Fully Lived: Portland Recommendations

Welcome to the Fully Lived series (a great accompaniment to the Fully Lived podcast). As I've been exploring this nomad life, people keep asking where my favorite places are in each city I spend a decent amount of time in. Knowing this, I've decided to start a blog series highlighting my favorite haunts in cities that I spend at least a week in. Next in the series is Portland! 

to eat

So I had a bit of fun eating crazy food in Portland, check out some of my favorites. 

I'd never been to Voodoo Doughnuts before, so obviously it was a must-see pilgrimage for me. Sam and Megan (the pair that makes up Covelle) and I walked here after dinner one night to snag some epic sweet treats (and then proceed to devour those doughy bites of goodness over late night giggles back at The Nines). 

Speaking of The Nines, the folks at Departure actually make a really good Scofflaw (my favorite cocktail). it's the first time in a couple months that I've had one made perfectly - they truly killed it!

I'd never been to Yard House before either - even though it was a chain, the food was amazing (and the drinks were even better). Plus, because we went during happy hour, I think my bill - drinks and all - came to about $13. 

Moving right along, I had an absolutely divine brunch at Besaw's, a one hundred and four year old establishment worth every second of that hour wait to get seated. I'm not usually a bloody mary fan either, but the bloodys here were just left of cocktail sauce and left me wanting another - I was impressed!

Can we also please talk about the ACE Hotel Portland's Clyde Common for a hot second? We went during happy hour - not only did they have two full pages of whiskey for me to choose from, they also had a burger that tasted like a Big Mac that was actually half the calories / fat (and half the price too). 

One more for good measure, I actually really enjoyed Rogue Hall's Whiskey Mule. Whiskey, orange ginger beer, orange bitters - basically my own little slice of heaven. (Their fish and chips weren't bad either!).

I ate at a few other places throughout the city but these are my "can't miss" destinations.  

to sleep

I actually slept in the cutest little Airbnb right on Portland State University's campus throughout my stay in Portland. After January's rough start, it was quite a nice place to be - my own room, a kitten for company, all the necessities. A win-win all around!

to see

Between the conference and adventures with friends, I didn't get to see a ton of Portland's sights, but here were my top three favorites. 

The Multnomah Whiskey Library was perhaps the absolute highlight of my adventure. The Library holds an exhaustive collection representing all major, and lesser, styles of distilled spirits known to the modern world. Aka, I was in HEAVEN. 

I also had to pop by Powell's Books - no visit to PDX is complete without this treasure. Powell's Books is an independent bookseller serving Portland, Oregon, since 1971. The book inventory contained within exceeds two million volumes (including a rare book room with books dating back centuries). 

Finally, it might be weird to add a tattoo shop to my top list of places, but when you spend five hours on a Friday night at a tattoo shop, it only makes sense. Murder Ink was a hit and Steve, our artist for the evening, was the absolute best. 

Stay tuned for more travel guides! Next up? Chicago, Illinois!