Babies and beer in the Pacific Northwest (cont.)

Beer and babies at the Oregon Public House

The next day, we slept in. (Well, as much as you *can* sleep in with a 2-month-old!) Once the baby was fed and snuggled into Laura's arms, Grace and I walked about a block and a half from her house to pick up coffee and bagels at a local shop.

We had a lazy morning, then made our way into town to browse the antique shops. There were so many fun little stores to poke around in! We found ancient curling irons (The shop owner said women routinely burned their hair clean off using them.), little metal cases for everything from cosmetics to bobby pins, TONS of beautiful old cameras, even some old glass insulators! It was so tempting to buy things, but I didn't want the hassle of packing anything all the way back home!

When we found ourselves hungry around lunch time, we headed to the Oregon Public House, the world's first non-profit pub. First, you select from a menu of charities. Then, you order off the menu. The profits that the pub normally would have made off your order are donated to the charity you picked out. It's #aletruism, and it's actually kind of brilliant. I chose the OPH nachos (delicious, and a BIG serving), washed down with a tall glass of hard cider.

Pie, my friends. PIE.

As we were finishing our snacks at the pub, the server there told us we HAD to go to a nearby pie shop for dessert. Such a fervent rec had us looking for the place straightaway.

She wasn't wrong. The Random Order Cafe serves big, beautiful pies of all kinds, from sweet to savory. They also pour delicious specialty coffees and cocktails. I had a GIANT slice of cherry pie with a huge mound of real whipped cream on top, alongside a hefty cup of coffee with cream. We all had fun trying each other's pies (and drinks - Laura got a nudge - coffee with liquor in it). I had so much fun at this place that I nearly had my mail forwarded.

A fire dancer. Just another
random night in Portland.

Full from the pub grub and pie, we opted to return home for a well-deserved nap! We'd been so busy since we'd arrived that we were pooped! We lazed around until evening, when Ryan and I decided to go out for a bit. The first place we went to pick up dinner was closed for remodeling. (And, boy, did they mean it. We peeped in through the back door, and there literally was NO FLOOR in the place.) Ryan was starving, so we ended up just parking the car and walking into the Mac! Mac and Cheesery. It was just the ticket! The menu is about a million takes on mac and cheese, plus a few sandwiches and salads, and of course, a full bar. We each got a drink and a giant plate of mac. I chose the truffle variety, studded with peas, mushrooms, truffle oil and prosciutto. (I ate one plate there, and got another to go for Laura and Grace back home! Yummmm!)

After we were finished, we thought we might head over to Salt and Straw for some ice cream. We ended up having to park about a couple of blocks away because the whole street was closed off for a festival. We watched a fire dancer perform for a bit (just another random night in Portland, you know?) before realizing that, due in part to the festival, the line for Salt and Straw was impossibly LONG! Giving up on our bum luck, we headed back to the house.

The Portland Museum of Art has an impressive collection!

The next morning, on our last day in Portland, we visited the Portland Museum of Art. We had a quick pastry and some coffee in their on-site cafe, and then headed for the art! I really enjoyed this museum. It's plenty big enough to keep you occupied, but small enough that you can cover it in a day. A gorgeous and varied collection, everything from Asian art to classical European paintings to a really impressive exhibit on Native American art and culture. I even enjoyed their modern collection, and I'm normally not a fan of modern art.

The Native American exhibit is particularly notable.

We stayed at the museum until fairly late in the afternoon. Now, there was a place we'd been driving by nearly every day that I'd wanted to stop at. It was called Sausage Kitchen, and it had a big red and white sign with a pig on it. (I knew immediately that these were my kind of people.) All week, Grace had been driving right by it. I FINALLY convinced her to stop for some food to go! As soon as I walked in, I knew we'd made a good choice. They smoke their own meats, and they also do a lot of processing. The veryvery old lady behind the counter fixed us up with several different kinds of delicious sandwiches, a few bags of chips, and a few neat specialty sodas to try. What fun! We headed home and ate. It. UP!

That night, our last night in Portland, Laura and I kept that sweet little baby while Grace and Ryan went out. I loved on all of his sweet baby softness. I gave that little munchkin a bath. (So much fun! He's such a cute little feller, and it made me remember when I used to bathe Clay, when he was a baby!) We fed him a bottle, burped him, gave him lots of kisses, and rocked him to sleep. It was so, so precious to be with him.

Baby Owen! What a sweetie!

We were up EARLY the next morning to head home. I was so THRILLED that we got a chance to see Grace and Ryan, and especially little Owen! I cannot WAIT until I get to hold that baby in my arms again! What a heartbreaker!