greenery in stumptown (portland, or)

Portland, Oregon is an awesome little city. It's one of the most environmentally friendly not in the world. It's hip neighborhoods are divided by logical direction. And, it boasts a number of microbreweries and coffee houses. 

Yep, I'd say that I really enjoyed the 24 hours I spent there.

I arrived early on Friday afternoon.

My first 3 hours were spent in one of Stumptown's many coffee shop establishments around the city. I applied for jobs, updated this blog, and waited for my friend to get home from her day of birthday shopping.

 

When she did, I strolled on over to her apartment, passing many walkers and bikers on my way.

 We caught up (it's been month's since I've seen her), celebrated her 23rd year with white wine and cupcakes, and got ready for the night of festivities ahead.

 She is a first-year law student and has many judicial-minded new friends to show for it. We chatted, drank local beer, sang karaoke, and had what can only be described as a grand ol' time.

But, of course, that didn't leave much time for rest. I had half of an Earnest Eats granola plank at around eight and set out for my morning of Oregon discovery.

 Well, that's only half true. I actually spent my first two hours in Urban Grind Coffeehouse with a soy latté and more computer catch-up work.

 Then I set to explore the Pearl District, one of Portland's best known art districts.

 There were some pretty cool views of the city's many bridges.

And a bunch of amazing stores, shops, and in this case, street names. The fact that there is a "LoveJoy St" makes me smile. 

 Of course, there were also many art galleries that didn't allow for photographs. So, I took a picture of a seasonal tree to commemorate my true first day of autumn in the U.S.

 By 1:30 I started to get hungry. I intended to go to Park Kitchen for a taste of local cuisine, and so was disappointed to find that it was closed for Saturday lunches.

 To remedy the melancholy, I went to Silk (a phenomenal Vietnamese restaurant) instead. My curried tofu dish had an exquisite mix of Asian vegetables and I certainly appreciated the brown rice side.

Afterwards, I sped down 23rd street thanks to a suggestion by a thoughtful twitter follower.

In addition to stopping by Portland's famous Saturday market. This picture is not my own, but the selection was as good as, if not better, than it displays.

I left the first city on my Pacific Northwest tour about 3 so that I could reunite with another wonderful friend of mine... but I'll save that story for next time :).