D had found a cute little bed and breakfast called The Campbell House Inn, which sits near downtown and the Univeristy of Oregon campus. The house was originally built in 1892 and sits on a bit of a hill. You can choose between the various rooms within the house or the outbuilding (like a carriage house). Overall the room was quaint and functional for what we needed.
It was getting close to dinner time so we decided to walk to the 5th Street Public Market, which was a short 10 minute walk away. I didn’t realize this comprised of a few different blocks of various shops, eateries, and even at least one hotel. I can see what they were trying to do in terms of creating a central area for people to get together and also get some shopping done. It was actually close to or past the closing hours for many of the vendors but we did get to walk around Provisions Market Hall that had a variety of food for sale (wine, cheese, etc.) along with a small restaurant serving pizza, sandwiches. We elected not to eat here and walked over to Coldfire Brewing Company as I had found a food cart that was recommended called Yabai Nikkei. This food truck serves classic Japanese fare but with a farm to table Oregon twist, such as Teriyaki, Ramen, Sandos, etc. Again the menu didn’t strike us as anything we were in the mood for but I will say that both the brewing company and food truck were quite busy for a random Tuesday night.
On our way to the Campbell House Inn, we had passed restaurant called Rye and I thought it looked intriguing so we walked over to it. The outside was pretty unassuming but it was billed as a French restaurant. The inside was dark and had a lot of character. Again this place was fairly busy for a weekday evening. Since we had a later lunch, we elected to share a few dishes and also partake in some cocktails. I had seen on their online menu they had their version of poutine so wanted to get that. I also got the soup of the day which was a poblano and corn chowder. For something a little healthier we paired this with a strawberry salad. Both of us also had cocktails that were shaken with egg white, which gives you a nice foam top and mouthfeel.
To finish off the night I had a free glass of wine from the BnB and also some of their daily freshmade cookies. The following morning we had a nice homemade breakfast at the BnB before checking out and exploring some more of Eugene.
First stop was Pre’s rock, a rock that has become a place of memoriam for the famous runner Steve Prefontaine. For those that don’t know, he was a running sensation in the early 70s before tragically dying in a car crash when he was 24 years old (near the spot of the rock).
We then made a quick pit stop at Hendricks Park before driving over to the University of Oregon campus. When we used to live in Sacramento there were quite a few people that had the big “O” logo of the university on their cars or hats/shirts. This campus is also home to the famous Hayward Field, which is arguably the most famous track in the US. Ever since I got into running I also have been following Track and Field on TV. The newly remodeled Field actually has a museum built into it that we walked around.
Funnily enough a few days after we visited was the Big 10 Track and Field Championships (I went to 2 different Big10 schools in my time). We then headed out of town and on the way stopped at the Camas Country Mill (initially we accidentally went to the actual mill area where they produce flours and not where their retail operations are. That was actually the Camas Country Bakery and Store, which was another 10-15 minute drive into the farms/fields north and west of Eugene. They had all sorts of flours and I picked some up for my sourdough baking and we also got a cookie. On the property is a historic schoolhouse so we checked that out.
We then continued north up the 99 and eventually made our way back to the 5 north to go to Salem. Salem is the state capitol and we did end up walking around the Capitol building after we had some lunch at the southern food inspired The Easy Otter. D had one of their daily specials which was some tasty mac n cheese topped with some fried chicken tenders and andouille sausage. I had some chicken tenders with fries and then we shared some beignets. The beignets were good though not as fluffy and light as the ones we had in New Orleans before the pandemic.
Not sure what was happening but there were some big military vehicles in and around the Capitol. I wanted some caffeine before getting back on the road and we stopped at Archive Coffee & Bar. This place was unique in that half of it was coffee and half was an actual bar. I had a shaken espresso and D had this: Hustleberry (House strawberry agave syrup, ginger, ginseng, green tea, caffeine, fresh lemon & soda water).
We were staying in McMinnville for the evening, which was another 40 minutes north of Salem. D had found a unique self check in style BnB called The Compass. I liked the high tech nature where they send you a code for the front door to the property along with your room. There were also some nice common areas – a wine library, a living room, a cafe type room with a big table, filtered water and an espresso machine. The shelves in the cafe area also had some branded merch if you wanted. The room itself was quite nice and spacious and they also provide some free snacks and drinks in the room which was a nice touch.
I hadn’t tried Liquid IV before so I tried some of that after my run. D wanted to nap so I took the opportunity to explore a little and went for a run through Joe Dancer Park. There was a single track and mulch trail that runs around the circumference of the park that I ran on.
