Mt Hood | A Girl Travels

A vibrant, innovative, eco-friendly, and dog-friendly city that is taking the West Coast by storm – Portland, Oregon is the definitely a destination that should be on your travel list. A city with a laid back feel located 4 hours from the coast, 45min from wine country, and, 2 hours from great hiking near Mt. Hood whether you’re a local or a visitor you’ll have plenty of options to keep you busy!

City Scenes – Photo Credit Rob Finch
http://www.travelportland.com

A complete 180 degrees from the fast-paced life of NYC living, it was such a nice change to wander the city on foot at a leisurely pace, check out the street scenes on Mississippi Avenue for the annual street fair, dine alfresco on restaurant patios, and chat with locals over wine and beer.

Mount Hood View from Pittock Mansion
Photo Credit: http://www.travelportland.com

I stayed with friends at the River’s Edge Hotel and Spa, located along the banks of the Willamette River the hotel is convenient to downtown, Portland’s trendy NW 23rd street, the Rose Quarter, and quiet running trails. A 5-10 min walk to the trolly or the concierge will call a cab for you. Military friendly and amazing customer service, it was a great place to relax at the end of each day, begin happy hour at their Aquariva on-site restaurant (the mac and cheese is soooo good and the bartenders are awesome!), and to enjoy a post-half marathon spa treatment.

Photo Credit: http://www.riversedgehotel.com

The Lemon Sugar Scrub was my treatment of choice, and it was amazing. I usually get a body scrub at the start of the summer and at the end. This was different from other scrubs I’ve gotten because it was all done under a vichy shower, which was even better and more relaxing for my post-race muscle aches.

Vichy Shower, Photo Credit: http://www.nola7.com

A city for culinary adventurers, avid shoppers, biking and walking enthusiasts, and architecture and design buffs there’s a neighborhood to peaks everyone’s interests:

Cultural District
Pioneer District
The West End
Northwest Portland/Nob Hill
Old town/Chinatown
The Pear District
Alberta Arts District
Mississippi Ave
Hawthorne Street

Thanks to Alacia from Travel Portland for the great suggestions on places to stay and things to do! Visit Travel Portland to start planning your trip or to find out what’s happening near your neighborhood. I’ll be back next year to attend the World Domination Summit and to run the Fueled by Wine Half Marathon again – Maybe I’ll see ya there!