A lover’s getaway to Portland, OR
Written by: Lizzy Atwood Wills, MBT Founder
I LOVE BEING IN LOVE IN PORTLAND! Portland is a city I’ve called home for 12 years. It’s been a refuge of comfort foods, nature, creativity, and community for me, plus, I fell in love here so I know all the cute date spots and secret corners for canoodling lovers. More on my own love story later, but my love Sam is definitely the type to surprise me with a trip to the Michelin-starred French Laundry in our first year of dating after 5 years as friends, so I’d say it was a slow burn and then an all the way to the moon kinda love story. IYKYK <3.
My favorite way to explore Portland is on foot, and it’s how you find the most serendipitous magic this city has to offer, but our City is pretty spread out, so using a car (uber, lyft, and taxis are all prevalent here) will help you move from neighborhood to neighborhood with a little less effort.
Portland is quite easy to navigate — it’s on a grid design, made up of quadrants (the only confusing part is that there’s actually 5 of them). The easiest way to understand is to look at a map of Portland, oriented from North - South. On the very top Northern tip is North Portland (the 5th wheel in this quadrant situation). You’ll see the Willamette river running between the City, which splits the East side from the West side. From there, Burnside Street splits North from South. The quadrants are called Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, and Southwest. Get it?
Image Credit: Travel Portland
Portland is also a great jumping off point for so many other amazing sights in Oregon — from wine country (hello Oregon Pinot just an hour South, to the Historic Columbia River Gorge about an hour North (gorgeous nature along the Columbia). There’s also the Oregon Coast two hours West, and the Cascade Mountain Range, and the glorious city of Bend about 3 hours East. For now, we’re focused on a sweetheart’s weekend getaway in Portland, but we’ll share more about Oregon again soon!
One last thing: We don’t do gentle seasons here. It rains a lot, yes, but really, the weather is always changing. It’s as if the seasons like to put on their best show, and the locals observe totally at the mercy of it all, but mostly completely enamored. We love a seasonal cocktail, a farm-to-table meal, skiing in the winter, hiking in the rain, soaking in the sun, and the fashion is constantly changing to suit the conditions.
Since it’s fall, here’s what I’m in the mood for*:
Eat breakfast at Sweedeedee, a cozy, brightly-lit, simply decorated local breakfast shop serving things like fried eggs on toast, breakfast salads, and amazing baked pies and rotating baked goods. They play records to set the mood, and every table is decorated with a delicate flower in a tiny vase. The coffee is good, service is so kind, and the food is just, chefs kiss. If there’s a wait, put your name in and pop into Mississippi Records to find the best mix of the latest hits and delectable oldies-but-goodie records. This might be the best, and is certainly one of the oldest record shops in the city.
Sweedeedee
Stroll down to Mississippi street, a bustling neighborhood full of local shops, coffee pit stops and Paxton Gate, a shop known for ethically sourced taxidermy, but also full of other oddities. If taxidermy is not your thing, stop in at Sage Crystal shop on the next corner for a treat to align your energies.
Lunch Picnic at Mt. Tabor- on the way up to this scenic public park, enter from the backside, on SE Belmont St. Here, you can stop in to the Coquine Market for a glass of wine, and to pick up some cheese, crackers, and some of the most amazing freshly baked chocolate chip cooking for a cute lil picnic up at the top of the crater with a view (YES! Mt Tabor is literally a dormant volcano in the middle of our city, and it gives some of the best views of the city you can find IMHO). This place gives such a magical sense of being in nature with a little bit of a sense of being on top of the world, while you are still very much in the middle of the city.
Mt. Tabor Park
From Mt Tabor, you can easily pop down to your choice of many of the local neighborhoods in the area, from the ever-popular SE Hawthorne street full of vintage stores with great deals, and Powell’s Books (but not the flagship store, that one is downtown) to SE Division Street, with great boutiques, craft shops, and the beloved Salt & Straw ice cream shop.
If I were you, I’d be ready to rest my legs and chill out for a while, so I’d recommend a sunset hot tub cruise, through a company called Yacht Tubs, right in the center of the city on the Willamette River. This needs to be booked in advance, but it’s literally as cool as it sounds— a 6-person hot tub in a private little cruiser on the river. This is a bit of a splurge, but for your special weekend in Portland with your sweetheart, it’s probably worth it, right?!
A Yacht Tubs cruise on the Willamette River. Did you know Portland has 13 bridges?!
For a later dinner, head to a historic dive bar, Reel ‘M Inn, and get the best made-to-order fried chicken in all the land. Order your drink and your chicken, and know that you’re in for at least a 45 minute wait, but it is entirely worth it when you bite into that crispy, juicy chicken dipped in buffalo sauce and ranch. Order JoJo’s (potato wedges) on the side for a perfect combo and a great end to the day. Portlanders love dive bars, and this place is a local fave. Be warned that this bar has a bit of Portland grit to it, with video lottery machines, pool tables, lots of smokers (who have to go outside), and badass bartenders who take no shit, but it’s a great way to see the underbelly of Portland’s true self.
Forbes recently wrote an article about Portland, and sums up why I love this city so much:
“...this is a makers’ town at heart, with a craft scene that dates to the 1800s. Whether it’s sewing clothes, tempering artisanal chocolate or brewing craft beer, the folks here aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. It’s a land of forward-thinkers and freewheelers.”
*You could do all this in one very full day, or spread it out a bit if you want to take a slower pace. Enjoy!
Are you using this guide? Tag us on instagram @meridianboutiquetravel as you travel through Portland!