Being a tourist gives a person the opportunity to wander, explore, and gawk.
I love to gawk.
People are interesting...
...I try not to, but I gawk.
I can't help it.
But when you live somewhere cool,
people don't always appreciate the gawking.
When you're a tourist, they smile, nod,
and give you the look..."Ah, they must be lost."
Being a tourist gives you a bit a grace to be weird and take random pictures.
This weekend, I was a tourist...in my hometown, Portland.
Now, you may wonder why I would choose such a thing. Heck, why not?!
It's easy to keep going to the same places, so I was hoping to find new, interesting places around town.
While looking for new things to do over the summer, I found that Portland Walking Tours had a food tour. It didn't fit into the summer schedule, but it was the perfect way to celebrate a Sparker birthday.
so I knew this was going to be a good time.
I wasn't disappointed.
We met at the Heathman Hotel...
...anyplace that has this adorable bulldog watering bowl at their entrance is good in my book. :0)
The Culinary Tour included 8 stops around town...and I took being a tourist as an opportunity to act like a tourist and take many, many pictures. :0)
This lovely restaurant, is located in a building with rich history.
We were given an appetizer of fresh watermelon, pickled blueberries (yes, pickled!) and ricotta cheese. It was a very interesting combination, and surprising, I loved the pickled blueberries!
The Picnic House
723 SW Salmon Street
Portland, OR 97201
phone: 503-227-0705
email: support@picnichousepdx.com
Regular Hours:
Open Mon-Sat 11am to 9pm-ish
Sunday Noon to 7pm
Stop #2: Benessere- Olive Oils and Vinegar
http://benessereoil.com/index.php
Well, this is the place to go.
Each oil and vinegar had a distinctly different taste
and made me want to purchase numerous flavors.
I'm definitely going back!
Beressere
907 SW 9th Ave
Portland, OR 97205
Phone: (503) 206-5317
E-mail: benessereoil@aol.com
Stop #3: Flying Elephants Delicatessen
http://www.elephantsdeli.com/
(This wasn't a new stop for me...It's one of my FAVORITE places!)
If you haven't ever been to one of Elephant's locations, you must go soon!
We sampled the Orange Tomato Soup, which is my mom's favorite soup.
Stop #4: The Spice & Tea Exchange
536 Southwest Broadway
Portland, OR 97205
PHONE (503) 208-2886
The black truffle sea salt was AMAZING!
I can't wait to run out of a spice so that I can come back to this fabulous store.
Stop #5: The Original Dinerant
This was my FAVORITE stop of the day, and yes, the candied bacon was a bonus.
I really can't believe that I hadn't been here before! It has an old, retro-style feel, but with a modern twist. My friends and I were already planning an evening here as we ate. That evening can't come too soon! Yumma!
Stop #6: Korean Twist Food Cart
Stop #7: The Peoples' Sandwich of Portland
I would have never found this sandwich shop if I hadn't been on the tour...but I have a distinct food memory of the sandwich that I had there. DELICIOUSNESS. Period...that's it...it was delicious.
Stop #8: Voodoo Doughnut
Voodoo Doughnut
22 SW 3rd Avenue Portland Oregon, U.S.A.
phone 503.241.4704
Where else would we end a tour but at Voodoo?
It's a legendary location for anyone visiting Portland!
I mean...where else could you get a Capt. Crunch, maple, sprinkles, M & M's, and grape flavored donuts? Only Voodoo, anywhere else is just trying to copy them....and doing a poor job and being a copycat.
Do you need something different to do this weekend or the next? Then you should definitely try out one of the tours offered at Portland Walking Tours. They create an afternoon that you will remember and a look at Portland from the eyes of a tourist. Plus, you can take a excessive amount of pictures and no one will look at you strangely, because you are just a tourist of course!
Epicurean
Excursion: Culinary Tour
Delicious, inventive, and fun birthday celebration idea! Thanks for introducing us to this tasty journey!
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