On Friday afternoon, we arrived at the Embassy Suites in downtown Portland. We’ve stayed at a few places in downtown Portland, but this was our first time at this Embassy Suites. Let me just say that when you have kids — especially ones with early bed times like ours — it is so worth paying a little extra to get a hotel room with a separate bedroom (aka a “suite”). On top of that, the Embassy Suites is a very nice hotel! Unfortunately, staying downtown means parking is either inconvenient and expensive, or it’s convenient (read: valet) and really expensive. We opted for the former since we didn’t plan to use our vehicle until Sunday. The parking garage is across the street from the hotel, but to reach the entrance, one must negotiate several one way streets. I, as it turned out, opted for scenic route which entailed a side trip across the river and back, only to realize that virtually all turns — left or right — are prohibited on Burnside! Needless to say, I made the most out of the “inconvenient” nature of self-parking.

It was really hot the weekend we were in Portland, so we made our way out the zoo as early as possible. We caught a MAX train just a couple blocks away and enjoyed a smooth less-than-15-minute ride to the zoo. The Washington Park transit station is quite cool — both figuratively and literally. Located some 260 feet underground, it turns out this is the deepest transit station in North America and the second deepest one in the world. (Who knew?!) So while that is a very cool piece of trivia, it turns out the air down there is also quite cool.

The zoo was… well, fine. We were there less to see the animals and more to ride the “zoo train,” which we missed on our last visit. We checked out the exhibits in the cooler morning hours and rode the train in the steamy afternoon. Evan really enjoyed the train ride. Of course, our visit to the zoo was not without some difficult 3-year-old moments, but we eventually got past those to enjoy the (did I mention it was freaking hot?) day. No one got sunburned, which was a feat in and of itself.

On Sunday afternoon, after returning (and recovering) from Day Out with Thomas (stay tuned!), we walked over to Voodoo Dougnut. It was our first visit to this surprisingly scuzzy but unique (and famous) doughnut shop. While it was no problem taking a 3-year-old who can’t read yet, there are certain menu items that might be less appropriate for slightly more literate kidlings. We shared several varieties, including the Froot Loop and Captain Crunch cereal-covered doughnuts and a Portland Creme. Apparently, Voodoo Doughnut made a big impression on Evan. He can not stop talking about this place!

This entry was posted by Steve on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 10:23 pm and is filed under Local/Regional, Photo, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.