So, to say that I’m suuuper behind on blogging would be a bit of an understatement, but hey…life happens, ya know? Anyway, I’ve had all of these half-finished posts sitting in my drafts box for the past couple of months and I decided that it was finally time to remedy that, so here I am taking it back to November…in almost February, because I do what I want :). Moving on…
Here’s a little background that you should probably know before embarking on this blog post:
1. My husband is fairly ambivalent about vacations. He’s more than happy to take time away from work, but he LOVES being home and he HATES spending a bunch of money, which as you can imagine doesn’t exactly go hand-in-hand with traveling. He would be completely happy to have little staycations here in town and never leave Portland.
2. My husband LOVES sports. Like more than a friend, a lot.
So, when I was approached by TickPick about partnering on a blog post, the wheels in my head started spinning. TickPick is a no-fee ticket marketplace where you can buy and sell tickets to concerts and events…events like football games (can you see those wheels a turnin’?). For all his love of sports, my husband had never been to an NFL football game. For one, we don’t have a team here in Portland (womp, womp) and secondly, tickets to Seahawks games (up in Seattle) aren’t exactly easy to get/affordable. BUT…maybe, just maybe if I could work something out with the ticket situation I could work this football game into a little getaway. Two birds. One stone.
After reminding my husband that our anniversary was coming up in December, and we hadn’t been away without children in two years, and wouldn’t it be soooo much fun to go to a football game, and by the way TickPick will be purchasing one of these tickets, so we really only have to buy one, which basically means this trip would be pretty much free…right?
The convincing was much easier than I had anticipated (because: football), so I quickly used my TickPick app to purchase the tickets before he changed his mind. It was super easy to use and gave the available seats a value rating so it would make our job of purchasing a whole lot easier. No worrying about whether or not we were getting a good deal or not, because TickPick took out all the guess work. Once the tickets were purchased and children were carted to the grandparents, the vacation could begin!
Our first stop of the trip before heading out of town was to get Voodoo Donuts, because: vacation. This particular donut is called the Memphis Mafia and it’s my husband’s favorite, so he made me try it, but the crazy toppings at Voodoo aren’t my speed. I’m more of a classics kind of girl, so I just ate around the toppings in the middle, much to Craig’s bewilderment. The edge was good though!
Our next stop was at The Country Cousin. Definitely not fine cuisine, but it’s sort of a tradition in Craig’s family to stop here on the way up north.
After our rainy drive, we arrived at Hotel Max. We stayed here for a couple of nights on our honeymoon (on our way back from Whistler), so it was fun nostalgic staying here again. If hanging downtown is your jam, this location is prime and the hotel is cool – although the rooms are definitely on the small side (no bathroom counter). It was close enough to walk to the stadium for the football game and in close proximity to the monorail, light rail and buses. The downside to staying downtown that we quickly realized is that there were quite a few spots that were closed/closed early on weekends. I know it’s the same downtown Portland, since more people are downtown during the week for work than on the weekends, but it was still a bit of a pain. We ended up driving to other parts of the city a few times and decided that in the future it would probably be better to choose a different neighborhood than being right downtown. Live and learn. That said, if you’ve never done the touristy Seattle type things, this is a great spot. Close to Pike’s Place Market, the Space Needle and other local favorites.
This is the part where you learn that vacations for us basically involve a whole lot of eating and sleeping in. Glorious, no? Our first stop for Seattle cuisine was Oddfellows Cafe + Bar. First of all, the restaurant itself was ridiculously cute, but beyond that the food was delicious too.
I may have had actual dreams about that breakfast sandwich and salad. Craig got French toast, but I don’t mess around with sweet things at breakfast. Unless it’s donuts. I always make exceptions for donuts.
The food was good, but in the interest of full-disclosure the coffee was just meh. Craig ordered a cappuccino and the barista asked if he wanted it 12 oz. A cap is DEFINITELY not a 12 oz. drink. That would be a latte. Our friend in the text below got a good laugh though. #coffeesnobproblems
Thankfully our friend Caroline came to the rescue and suggested Analog Coffee. SO good! OK Seattle…I guess you’re alright after all.
After filling up our bellies with deliciousness we came back to our hotel and laid in bed to binge watch Master of None on Netflix. Basically a parent’s dream.
We lounged around until heading out for an early dinner at Local 360 Cafe + Bar.
I had the rabbit sausage breakfast sandwich and it was on another level. Like one of the best things we ate for sure. And those grits!! All the heart eyes for those cheesy, delicious grits and I don’t even usually like grits. For sure the best grits I’ve ever had. If you are in Seattle: GO HERE. So good.
With full bellies we made our way to the main attraction: the Seahawks game
Our seats were SO good!
Ear plugs were a must because the Seahawks stadium is notoriously loud…it’s sort of their thing.
It was FREAKING cold and I basically complained about that fact the entire time, but it was a great game (even though the Hawks lost) and we had fun. Thanks TickPick!
The following day we started our day with donuts from General Porpoise because we had heard rave reviews. I hate to give less than stellar reviews for small businesses, but these weren’t my favorite – especially for the price of nearly $4 per donut. We each had two because: gluttons. The vanilla custard that I had was really good and Craig really liked the chocolate marshmallow one a lot, but our second donuts were a different story. I got the lemon curd (as lemon curd is one of my most favorite flavors in life) and something about the taste reminded me of wet dog (weird I know). I chalked it up to weird pregnancy tastebuds initially, but Craig’s peanut butter & jelly donut also had an odd taste…sort of fish-sauce-like. I dunno. I wouldn’t say not to go here, because it’s seriously adorable and the people were really friendly. Just choose your flavor wisely.
We followed up donuts with coffee from Milstead & Co which was an excellent choice. Two thumbs up. I also tried their hot apple cider and it was real good.
Milstead was right up the street from the Fremont Troll, which I had somehow never seen. All of my adolescent memories of watching Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You came flooding back.
Then we ate again…are you surprised? We had lunch at Revel and it tied with Local 360 for our favorite eats of the trip. Craig had delicious Ramen and I had something with steak that was heavenly. So flavorful and the prices were great. We sat at the counter and got a close-up show watching the chefs in the kitchen. Definitely a fun experience.
We ended our food tour at The Whale Wins for dinner that evening and it was really delicious. The Whale Wins is great if you’re looking for a fancier date night spot. It’s definitely not cheap, but it’s an experience worth having. It’s basically what would happen Kinfolk magazine was a restaurant. This was our 3rd time eating there and we enjoyed it as always.
On the way home, Craig appeased my request for some “normal donuts” and we stopped at Top Pot. Nothing fancy, just good, classic donuts. We also grabbed our last caffeinated beverages at Elm Coffee Roasters and I would also recommend it. I was a very happy camper.
Longest post ever, but a lot happens when you are childless for 4 days. Or, you know…at least a lot of food gets eaten. Seattle was fun and we definitely had some good food, but Portland will always have my heart…and my belly!
xo
Lauren
You and your hubby look so cute together! Loved all the pictures!