinking about the beef and pumpkin curry dish that we ordered. It tasted like grandmas pot roast on thai crack. We ate it two nights in a row and I dream of it daily. I will study this dish and will not rest until I have it mastered. So. Delicious.