We woke to a cloudy but bright day on our last day in Portland. We had planned to go to the zoo and then to the rose garden on our last day. It took us a little while to pack our stuff up (we made sure to pack really light so we could carry all of our stuff with us throughout the city), and then checked out of our hotel. We still had a few leftover donuts so we had those for breakfast and then decided to head to the zoo.

The zoo is located in Washington Park (which is further Southwest – quadrant 1 area and beyond), and it is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. There are the famous Rose and Japanese Gardens in this local as well, but we were there for the Zoo. The place was packed because they had a few new exhibits and a new “thrill ride” and being a holiday weekend, I guess it wasn’t surprising….but it was actually really cold. The zoo was really cool as zoos go, Jake and I love our zoo’s so we could say we know a good zoo….and this was a good zoo….although we would have liked to see more animals, it was still really fun.

The highlight was when we went to see the Lorikeet Landing (which is basically a large cage that you can walk through that has a bunch of brightly colored birds that you can feed nectar). Jake and I decided we wanted to feed the birds, so we bought our 50cent nectar and walked in. No birds at first…one finally came up to me and sat on my hand while chowing down, and then Jake got one to. Then Jake got two….then three…then four….these birds were going nuts for him. At one point, a bird flew to Jake’s head, and then another and they nuzzled in for the long haul – it was HILARIOUS! Jake was dubbed the “bird man” by a little kid who wanted to feed the birds. They wouldn’t leave him alone and it was just a priceless moment. Finally he put down the nectar and removed his hat to let the birds off and back into a tree…funniest moment ever! (See pictures).

After the fun, we got a snack and then decided to go up to see the Rose Garden…except the shuttle than normally would tote us up there was not in service on weekends…and we didn’t have a car, so that was the end of the rose gardens. It was okay though because we were freezing and sore and tired so we decided to head back to the heart of the city to get some quality-coffee/tea. We hung around for about an hour and then decided we were going to go on our own food tour so we hit up a couple of restaurants before heading back to the airport. The first was VQ (veritable quandary) which we ate at our last day in Portland last year. We had chilequiles scramble with creme fresh and homemade guacamole (which we shared) and mimosas. Then we walked around the city for about an hour looking for a Japanese Restaurant, since we didn’t get to enjoy enough of this yet, and found a place called Shizego, which had the BEST SUSHI and NOODLES we have ever eaten. The fish is so fresh in Portland, that it rivals just about any other place for sushi. It was glorious and by the time we finished eating we were beyond stuffed!

We headed back to the airport which was uneventful and got home about midnight (which we expected). We passed out right away on full bellies and tired brains.

This trip was awesome! If you people ever travel to a city that you haven’t been to, we would totally recommend finding some kind of eating/walking tour to learn about the city, and find all the yummiest places to eat (especially if the city is known for its amazing food). It was really fun to meet lots of people and get a vast tour of the city. We plan to go back very soon! Great 1st Anniversary.