Portland - day 2

Stephen picked us up at 10:00 and we went to Washington park and toured the rose garden, which boasts over 500 types of roses. It was gorgeous, and smelled wonderful too.

Next it was onto the Japanese garden which was beautiful, shady, and cool.

Then it was onto the Hawthorn neighborhood where we toured a great vintage store called Vintage Pink. Spouse & I only found about 1,001 things we wanted to bring home with us.

Then we went to Mount Tabor, the only active volcano in the continental US located within a city's limits. Steven took us on a fabulous driving tour of many Portland neighborhoods and we really enjoyed seeing the architecture. Lots of bungalows and cottage style homes; every one charming and unique.

We had a late lunch at one of Stephen's favorite spots the Laughing Planet in the Mississippi neighborhood. We had a tasty lunch and lots of wonderful conversation. Then we visited the Rebuilding Center which really appealed to the 'reuse, reduce, recycle' part of me. Portland is such a green city that almost nothing is considered trash or wasted. I love it! And Portlanders really love their city, too.

Then Stephen dropped us off so we could rest up a bit. After the Newlyweds got home from work we went over to Stephen & Rolfe's for a lovely, casual dinner in the famous Boys' Fort. We started with Rolfe's experimental cucumber cocktails which were VERY tasty, then we had pizza and caprese salad. With the glow of a dozen or so candles, the talk spanned nearly every imaginable topic from real estate to hypnotism, families to lovers, politics to friendships, pets to travel. Between the cocktails, the friends, the food, the dreamy environment, and the idyllic weather, I can't imagine a more relaxing or perfect way to spend a late summer's evening.

I'll add photos to this post after I return home.

Crush du Jour: Zachary Stains