Team Juloa: Portland Recap

So, by now you probably figured out that we went to Portland, Oregon for our anniversary trip. We had been to Portland once before for an overnight visit during a road trip to California. Since we both enjoyed our brief stay there, Noa thought it would be a fun city to explore some more. Bonus: it was the 100th celebration of the Rose Festival (I just learned that Portland was the city of roses, so the festival is aptly named) and it was also Fleet Week, so there were several Navy ships in port. I like to think that the city leaders knew it was a big weekend for us and decided to plan everything around that.

We stayed at the Hotel Monaco, which is an eclectic hotel chain in large cities, known for it's eclectic decor, luxurious ammenities, and kid and dog-friendly atmosphere. I love it. Although I didn't see as many dogs as I had hoped to, I still appreciated that it welcomed canine visitors so openly.

The decor is really fun. It had a serious art deco feel to it. I wish I could decorate like that in my own home but I'm afraid that if I did, it would look like a preschooler took over my house.

On our first morning in Portland, we enjoyed breakfast at a little diner-style restaurant and after Ruby's nap, we watched the Rose Festival parade, which was only a block from our hotel - in either direction. It was actually a really fun, large parade with a bunch of bands (mostly high school bands), horses, international clubs and groups, and of course, floats sporting lots and lots of roses. Some of my favorite parade participants included...

....the Alaska Airlines sled dogs and float....

...pretty much all the marching bands (what's a parade without a good ol'marching band, right?)...

....the horses....

....and especially the llamas. Hilarious, I tell you.

Ruby seemed subdued and unimpressed by all the commotion around her.

The highlight for her seemed to be Noa's jacket.

After lunch and another nap for Ruby, we ventured out to the Washington Park area to visit the International Rose Test Garden and the Japanese Gardens. The International Rose Test Garden is the oldest official, continuously operated public rose test garden in the country. New rose hybrids are created here and put on display for voting and for show.

Some of the new rose hybrids had interesting, creative names.

We walked around and picked some of our favorites.

This one was actually a mini-rose (it's hard to tell from this picture, but it was really cute!).

I was a big fan of the two-tone coloring on this one. Plus, the red and yellow were really vibrant. It was like the tips of the petals had been painted.

I like to think of this one as the tie-dyed rose.

This one was my absolute favorite! I loved the shape and all the layers of petals. It reminds me of a peony.

Ruby was so interested in it all that she completely wore herself out and fell asleep. Just in time for pictures....nice timing, kiddo.

Regardless of her sleep status, we had to take the obligatory self portrait with the iPhone.

Then we ventured on to the Japanese Gardens up the hill. At first we were unimpressed with them, especially after having lived in Japan. You had to pay to get in (the International Rose Test Garden was free) and then once in the Japanese gardens, they didn't seem all that great. Then we walked further into it and found more of the classic, traditional plants and landscaping. Soon, we found waterfalls, koi fish, pagoda statues, and bridges and we admitted that yes, this place was pretty cool.

Ruby had fun "exploring" (AKA touching) the leaves and branches.

Then again, I think just being with dad was better than any park or tree around.

We enjoyed some VooDoo Doughnuts on Sunday morning.

And lunch at McMenamins, where we sat outside and enjoyed the gorgeous weather.

They served a beer called "Ruby" on draft.

I, of course, had to try it. It was pretty good!

We walked around along the water, the Pearl district, and downtown. Although the weekend flew by, I feel like we were able to fit in a lot of sightseeing, especially with a baby in tow. Portland was a great place to celebrate our 11th anniversary and I hope we'll return soon to explore it some more.

I'll leave you with a few more pics of our time in the "city of roses."

This dog was right next to us at the parade....I couldn't resist getting a picture of him. He seemed to enjoy watching people walk on the sidewalk versus the parade commotion.