The first weekend of October brought an awesome milestone: The first major visit to Portland from a girl friend of mine from back home. Yay! Welcome, Lesley! Lesley and I are Pinny High grads, cheerleading buddies and we lived in Chicago at the same time. It was great getting her out to the West Coast – and witnessing her first visit to the Pacific Ocean!

We had 48 hours and a lot of ground to cover. First stop: lunch at Good Food Here food cart pod, one of my favorites. We paid a quick trip to Steven Smith Teamaker shop before catching happy hour (a rarity for me!) at Caps & Corks bottle shop and the 15th-floor patio at Departure, where Jeff, Lindsay and Daniel met us. After a hike over the Morrison Bridge, we hit the east side: Bunk Bar and Dig a Pony. Very hipster cool. 🙂 (Which I love because it means we can wear comfy Nike shoes, scarves and casual clothes during a night out on the town.)

Bright and early Saturday, Lesley, Cooper and I road-tripped an hour and a half west to Ecola State Park and Cannon Beach – two faves of mine. After getting the crappo news about Coop’s doggie cancer just two days before, I loved the opportunity to bring him along so he could gallop through the waves and soak in the salty air. After our coastal adventures Lesley and I met up with Jeff for a late night on Mississippi Street, also on the east side…doing a Mexican dinner at ¿Por Que No?, walking to speakyeasy-like Interurban tavern, downing fresh hop pints at Amnesia Brewing, and capping the night at Prost’s Octoberfest celebration.

We spent Lesley’s last few hours in Portland overlooking the city at historic Pittock Mansion (which Jeff and I first visited in May 2011); perusing Powell Books, the iconic, city block-wide flagship of the largest independent chain of bookstores in the world; and watching the Kenny and Zuke’s Delicatessen cooks churn out ridiculously delicious brunch fare.

Thanks for visiting, Lesley, always a pleasure. 🙂