Our Trip to Portland — Day One

As we flew back to Sacramento from Portland on Sunday night, Garrett looked over at me sleepy eyed and said “Man, it feels like we left our house months ago.” Even though we were only gone 4 days, so much happened while we were in Portland that it felt like a much longer vacation. If I’m going to tell you all about it, I think I should probably start from the beginning.

Why We Were There

So our trip up wasn’t solely for pleasure, there was actually a little bit of business mixed in. You see my aunts, Amy + Elizabeth, own a super awesome company that distributes specialty coffee & tea and related products. (Sidebar: It was actually my aunt Amy that got me first job in coffee when I was 16. More than that though, I stayed in the industry for over 10 years because she really taught me how to turn my love of coffee into an actual career. And then to top it all off, it’s where I met Garrett so you know: I owe her.)

They were taking their company (half of whom are my family members) up to Portland for the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s annual event. Since both Garrett and I have a long shared appreciation for Specialty Coffee (and since he still works in the industry) she invited us to go. And how could we say no! Family vacation, for the win!

The Trip

We headed to the airport with smiles on our faces and our bags packed!

I was so excited to throw a mess of magazines I had been wanting to read in my bag and just chill out for an hour with a cocktail and lounge on the plane. Unfortunately that’s not exactly how it went down.

We had gotten to the airport about 90 minutes before our plane departed. I was kind of anxious about that because I’m the type of person who likes to be there with a couple of hours to spare. Judge away, I’m an annoying traveler!

So since “we had time” and A-Boarding Passes at the ready for our Southwest Cattle Call, we decided to stop and get some lunch. The indulgent eating began with a little snack from a local favorite Burgers & Brew:

They have an airport lounge and we grabbed our plates of yumminess and about 45 minutes before our scheduled departure (and only halfway into my burger) Garrett looked up and said “Uh…it says our plane is boarding right now.”

45 minutes before departure? WTF, Southwest?

We dumped our burgers in kind of a panic and headed over there and sure enough, our gate was totally empty. The entire plane had boarded. We were the last two people on the plane basically and had to squeeze in to crappy middle seats nowhere near each other and then SIT IN A SWELTERING PLANE FOR 45 MINUTES until we took off.

It was not a happy way to start a trip.

Luckily my seat neighbor took pity on me and handed over a drink coupon, which I promptly redeemed for a gin and tonic.

The Arrival

90 minutes later though, we were in Portland and there was no sign of sweltering heat!

So we hopped in a rain soaked cab and headed to our house in the Irvington District.

When we arrived, we were floored to see our digs:

It was a 5500 square foot historic mansion with three stories. There were 10 of us staying there and by the time we arrived it was stocked full of cocktails and good conversation and we were ready to get the weekend started. If this house was to be any indicator, we’d be living large and indulging over the next four days.

And spoiler alert: We Were Correct.

I’ll be back tomorrow to tell you about the SCAA Event, the food we ate, and the craziness that ensued over the weekend!