Cheap Dates in Portland

One of the great things about living in Portland, OR. is that there's lots of things to do on the cheap! College students, empty nesters, young married's- everyone is looking for a bargain these days. We've read a lot about the Esplenade along the Willamette River, so we figured it was high time to check it out! Our dogs, Lulu and Molly are always game for an adventure so off we went.

Other than the fact that Molly has a bad habit of jumping out at people who are jogging, on bicycles, or any hapless dog crossing her path, they're pretty good dogs. We started at the end of the Hawthorne Bridge, crossed the Steel Bridge, and then ended up back on the Hawthorne. Rick was sure that we had logged six miles, but it's actually only a 2.7 mile walk round trip.

Along the way, there were some great bridge views, shapes and textures

Some great views of the city

Memorials

Interesting Art

And plenty of history

The 'girls' were in serious need of some water, so we headed over to the Lucky Lab Brewery on Hawthorne, one of the many dog-friendly eating places in the city.

Some more scenes from Lucky Lab, with sweet Molly and Lulu

And a cute visitor

By the way, I sure wish The New York Times would quit their fascination with all things great in Portland- how dog friendly we are, what great bike trails we have, and what great food carts they found all over the city! I liked it better when we were an undiscovered gem!

Finally, did you know that Portland has the smallest park in the WORLD? Check it out on Naito Parkway a.k.a. Front Street. It was dedicated on St. Patrick's Day 1948, as the only colony for leprechauns. How cool is that? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_Ends_Park