Before leaving for our Oregon trip, we asked the experts what we should do whilst in Portland. You know how there are always certain hotspots every city is renowned for. Well, from everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, there were two Portland destinations we must not miss at any cost:
“Powell’s City of Books” and “Voodoo Doughnuts”.
Always up for a challenge, the intrepid Thomas family dove into both locations to see what all the hype was about. And let’s just say we were not disappointed…
Admittedly, we are book lovers, and inevitably gravitate toward a bookstore wherever we are, but this place was the Harrods of hardbacks, the palace of picture books… think bibliomaniacs’ utopia!
It truly is a book lover’s paradise, and claims to be the largest used and new bookstore in the world! It covers an entire city block with its 3,500 sections in nine color coded areas, boasting over a millions books, and yes, maps are provided! What makes it unique (other than its sheer magnitude) is the fact that new and used, paperbacks and hardbacks are all together on the shelf. How awesome is that? You find the book you’re looking for, and then decide whether you want to pay full price for new, or get a cheaper version, gently used. Genius.
The biggest miracle of all was our self-control. We only allowed ourselves ONE HOUR in this labyrinth of literature, lest we never be seen again. I managed to find a few gems, naturally:
Next was Voodoo Doughnuts. I’m not a huge fan of doughnuts in general- I’ll partake out of courtesy, but would sooner a bar of chocolate any day of the week. When in Portland…
Apparently the queuing outside along the brick wall is normal, and this fast-paced establishment takes cash only, and you must NOT leave the front door open, because it’s drafty. The servers seemed rather stressed (possibly from the super loud, super heavy music blaring), and I opted out of selecting from the chalkboard- some of the doughnut names made me blush just saying them in my head! We went into “greedy mode” and got them to pick a dozen for us. Way easier. My favourite part? The pink box!
My only request was that we have an original little voodoo man doughnut. Cute yet creepy.
As promised, the doughnuts were both eclectic and delicious. I think we were on a sugar high for the next three days after these babies. But it was quite the experience.
We loved Portland- it could have been the free upgrade for 2 nights to the top floor suite in our hotel, it could have been the amazing Washington Square Mall, or the Cheesecake Factory, or finding the Christmas store in Macy’s, or walking in the sunshine by the river downtown, or the Premium Outlet Mall en route. We enjoyed it all…
But ESPECIALLY the books and the doughnuts.
Well read and well fed,
