The day Shawn and I officially decided we were going to move to Vancouver, Washington I immediately started making a list of all the places and restaurants I wanted to go to. Unfortunately we didn't live there long enough to cross off everything on the list but we still did a good amount of things - I guess you could just say it was like we were tourists for a month.
Washington
The main place I wanted to visit was Fort Vancouver. I really only wanted to visit the fort because I wanted to get my National Parks book stamped, which I did. I've talked breifly about our Fort Vancouver visit before but I'll share a little more today. Thanks to my mother-in-law and her boyfriend we were able to have a beautiful one year anniversary dinner at The Grant House (on Officer's Row), which was Ulysses S. Grant's house for a period of time. It was such a beautiful old house and it was crazy to sit down and eat dinner and think about how many historic events took place right where we sat.
Another fun event that both Shawn and I enjoyed going to every weekend was the Vancouver Farmers Market. It took place in little downtown Vancouver. It was a tiny farmers market and it barely took ten minutes to walk through the whole thing but I found the best homemade cookies there and it was a beautiful day every time we went.
Although we lived in Washington, we didn't get the chance to do a few things that I had heard about. Here is a list of things I wish we had time to enjoy:
Although we lived in Washington, we didn't get the chance to do a few things that I had heard about. Here is a list of things I wish we had time to enjoy:
- Lewis Falls
- Palouse Falls
- Skagit Valley Tulip Fields
- Philbrook Farms (berry picking)
- Seattle (and all of the tourist things there)
Oregon
For one reason or another we seemed to spend more time in Oregon - probably because there was no sales tax. It probably also had something to do with there being a lot more to do in Oregon. Everyone knows that Portland's slogan is "Keep Portland Weird" and let me tell you, it really is weird. There's just some crazy people out there and right in the beautiful grassy area over looking the Willamette River is a homeless colony. It's just a strange place. If you can get past the Portland weird there are a lot of great places that I would highly recommend visiting.
For starters, Multnomah Falls, which I know I have talked about before but it's just so beautiful and if you ever have the chance to go and experience it I would highly suggest going.
For starters, Multnomah Falls, which I know I have talked about before but it's just so beautiful and if you ever have the chance to go and experience it I would highly suggest going.
Another must-do is Powell's Books, especially if you love books. It's a whole city block and five stories tall. We visited Powell's four or five times and I still never made it to all of the sections. I was a little scared about getting lost.
If you are looking for something fun to do (especially if you have kids) I would suggest the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). It's interactive and educational! Plus if you are in the mood to feel claustrophobic there is a submarine you can go in!
A typical "Portland tourist" thing is the Portland Farmers Market. Remember how I told you the Vancouver Farmers Market took about ten minutes to walk through? Well the Portland Farmers Market took about an hour...and hour of fighting with people just to walk. It was packed. Maybe we went on a busy weekend, I'm not sure, but it was just so busy and overwhelming I honestly don't even know if I would go back. We didn't even buy anything. There were just took many people and it was right in the middle of the homeless colony I was telling you about. So that was a good one and done.
If you are looking for something fun to do (especially if you have kids) I would suggest the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). It's interactive and educational! Plus if you are in the mood to feel claustrophobic there is a submarine you can go in!
A typical "Portland tourist" thing is the Portland Farmers Market. Remember how I told you the Vancouver Farmers Market took about ten minutes to walk through? Well the Portland Farmers Market took about an hour...and hour of fighting with people just to walk. It was packed. Maybe we went on a busy weekend, I'm not sure, but it was just so busy and overwhelming I honestly don't even know if I would go back. We didn't even buy anything. There were just took many people and it was right in the middle of the homeless colony I was telling you about. So that was a good one and done.
Being that we were in Portland, Oregon, there was a ton of stuff to do but we only had one month to do it all. Since that month flew by I had a lot of places left on my list that I hope one day I'll go back to see. Here's the Oregon list:
- Forest Park
- Mount Hood National Forest
- Oneonta Gorge
- Pioneer Courthouse Square
- OSHU Aerial Tram
- Pittock Mansion
Now let's talk about restaurants. There are SO MANY in both states that we wanted to try but we didn't have enough time!
Here is the list of restaurants/donut shops we got a chance to try:
And here is the list of the places we unfortunately didn't get to try:
Shawn and I do plan on going back to the Portland and Vancouver area at some point, if not to live then at least to visit, so hopefully I will be able to cross more things off of my list. The joke is that Portland is a great place for 20 somethings to retire too and it's so true! I'm pretty sure nobody there actually works. I think they just go around eating, drinking, and biking all day.
For the short little time we did live there I loved it. I would have loved to spend more time there but things happen for a good reason. Now that we are in Little Rock we don't go out as much and that's definitely a good thing. I'm not going to lie I gained more weight than I would have liked to while living in Vancouver, but what is a girl supposed to do when there is delicious food all around?!
Here is the list of restaurants/donut shops we got a chance to try:
- Deschutes Brewery
- Waffle Window
- Bamboo Sushi
- Brunch Box
- Mother's
- Killer Burger (one of my favorites)
- Huber's
- Beaches Bar and Grill
- Blue Star Donuts
- Voodoo Donuts
- Salt and Straw Ice Cream
And here is the list of the places we unfortunately didn't get to try:
- The Grocery
- Who Song and Larry's
- Gustavs
- Shari's
- Fire on the Mountain
- Black Bear Diner
- Little Bog Burger
- Big Ass Sandwiches
- Smaaken Waffle Sandwiches
- Departure
- Tim Shed Cafe
- Pizzicato
- Portland Penny Diner
Shawn and I do plan on going back to the Portland and Vancouver area at some point, if not to live then at least to visit, so hopefully I will be able to cross more things off of my list. The joke is that Portland is a great place for 20 somethings to retire too and it's so true! I'm pretty sure nobody there actually works. I think they just go around eating, drinking, and biking all day.
For the short little time we did live there I loved it. I would have loved to spend more time there but things happen for a good reason. Now that we are in Little Rock we don't go out as much and that's definitely a good thing. I'm not going to lie I gained more weight than I would have liked to while living in Vancouver, but what is a girl supposed to do when there is delicious food all around?!
Have you ever visited the Vancouver and Portland area? What was your favorite part about it?
I'll be back next Wednesday! Have a great rest of your week!
I'll be back next Wednesday! Have a great rest of your week!
Caitlin