The Rip City Experience

This past week[end] my car took me to Portland, OR. Through the city and past the volcanoes, it traveled south to the micro-beer haven.

About three hours south we traveled, Taiece and I, to visit her family. I even saw a familiar face- a old roommate, a friend.

Portland was comfortable. It reminded me much more of Milwaukee than does Seattle. It is smaller and less crowded. However I did spend most of my time in the suburb, so my view could be slightly skewed.

A couple highlights of this Milwaukee-Portland dual:

• Portland has a largely known, but almost seemingly cult-like, doughnut place called "Voodoo Doughnuts" HERE is a photo of one. The Bacon-topped pastry was my choice. For you sweets fanatics, this might have been your choice.
• I thought Milwaukee had a good beer selection. Well, Portland is the micro-brew capital, which includes micro-brews, brew pubs, and yes, even the cheap stuff.
• The public transportation option was really nice. Sprawling outward from the epicenter of downtown, this light rail mass transit is fast and easy to use as it runs right on the downtown streets. Why cant Milwaukee pull their heads of out each others butts and get working on something similar?

Last, but CERTAINLY not least was the hot, juicy, flavorful street-cart food I walked into with Collin and Taiece. It's a mini-world of ...world foods that sit on the street corner, each occupying it's own food cart. It looks like this at night.

Portland was fun. A great experience to build upon. It's now time to head back north and continue to discover Seattle's secrets.