Oregon will always hold a special place in my heart, both for three years I spent at Willamette University and the time I’ve spent amidst the culinary and artistic offerings of Portland. I took some time away from unemployment, I mean, working on my NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Application recently to visit some friends down in Oregon this past weekend, as well as make a trip to see some of Nacho‘s art that his wife put up on Willamette’s campus. I knew the trip was going to be emotionally challenging, but I knew I wanted to see his work before it was sent to the East Coast to be hung in his sister’s restaurant. While a fair bit of crying and reflection took place on the trip, I also was able to spend a lot of time with friends and food, pictures of which are located below.
My van, all packed up for the trip.
My first stop, outside Big Giant in Portland.
The inside of BG.
Tasty stop #1 – Olympic Provisions with Cece.
Cece nabbed a picture after she finished looking at her food.
Me, pretending to be Cece at her desk. (She constantly tweets pictures of similar views).
When I finally got down to Salem, I asked Siri what the meaning of life was. This was the response…
Later that night, I was caught skipping down the street.
On Friday, Lauren and stopped at an Apple Store on our way to Portland to pick up her iPhone. This was her excited face.
The first stop in Portland was the Solestruck store, to pick up some Lita’s for Lo and visit the Bridge and Burn pop up shop. We also got to see Tina, who took a picture of me trying on jeans when we visited the Woodlands, next door.
After the Woodlands, we visited Tanner Goods (pictured) as well as Blackbird‘s Portland location.
Tasty Spot #2 – Dinner at Serratto, where Lo was enjoying the quality of her camera on the iPhone 4s (as well as the pork shoulder.)
The next morning, I had a tough boot decision to make.
Tasty Spot #3 – When I resolved my boot decision, I found my way to a tasty breakfast at Word of Mouth, one of the best breakfasts in Oregon (alongside Tasty N Sons).
When I got home I was welcomed to reality by a bunch of unread mail.
Just the getaway I needed.
