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What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 Hours

November 6, 2014

Filed in: Travel

After two 8 hour days of driving, Josh and I finally arrived in Portland, Oregon today in the early evening. Portland, Oregon was not what we imagined – not even close. We pictured a smaller version of San Francisco bustling with people trying to stay out of the rain. It was anything but that…

Try asking any local, “what should we do in Portland?” and it’s hard to get a simple answer – not because there is nothing to do, but rather their city is filled with so many choices, it is hard to decide where to start. We truly understand why now – a few days there and you are wishing for more!

What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 HoursAfter checking into our hotel, the grey skies warranted a nice cup of freshly ground coffee at Stumptown Roasters. We were immediately hooked with the carefully poured latte art. After a long drive to Portland, and I mean LONG, when you are driving through flat farmland, it felt good to stretch our legs so we got the beautiful coffee to go.

What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 Hours

 With coffee in hand, we walked across the way to Powell’s Books. This place was amazing. We could have spent hours there wandering up and down each aisle of books. It was a place to sit and unwind with a good book and escape from reality.

What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 Hours

After hearing all the hype over Voodoo Donuts, we just had to check this place out. Famously known for their wild donut creations, we had high expectations for the sweetness that was about to hit our tongues. We asked for the most popular donut – Oreo Chocolate Peanut Butter and took our first bites. I have to be honest and say, it was not all that it is hyped up to be. I am glad we tried it though!

What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 Hours

It finally started to get too dark for us to be wandering the streets of Portland, so we walked back to our hotel.

Since we had just camped yesterday, we still had some camp food left to cook. I didn’t want to waste anything, so we set up our camp stove and made the rest of our food. Shhh…that was probably not allowed!

What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 Hours

DAY 2

We decided to get an early start today and drive a few blocks from our hotel to the Japanese Garden. When researching Portland, we had heard nothing but rave reviews about this place, and we are so glad we made it here. It is definitely a MUST see in Portland, Oregon.

The moment you enter the garden, you leave behind the bustling world and step into a moment of peace and serenity.

What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 Hours

The path guides you through the garden, giving you a tour of it’s groomed to perfection landscapes.

What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 Hours
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The carefully raked rock garden was our personal favorite. We sat here for a good ten minutes just admiring the simplicity of the art formation.

What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 Hours

By the end of our walk through the Japanese Garden, the light, misty rain and slight chill in the air were making us crave a steaming cup of coffee.

What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 Hours

So, we decided to drive to Division St. to wander around for a while. Lucky for us, we stumbled upon the cutest little coffee shop – Flying Cat Coffee Co! Josh loves vanilla latte’s, so he of course had to try one here. I on the other hand was pretty hungry and decided to try a homemade blueberry  muffin. It was DELICIOUS!

What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 Hours

The girl working the coffee shop recommended we visit the Hawthorne District in the SE outskirts of the city, so that’s where we headed next!

I think I’d have to say this was one of my favorite places in Portland so far. We found quirky vintage shops, bars, and loads of personality.  We absolutely loved wandering through the Red Light Clothing Exchange and getting ideas for our Halloween costumes

What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 Hours

I seriously could have spent hours here…

What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 Hours

These shoes were to die for…and of course they did not have my size!

What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 Hours

We are on our way to the Oregon Coast now! Be on the look out for our next blog post so you can see what we are up to.

What To Do In Portland, Oregon In Less Than 48 Hours

Till next time…Keep Portland Weird!!!

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