Are you heading to Portland soon? Don’t miss these awesome spots!

One of my very best friends got married this Valentines Day, which meant the perfect excuse for a weekend getaway! Portland has been on my list for years, since Drea moved up to Oregon back in 2010. We spent three awesome days exploring the city, meeting tons of cool people, and tasting loads of delicious coffee.

Stumptown Coffee Roasters: We started the weekend the way every tourist in Portland begins: COFFEE.

Because who doesn’t like pretending to be hipsters.

Powell’s Bookstore: This place was straight out of a dream. It had FIVE FLOORS of books. FIVE. All complete with ladders for the hard to reach books. I was blown away by the rare book section and spent way too long exploring. Ryan bought a book on startups, because he’s getting ready to start his own venture; and I chose the Little Red Book of Yoga Wisdom.

PLACES EXPLORED:

Cool Moon Ice Cream: two words: salted caramel.

Olive or Twist Martini Bar: delicious, hand-crafted martinis

Sisters Coffee: cappuccino please!

Lovejoy Bakers: I got the turkey cranberry on multigrain, served with cranberry chutney and potato salad (Ryan ate the taters of course).

NW 23rd Ave: little antique shops, thrifting, and hipsters.

Salt & Straw Ice Cream: I finally was able to convince Ryan that ice cream IS lunch and I dragged him to Salt & Straw, a must-go on 23rd Avenue. The line was pretty long but it was definitely worth the wait. Besides, who doesn’t love the smell of freshly made waffle cones?

Ryan had Cinnamon Snickerdoodle and I had a split scoop of honey lavender and sea salt caramel ribbon. He didn’t tell me I had ice cream on my lips for a good hour after.

Bridgeport Brewery: When Drea told me about her wedding plans, I knew it wasn’t going to be the traditional celebration. The ceremony and reception took place at Bridgeport Brewery, one of Portland’s most well-known spots for craft beer. The ceremony was preceeded with beer sampling and when Drea was ready to walk down the aisle each guest was happily sitting with their favorite brew.

She chose a beautiful blush pink gown instead of the traditional white and was absolutely stunning. Her husband and his groomsmen wore navy tuxedos with superhero underarmour underneath. I love that!

What made it even better? The wedding cake…or…lack there of. I had really wanted to try Voodoo Doughnut because I had heard so much about it, but when we saw the line earlier that day I had given up the possibility. Leave it to Drea, however, to plan another hipster twist to her wedding and ditch the traditional wedding cake for some of Portland’s most iconic treats.

The night ended with lots of dancing, beer, and bubbles!

What do you think? Are there any secret places you loved when you were in Portland?