Portland- Artisan Bike Tour

What a perfect day to update my blog about our time in Portland, it looks like Portland here today. We must have brought some of that Northwest rain home with us. From what we heard SLC was rainy the whole time we were gone- I have to say we were enjoying sunshine about 90% of our trip.

One request Billy had for our time in Portland was to go on a bike tour of the city, well I had just seen a mention in Sunset Magazine about Pedal Bike Tours in Portland. There were a few tours to choose from but I was delighted when Billy said he would want to do the Food Tour, score for both of us, yeah!. Here's a few highlights from that day. Enjoy!

 Here we go...

 First Stop: World Cup Coffee

 We hadn't had much to eat that morning so I stuck to some peppermint tea, Billy had a yummy hot chocolate. This coffee shop also has a location inside Powell's Bookstore, which if you haven't been to Powell's, grab a coffee from World Cup Coffee and wander through this city block sized bookstore.

 Second Stop: Elephants Delicatessen- we had been to a smaller Flying Elephants Deli in the heart of downtown Portland the last time we visited, it's a smaller version of this place, but for people on the go.

 The selections were endless, they had so much to choose from- all of it ready made. Soups, salads, sandwiches, hot items, frozen items, wine, cheese, meats, etc.

 This is the Sample Plate that was provided for us on the Bike Tour, all of it local!

 Third Stop: Two Tarts (You can find them on Facebook)

 Fuzzy Photo of their "Thumb Prints" with a seasonal Rhubarb filling- soooo delish! We got a variety of their sweet morsels to take with us up to the coast, the Macaroons were our favorites.

 Fourth Stop: Hot Lips Pizza- this place is a locally owned family pizza joint. That is a pic of the electric vehicle they use to deliver their pizza's. They even make their own soda!

 This location of Hot Lips is in one of Portland's LEED Certified buildings (that means they meet very high "Green" building standards) it was a beautiful space.

 Billy loves his Pizza, if this place was in Utah I would love Pizza too. This piece had a local sharp cheddar, broccoli and hazelnuts, crazy good! They had a huge variety of vegetarian and vegan options, and they strive to use as much local, seasonal ingredients as possible.

 Fifth Stop: Portland's Farmers Market, we picked up some asparagus to take with us to the Coast.

 Belisimo!

 Last Stop: cacao - a chocolate shop

 This hot chocolate was like drinking a melted chocolate bar, so good, so rich and so glad it came in this tiny cup!



Cacao even carried a Utah local chocolate, Amano Chocolate, you can find this at Tony Caputo's Market here locally.

Pedal Bike Tours did a great job, Billy and I had such a fun time and it was a great way for us to see the city in a different way that we did the last time we were there. Portland we love you, if it weren't for the rain, we would move there in a heart beat. All the the shops and restaurants support local, seasonal products- it's fantastic.