Within weeks of my most recent trip to Portland, ME – I also went on a trip Portland, OR. The coincidence was too great to not write a blog post about this city as well so here we go!

My husband and I earned the Southwest companion pass by having the Southwest credit card, which means anytime I take a Southwest flight – he flies with me for free! We used this as an excuse to book a whirlwind trip up to Portland for the weekend. We arrived around 9:30 am Saturday morning and flew home on the 6:30 pm flight back to LA.

I booked a room at the brand new Canopy by Hilton. The Canopy line of Hilton Hotels is kind of like Hilton’s younger (and much cooler) brother. It was fun to stay at a brand new hotel, the staff seemed energized and excited to be there, the hotel was spotless and we loved the vibe. Upon check-in, we were greeted with a local chocolate bar and friendly staff that was ready and willing to give us recommendations for our quick trip. We even had a concierge that we could text with questions during our stay. I used this feature a few times and got wonderful (and quick) responses). We loved our room and the complimentary breakfast was delightful. It was a bit different from the traditional hotel breakfast. You could tell that they sourced from local bakeries and had top-notch ingredients.

During our quick trip, we ate at a few amazing restaurants. Honestly, I want to go back to Portland just to try more of the local eateries. If there is any reason to book a longer trip, more opportunities to eat is top of my list. We loved lunch having lunch at Lardo’s – it’s a delicious sandwich shop, we ordered the Korean Pork Shoulder and the Tuna Melt and split them half and half. We also loved grabbing sushi at Bamboo Sushi and Thai at Farmhouse Kitchen.

The coffee scene is super on point. We had delicious coffee at our hotel but also loved grabbing a cold brew coffee at Stumptown. I wish we’d been able to try even more of the many local coffee shops.

Drinking was also a huge part of our trip. There are so many local distilleries and breweries. The Multnomah Whiskey Library was top of our favorites list. We showed up about 10 minutes before they opened doors and were lucky enough to get a seat right away after a minimal wait in line and without a reservation. This library-themed bar is filled with beautiful shelves of every type of whiskey, scotch and bourbon you can imagine. They have library ladders that they bartenders use to grab the bottle of choice. The cocktails are incredibly delicious but we also enjoyed trying the different varieties straight as well. The staff is super knowledgeable and it was nice to get a bit of whiskey education as well as enjoy a night out. We also briefly checked out distillery row and even enjoyed House Spirits at the airport before getting on the plane home.

Outside of eating and drinking, we loved walking around and seeing the city.  We loved this free walking tour of the city run by a Portland local and exploring Washington Square Park.

It’s a small city so we were able to walk most places. But the public transportation is also fantastic. We took a few different trains and buses during our trip and had great experiences on all of them. Plus it was super affordable!

We can’t wait to do a return trip to Portland! Has anyone else been to this awesome city? Let us know where we should check out next time we go?