Portland Spoke – The Official Blog of Travel Portland

Portlanders love food and we’re very fond of breakfast. Instead of pondering why, I accept and embrace it. And with so many great breakfast options, I’d like to share one of my favorite weekend spots with you, which also happens to be a food cart.

The PDX Sandwich

The Big Egg at the Mississippi Marketplace pod in north Portland serves — you guessed it — eggs! But these aren’t any run-of-the-mill eggs — they’re local and farm-grown. So is the meat and the produce, which is also organic whenever possible. Did I mention that they’re absolutely delicious?

If you go, here are a couple of recommendations. Meat is optional, but I always add bacon.

• The PDX Sandwich: egg, Tillamook white cheddar cheese, fresh chives and stone ground mustard on grilled brioche Pullman bread.
• The Breakfast Wrap: a grilled flour tortilla with scrambled eggs, potatoes, portabello mushrooms and Tillamook white cheddar cheese with poblano salsa (that they make themselves) and yogurt-lime sauce.

When I go, I also like to hop over to Dogfeathers Coffee and Juice cart next door and get either a cup of coffee or one of his juices. I like The Wet Dog, a blend of apple, carrot and ginger.

Want to discover more of Portland’s food carts? There’s an app for that, if you have an iPhone. Search for the Food Carts Portland mobile app in iTunes. Happy cart exploring!

Earning accolades like “world’s best street food” from U.S. News Travel, Portland’s food cart scene is becoming very well-known. But did you know that we have an annual food cart festival? Eat Mobile features samples from some of the city’s best carts along with live music and some friendly competition — carts vie for awards in a variety of categories. Check out this video from 2011:

Eat Mobile is scheduled for Saturday, April 28, 2012, and tickets will go on sale March 28 at wweek.com/eatmobile. General admission tickets are $18 and include samples from each of the participating carts, while a limited number of pre-tasting tickets, running $47, will get you into the event at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) an hour early and include complimentary beverages. This event always sells out, so make sure you mark your calendar if you plan to attend.

2010's Photo of the Year winner. "Eagle in Flight with Nature's Illumination" by Lois Settlemeyer of Camas, WA

If you’ve snapped some great pictures in Portland this year, you might have already taken the Photo of the Year. Friends of Outdoor School’s 10th annual Photo of the Year Contest is going on now. You don’t have to be a professional photographer to enter — it only takes one picture to win, and it could be yours!

There are five categories: Top 100, Faces, Youth, Portland and Professional. This year, the Portland category is brand new and is sponsored by Travel Portland.

Photo submissions are open through Jan. 5, 2012. Entries are then reviewed and narrowed down to the top 100. Online voting will be open to the public Jan. 8-15 and the winner will be unveiled at the awards ceremony on Jan. 21 (location TBD).

We’d love to see lots of entries in the Portland category and wish the best of luck to all who enter. Enter your photo >>

Did you know that Travel Portland sends out a Travel Update e-newsletter packed with event previews, special offers and more every month? We hope you do know — and subscribe — but whether you’re an avid reader or are just hearing about the Travel Update for the first time, we’d love to get your input.

The Travel Update is a monthly rundown of news and insider info about our favorite city in the world. And, when you subscribe, you can tailor the e-mail to your tastes — just want to know about family-friendly and musical happenings? Done!

Please take a few minutes to complete a brief survey about Travel Portland’s e-newsletter. For your efforts, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win one of 20 Powells.com gift cards worth $25 each. (Click for full details.) And you’ll have our eternal gratitude for helping us make our newsletter even better.

Thanks!

Atop Angel's Rest in the gorge.

Summer has arrived in Portland, and I’ve made my list of the top ten things to do while the sun is shining and the weather is warm.

1. Ride the Banks-Vernonia Trail — this is the first summer that all 21 miles are fully paved.

2. Take in a movie under the stars, either in one of Portland’s parks or at the “Top Down” film series atop the Hotel deLuxe.

3. Pick berries and peaches out in Washington County.

4. Hike Dog Mountain in the Columbia River Gorge.

5. Spend some time at the beach on Sauvie Island. (more…)

Hells Canyon photo by jotor, via Flickr.

Yet again I am blown away by the beauty of Oregon. Just got back from a mini-vacation driving across Oregon and Idaho to go to a family wedding. On the way back we went to Hells Canyon.

This place should be right up there with all the must-see sights of the USA. The deepest river canyon in the country, it is remote and breathtakingly beautiful. Hells Canyon Adventures has jet boats that take you over the rapids, into the canyon and by petroglyphs, a homestead cabin and the dam.

The road from Hells Canyon to Joseph, Oregon, washed out in June so we had to revise our route and are saving that trip for another day.

But I was in Hell and I was smiling — love those rapids, love that jet boat.

The Quest for Fire team at the 2008 Portland Urban Iditarod.

I admit it. I’ve been slacking. Maybe that’s too harsh – I’ve been too busy promoting Portland and Oregon to really enjoy it myself. If I were the kind of person to make a resolution, it would be to get out and see more of the city I love. I’ve gathered so many great ideas from our Twisitor Center on Twitter and there are some things that I’ve simply never tried.

So, in no particular order, here’s my Top 10 for 2010:

10. Visit Mill Ends Park. I work in downtown Portland and I’ve never been! But this is the year that I check out the world’s smallest park (and only leprechaun colony west of Ireland), located at S.W. Naito and Taylor.

9. See the Portland Urban Iditarod. As a former Alaskan, I feel it’s my duty to watch the Portland twist on this classic race.  (more…)

The Lions of Batucada at last year's Music on Main Street

Even though the sun is hiding this week, I expect summer to return to Portland shortly. Summer means something different to everyone, but I always think of the outdoor concert series that happen all over town. Some are free and some aren’t, but whatever you like, there’s no shortage of shows to choose from. (more…)