Well that’s what Sigi Shmid asked us at the last Sounders Camper Appreciation Day (one of the big reasons why we love Sounders Soccer Camps) and although we don’t like Portland when it comes to soccer, we have so much fun in Portland every time we visit we can’t help but love the city. We visited recently and had a really great time exploring the city with our kids.
And I don’t think we’ve ever visited Portland without a stop at OMSI. We usually go for opening and love to stop at nearby Coava or Water Avenue Coffee
for a cup to hold while we wait outside for the museum to be ready for us. (My guys are still early risers…I wonder if this is a trend we will see when they are teens.) We absolutely love the chemistry lab and it’s neat how we’ve tried so many experiments there over the years.
We also like the spray parks that are all over the place in Portland. We spent some time in the many kid-friendly fountains you can find around the city and this last time we had fun in the the “Teacher’s fountain”
and the one in Jamison square.(But don’t worry Sigi, we totally wore our Sounders towels there thanks to our friend little M-we LOVE these towels!!)
And every time we visit we seek out yummy new places to eat. Our favorite this time was a delicious and super kid-friendly restaurant called Boke bowl where we had some really neat food. I loved the fried pears that were salty, sweet and chewy and like nothing I’ve really ever tasted before and a drinking vinegar that was quite refreshing.
The kids really liked the noodles and Boke Bowl had kid-friendly touches like water cups with lids and kid-sized noodle offerings.
We also took out pasta from Pastini one night (I ordered it while the kids played in the Teachers Fountain) and though it wasn’t the most magical meal we ever had, it was reasonably priced and tasty and I wish we had more takeout pasta places like this in Seattle. If only il corvo opened later and was in my neighborhood!)
The highlight for my Portland visit was finding Quin‘s candies. 
I saw them as a Martha Stewart American Made offering and I was dying to try them. And then when we saw the store it was just as adorable as the candy packaging and they also carried some other lovely made in Portland souvenirs I was seeking out too. 
The little alley-like street it was on was full of neat stores that would be fun to visit without kids and if I wasn’t craving ice cream I would have tried Little T bakery which we’ll definitely try next time.
This time our favorite dessert came from Ruby Jewel Ice Cream because I’ve seen the sandwiches in Seattle stores, but wanted to see the actual source. Again, this is a store as cute as its packaging and I’m glad we had the special ice cream sundae of the day.
So we apparently love Portland way more than we should as die-heard Sounders fans, and please don’t tell Sigi but I really can’t wait to go back!
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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