Monday, September 20, 2010

On the Town

Today Jacob had the day off, so we decided to inspect the Happy Hour scene in Portland's Nob Hill. For those who don't know, Portland just got voted the nation's best happy hour scene (I think by CNBC). I realized that we've lived here for three years and never really checked it out. It's kind of hard to do when you have to work till five or six during the week and that's when happy hour is over!
First stop was Jo Bar (above). It's located right on 23rd Street, next to Papa Hadyn, which is supposed to be a really good restaurant, but personally it's a little too spendy for me. We were walking around, looking for a place to snack, and discovered it. It's pretty small, but cute. Jacob LOVES fondue, so we ordered a fondue plate. We had fontina and bleu cheese fondue, and it was served with bread, apple slices, and roasted asparagus.
Alex had his own snack while Mommy and Daddy had theirs. I almost had a sangria, but got a diet coke instead!

Next, to cleanse the palate, we had a bubble tea. I love bubble tea!! This Fat Straw was in a basement and had a free intenet cafe, which we didn't utilize but it's good to know that it was there.


Alex was having fun looking at all of the people while Jake and I shared an Original Milk Tea with tapioca pearls. Yum!



The funniest, cutest thing was watching everyone's reaction to Alex. We saw so many ladies look at Alex, nudge their friends and say, "Look at that baby," and smile. So then I recalled the scene from Saturday Night Fever where John Travolta is walking down the street to the BeeGees song "Stayin' Alive." Alex is definitely getting to be a ladies man (even if for now it's just the older ladies!) "Well you can tell by the way I use my walk/ I'm a woman's man, no time to talk!"
LOL!! Of course, it helps that his cute daddy was carrying him down the street! Double the cuteness!





After our Bubble Tea, I was in the mood for tacos, so we walked quite a few blocks to Cha! Taqueria, which we had driven past many times before, but never been to. They have a really cute patio, so we sat outside.




I got another coke, and Alex wanted some too!! He is at the stage where he can hold his own bottle, so when he saw me take a sip, he thought, I know just what to do with that! and grabbed my cup. He is very strong, and I had to hold on tight to the glass so it didn't spill!







Such a snuggly bear!







Jacob got his favorite- nachos! It was a pretty big platter, and only $5.








I got steak tacos, which were really tasty, and a little spicy.









On our way back to our car, we passed this florist's shop that had some really pretty hanging plants, so I wanted to take a picture so I could copy them someday.
It was such a beautiful day in Portland! Fall was in the air, and the sun is probably gone until next June, but at least it didn't rain!
I definitely recommend restaurant hopping during happy hour. It was really fun, and when you are just getting something very small, it takes the pressure off of trying a new place. I always feel like I might be wasting money by going somewhere new and unknown for fear that it will be bad food or service. This way, we aren't investing that much time or money and can try something that we wouldn't otherwise.
If I hadn't been so full, I would have stopped off for some gelato. Oh well, there's always next time!















































































2 comments: