Eat, Shop, Walk, Then Eat Some More

What happens when 8 women get together for a birthday weekend getaway in Portland? Shopping and eating, eating and shopping, followed by some shopping, and some more eating. We crammed our luggage into 2 rooms at the Nines, a hip luxury hotel in the heart of Downtown, and hit the town with the goal of doing our best to support the local economy.

Since I had just been in Portland the week prior with my parents, I was mostly interested in getting to know some spots I had not yet experienced. And since the birthday girl is a foodie, I knew we were in for some culinary treats. Our first stop was dinner at Nostrana, a rustic Italian restaurant where I enjoyed a warming bowl of butternut squash soup, a rustic salad with yummy seasonal vegetables I was unable to identify, and a simple but delicious Pizza Margherita.

The next morning, still full, we made our way to Portland's breakfast institution, Mother's Bistro.

Going out to breakfast is one of my favorite things to do on weekends, so I'm a bit of a connoisseur. The Chanterelle Omelette was good, but not life-changing. The Pumpkin Pancakes, on the other hand, were quite yummy and rivaled those at the 14 Carrot Cafe in Seattle.

Needless to say we had a lot of walking to do if we were going to work up an appetite for any additional culinary escapades, so after breakfast we explored Downtown and the Pearl District.

Later that afternoon, chilled, and a little worn out from shopping, we stopped at Elephants Delicatessen, a gem of a deli I wish I had known about earlier and could have shared with my parents. The place is jam-packed with typical deli fare like meats and cheeses, but they also have a hot bar which is surprisingly diverse and delicious. I enjoyed Butternut Squash and Pear Soup, fancy "Grown-up" Mac-N-Cheese and Butternut Squash Pizza which has the divine combination of roasted butternut squash, onions, dried cherries, gruyere & brie. Mm, mm good. 

Surprisingly, the pièce de resistance came, from all places, the Deschutes Brewery. Although they have the usual bar fare, they make an effort to use seasonal and sustainable ingredients and therefore come up with some interesting twists to burgers and fries. I decided to try the Walnut Beet Burger which is a patty made of roasted beets and toasted walnuts, topped with goat cheese and white balsamic vinaigrette dressed field greens on a brioche bun. If you loathe beets, you probably wouldn't find this veggie burger as delicious as I did.

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I'm starting to think that the way to get me to consider a move to Portland, might be through my stomach!

It seems I've made myself hungry again. Bon appetit!

The Beautiful Rocks

Lately, with the change in weather, I've been thinking a great deal about Hawai'i. Our visit to the Big Island in April was much too short, and not just because of the warmer, sunnier weather, but because it's such a fascinating place. In Seattle we say "wait a few minutes and the weather will change". On the Big Island, wait a few minutes and you will find yourself in a completely different ecosystem.

We decided to begin our vacation on the rainy, and more volcanically active side of the island first, and drove south and then east from the Kona airport to Pahoa. Guidebooks describe Pahoa as a small hippie enclave with little tourism and nightlife, but tons of personality and natural beauty. This was exactly the sort of place we wanted to start our Hawai'ian vacation.

In one of the guidebooks I came across a rental guest house on the property of a home which has been featured in interior design magazines. Pohakunani, or "The Beautiful Rocks" is perched on top of a lava field and is about a 2 block walk from the ocean.

The Main House - "Pohakunani"

I'd never seen an outdoor living room perched on a moonscape before this.

I'm not particularly fond of the boxiness of modern architecture, and didn't find our little guest house terribly pretty from the outside.

The Guest House

But the surrounding foliage was definitely impressive.

And the inside was roomy, clean and comfortable.

I was quite fond of the purple walls.

At night the chirping of the Coqui frogs outside lulled us to sleep. Many people find their sound irritating, but I thought it was kinda cute. 

In case you're dying to know what a Coqui frog looks like:

Sadly I never saw these little guys. This pic was taken from www.frogworld.net.

Rich volcanic soil and plenty of rainfall bring lushness to what would be an otherwise barren landscape.

Me and the effusive local foliage

The only other time I had seen a black sand beach was years ago in Costa Rica, so I was pretty excited to experience one again. This one was about a 2 block walk, and a short scramble down, from Pohakunani.

The tiny beach boasted the most bizarre tree I have ever seen. I have no idea how it stays upright, especially since it is consistently pounded by the surf. It is terrifically symbolic of the island's resilient residents who regularly endure earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.

Aloha.