For dinner we settled on Pinch. D and I shared an endive salad and then the Rib Eye for 2, which included some crispy and delicious potatoes along with vegetables. Of course I had to add some seared foie gras since it was an option to add to any dish.
The next morning we walked to Alchemist’s Jam & Bakery to grab some breakfast along with some jam to bring home. If we weren’t doing carry on bags then I’m sure we would have purchased more and larger size jam. I had a cheese sourdough bagel and D had their biscuit with marionberry (but of course) jam. We also had a pan au chocolat to snack on later. Coffee was the fancy nespresso museum back at The Compass.
This is where the real work started as we continued our trek north back towards Portland. Traveling up the 99W we drove through Tualatin (cute little town), Lake Oswego (very nice area, pretty pricey), up to Beaverton (overall had some nice neighborhoods, good trees, also has some businesses and such). We then crossed the river to the east side and drove through Happy Valley and continued north until we hit the 84 and took that to the 205 to cross into Vancouver WA and get settled at our AirBnB for the next 2 nights. We had our anniversary dinner scheduled for that night in the Mt. Tabor neighborhood back on the Oregon side at Coquine. This dinner was very very good. We shared the Smoked trout roe served with house made onion bread and French onion dip. I then had the milk braised pork sugo, which came with this cool shaped pasta. D had the potato gnocchi with morels. Both were so so good. We finished with a cookie (which I guess they’re known for) along with this jelly.
Our final full day found us exploring north of the Columbia River. We started with breakfast at Otra Vez? with Chilaquiles and a breakfast torta. In the same shopping center was is Presso Coffee Co. which we picked up after breakfast.
We continued further into Camas and over to Washougal. I feel like many of these areas have various planned communities with some very large homes (though smaller lots) and many have some great views. Washougal felt a little more rural and small town. On the way back we passed through some neighborhoods between Camas and Vancouver and also dropped down to the Evergreen highway to see some of the the houses that sit on the river and overlook either the airport across way or just over to Oregon. Turning northward, we hopped back on the 205 and then explored around the WSU Vancouver campus into Mt. Vista (more rural, larger properties but also some planned neighborhoods). We then went west of the 205 and through the Felida neighborhood. Lunch in the Hazel Dell area nearby was at Sool Korean Kitchen. Listening to some other patrons, it seems like Korean food isn’t something that is common but at least it sounded like people were really enjoying it and learning more about Korean food. I had the Kimchee jigae and D the Tteok Mandu Guk (rice cake and dumplings). Overall nice and filling.
Our afternoon was pretty open and so we decided to go visit the Japanese Gardens again (we had gone the first time we visited in 2012). Very calming and beautiful as usual.
Exploring the Nob Hill neighborhood where my friend used to live, D wanted to check out the Snow Peak store. This is Japanese company that is focused on making some nice high end outdoor gear for camping, etc.
We also made a stop at Powell’s Bookstore. This place, while keeping much of its original charm has also had some modernization updates since we were last there. Unfortunately the rare book section was already closed when we arrived.
And with still a little bit of time to kill before dinner, we went to check out The Memory Den, an antiques store that my friend had recommended. It’s crazy to think about how much stuff people have. Just so much crap that really we don’t need. Still it’s always interesting to see the wide and varied interest people have had and what they had accumulated.
We had dinner reservations at Nostrana. This pizza and Italian place was supposedly ranked as being in the top 50 pizzas in the world. Some of the flour they use comes from the Camas Mill (the place we had visited earlier in our trip). Of course we had to try the pizzas (margherita and sausage/pepper) but started with their focaccia and ciabatta bread with whipped butter and flake salt. I have to admit the bread and butter was the star of this meal.
On our final morning, we drove down to North Portland and picked up some pastries from Jinju Patisserie (a very hot bakery) and then some coffee from La Perlita. We ate and drank in the rental car. We then decided to go to the airport early.
Since we had time at the airport, it also gave us opportunity to explore. The Portland airport has recently undergone some big renovations (which are ongoing). There are quite a bit of different shops and restaurants in the airport. We checked out the Made In Oregon store and picked up some fried cheese curds from Tillamook. To be healthy, we shared a salad from Evergreens. Also picked up two very good donuts from Blue Star Donuts and D picked up some tea from Smith Teamaker.
And that’s a wrap for the latest trip. Overall some neighborhoods that seemed very enticing and had potential for us.
-StewsCat
StewsCat 