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The Top 3: Vancouver, Seattle & Portland

It’s always a little sad to see Scott’s clean-shaven face after a great vacation for 2 reasons: 1) I love his stubbly whiskers, and 2) it means play time is over, and work time begins. We’re home again, we had the best time, and I’ve been so lucky to ease back into work with Stumptown coffee (picked up during our travels, of course).

But jumping back to our last leg in Portland, we stayed with new friends Julie and Brian, amazing folks we met through the blog world – she placed an order through The Pet Shop, we quickly realized we led parallel lives, and she insisted we stay at their home in Portland. Done! (There was more to it than that, but long story short, that’s the easiest way to put it.)

Over drinks during our first night in town, we discovered our shared mega-love of horror films, at which point, Julie asked us to name our top 3. It was no simple task – we flip flopped several times and have yet to come to a definitive conclusion – but the easy, conversational game gave us the idea for a new, fun way to interact with you while getting to know us a little better! In other words, we’ll tell you ours if you tell us yours. Hence, The Top 3 is born, and with each feature, we’ll talk music, movies, products we love and most everything in between. There are no rules, really; to each (interpretation) their own. The first topic comes naturally: favorites from our recent travels.

It was not easy, by the way.

  • Vancouver: dinner at Local, followed by the sunset at Kitsalano Beach.
  • Seattle: seeing my long lost bud, Lindsey (and her man, Chris!), over dinner at Quinn’s and cupcakes at Royale.
  • Portland: Salt & Straw ice cream! We loved it so much, we went there twice within 24 hours! Yowza.

  • Vancouver: renting a bicycle built for two and riding around Stanley Park to see beautiful harbors, totem poles and a couple of shy seals – until the wife scared them away with her squealing.
  • Seattle: the EMP Museum, especially the Nirvana and horror film exhibits.
  • Portland: white water rafting along the Clackamas River with our gracious hosts, Julie and Brian. (Lots of squealing from Kim on this one too!)

Not sure if we’re allowed to have close seconds (oh hey, we’re making the rules), but Pink Door in Seattle was a game changer, as were the breathtaking views surrounding us. You know, in general.

You already gave us the most amazing list of things to do and places to see while we were gone (and we practically lived off of them, we cannot thank you enough!), but if you’re from the PNW or just really love it there, what are your top 3 to dos, to see, to experience? And while we’re on the topic of list making, are there are any other top 3s you’ve ever wanted to know about us? (Remember, the same will be asked of you!) We’ve got ideas for the future, but what do you really want to know?

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  • How about “Top 3 places to eat in Chicago”? Someday I’ll drag Hubster up there and eating will be a top priority :)ReplyCancel

  • Kim9.7.12 - 9:25 AM

    Heather, that’s a good one! But a really, really tough one! I’ll add it to my list.ReplyCancel

  • Crystal9.7.12 - 9:50 AM

    Top three in Oregon: Drift creek falls hike. Devil’s punchbowl (and clam chowder right there on the top of the cliff) along with visiting the beach. Last one is probably visiting a winery. We have a ton of great ones, but I LOVED Cristom winery and vineyard when we made a trip there- they have great wine, great views, very friendly staff, and a beautiful garden.ReplyCancel

  • Ana9.7.12 - 11:42 AM

    Just so you know it’s “Cupcake Royale”.

    I grew up in Seattle in the 90’s and I am not a fan of EMP. They took down a beautiful sculpture garden to put it up and I find their exhibits are lacking. Most of my friends and I have have their 90s ‘memorabilia’ packed away in our closets. I wish they would put more thought into their exhibits and make it a really worthy music museum.

    Did you guys go to Easy Street? See the troll?ReplyCancel

  • Kim9.7.12 - 12:18 PM

    Crystal, we didn’t get a chance for the wine tasting, but we know there will be many more visits that way!

    Hi Ana! What a bummer about EMP; we would have loved to see it before the sculpture came down! We did, however, really get a kick out of the horror exhibit, soaking up every minute of it (for about an hour and a half on one exhibit!).

    We didn’t get a chance to go to Easy Street or see the troll, as we ran out of time! Another visit is in order – we didn’t get to SO many things on the list (that list recommended by all you guys!).

    The city you grew up in is beautiful. We loved it there!ReplyCancel

  • Ana9.7.12 - 1:30 PM

    I do really like the EMP building, I’m in the minority there most locals hate it.

    I really do like the Sci-FI part of the museum, I just think they dropped the ball on the music part.

    Glad you liked it, It looks like you guys crammed as much as you could and had a fantastic time!ReplyCancel

  • casacaudill9.9.12 - 10:26 PM

    So far I’ve only been to PDX for work (in fact, I’m going back on Tuesday) but a few times I’ve been lucky enough to see the surrounding areas. My top three in Portland are (1) Wandering Powell’s Books, (2) the beer!, and (3) Stumptown coffee.ReplyCancel

  • casacaudill9.9.12 - 10:27 PM

    Ack, I hit reply initially to say what my absolute #1 fave thing about PDX was and then I forget. Multnomah Falls!ReplyCancel

  • Kim9.10.12 - 11:03 AM

    Casacaudill, we didn’t go to Multnomah Falls! We’ll have to add that to our list for next time!ReplyCancel

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We’re Kim + Scott, Chicago based content creators behind the Home + Lifestyle brand Yellow Brick Home.

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