Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Halloween in Portland

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I decided I didn't want to spend it in Bakersfield again. So this year I decided to go up north to the Pacific Northwest for the first time
My mentor from work, Bridgett, and her husband moved up to Portland about 6 months ago. I have wanted to go to Portland forever due to the amount of craft breweries, hip spots, and amazing food.

But first and foremost, it was Halloween and we had to do costumes. This year I was hipster Belle from beauty and the beast
And Bridgett was Ariel and her husband was Aladdin. We went to a concert venue that was turned into a giant Halloween party for the night. There were tons of awesome and crazy costumes. The party was 80s themed so there was lots of great music. Between people watching and dancing, it was a blast.

The next day we woke up to the sound of heavy rain. But that didn't stop us from adventuring. First we went to a local farmers market for some brunch, the most amazing biscuits and gravy I ever had 
Bridgett took me on a tour of the city. It reminded me a lot of both Brooklyn and Boston. 

Bridgett knows how much I love to read so one of the places she took me was Powells City of Books. It was overwhelmingly amazing
Somehow I walked out with only two books.

We went back outside and it was pouring
And flooding
So we retreated into a brewery or two
We went to an awesome authentic German place for dinner. Since it was Halloween and all the streets were quickly becoming rivers, we spent the night watching scary movies and staying warm and dry in her apartment.

The next day we awoke to blue skies!!
We walked along the river and checked out a Sunday art fair going on. Since it was nice enough out, we were able to go to a local mansion that over looks the city
There was so much green! Next stop was the famous St.Johms bridge, a cool gothic style bridge.
Next, since we are food scientists on a constant mission...we got ice cream!
Those waffle cones were the best I d ever had. I had almond brittle with salted ganache, and Bridgett had sweet potato with candied walnuts. We make boring ice cream at work a lot, so it's fun to try weird combinations that can't be done for mainstream markets.

At night once again we ate way too much food, this time some warm and savory Vietnamese food to help us through the chilly night. 

The next day I took a trip down to Salem to tour the fruit processing facility of one of our vendors. Obviously I have no pictures because it's confidential, but I can say it was fascinating and delicious! 

And the. I went back to the beer tasting
So delicious.

The end of my trip was low key, with Bridgett cooking dinner while I played with her pets
Overall, a very fun and delicious trip. Despite the rain and the cold, I had a great time and want to go back to keep exploring the city!

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