My husband and I have agreed that the only thing we do for our anniversary is to go on a trip. It does not always end up on our actual anniversary, however. We typically go over Fall Break which is a four day weekend for schools in Utah. This year, I decided that it was finally time to go see Halloweentown in person. Now I know what you are thinking, “Halloweentown does’t exist” but you would only be half right.

Halloweentown, a Disney movie released in 1998, was filmed in St. Helen’s, Oregon. Fun fact: Twilight was also filmed partially in St. Helen’s too. Every year in October, this small town recreates the movie magic in the town square.

St. Helens is located only 40 minutes northwest of Portland. The square gets decorated for the entire month with some weekend activities. These activities include a haunted house, a museum, celebrity appearances, costume contests, etc. If you want to see everything we did on our Saturday experience, stay tuned for my review post.

Thursday

We took a morning flight into Portland. We are not morning people, however, the only flight we could have taken Wednesday night would have arrived in at midnight. I did not want to worry about the rental car center being closed.

I had originally planned lunch to be our first thing of the day in Oregon, however, we arrived at 9 a.m. We were able to get our car and start exploring early. This meant we had time to kill. My husband then jokes about taking a roadtrip up to Seattle since we have extra time. Seattle?! It’s a three hour drive from Portland. I may be a “traveler” but I hate being in a car for an extended amount of time. I am choosing to write and watch movies to avoid getting carsick. Now, I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s start with our first destination after our flight.

Waterfront Renaissance Trail – We headed over to Vancouver, Washington to say that we “went to Washington”. On the drive over, I was determining if we had time to take a roadtrip up to Seattle. While here, we were able to get out and feel the coldness of the water.

Mill Ends Park – It does not sound exciting to go see a park, however, there is a ‘kicker’. This is the “World’s Smallest Park”. No, really. It is so small that I actually ended up getting lost.

Parking in downtown is impossible. I told my husband to drive around the block and I will get out to take my picture. He had to pull over just past it and I completely walked past it. Now, I decided I wanted to go “old school” and take all my pictures on my old canon “point and shoot” camera. It reminded me of my childhood. I used to have a flip phone, and iPod nano, and my camera with me at all times. This is important for the “lost” part. I grabbed my camera and hopped out of the car and I forgot my phone… I started walking around and I could not find it. I did not have my phone to look it up and I did not have my husband to help me. Navigation is my strong suit so I did find it but now, I had to find my husband… That’s right. My husband had already gone around the block and kept missing me. I remember the one rule of being lost. “Stay put”. I walk back to the exact spot I saw him last. About ten minutes later, he comes back and I can get in the car. “Who loses their wife in the first hour of the trip?!” He was very concerned that he ruined our trip but I say it’s a “funny story to tell the grandkids one day”.

Screen Door – We attempted to drive by the stag sign but parking is impossible. We decided to circle back and get food first. We park at the Brewery Blocks Parking Garage. We took the Elevator upstairs to this Southern Charm Restaurant. We got sat almost immediately for an early lunch. I ordered the Banana Foster French Toast and my husband ordered the Cajun Scramble. I love a good Banana Foster twist on good food so that was an easy choice for me. My husband was so torn between all of his southern favorites. I just want to say, those were the best biscuits I’ve ever had! That’s right. I loved the biscuit that came with the scramble.

Powell’s Books – I am not much of a reader. I do not have a huge desire to buy books but I can appreciate a good bookstore. Our friends were planning on coming with us on the trip but decided against it. Now, she loves books. We decided to still go to see the hype. This is no ordinary bookstore. This bookstore takes up a whole city block. We got lost. Many times. They have everything you could imagine! We ended up getting some books for a Christmas present. It is insane how many “rooms” they have.

Aerial Tram – I heard many things about Portland’s Aerial Tram that I just had to try it out. I entered the “Upper” location into the GPS and was really confused when we got up there. The GPS took us to a hospital parking lot. Like what?! We parked and went over to the elevator. The map included the tram on it. It is a little confusing to read, however. You want to head up to the ninth floor not the seventh. Once you get off the elevator, you will continue into the hallway and will then see the tram through the window. We walked around and bought our tickets. Patients and employees can ride the tram for free with a QR code. A round trip fare for two people came out to be $17. Breathtaking views.

Ole Boll Troll – I found this cute little attraction when looking for children activities. Again, we were planning on our friends coming (two adults and their three year old). We decided to still see this art so we have pictures to share. It is free during daylight hours but be respectful, there is a private residence close to this attraction.

Check into hotel – Our hotel is very close to the troll attraction. We drove over and checked in. At this point, I needed a shower and probably a nap.

Gumba – This “pasta parlor” is located in Northern Portland. There is limited street parking but it was free. We walked into this modern but chic restaurant. With limited seating, they request reservations. Our waiter told us a fun fact when deciding our entrees. He mentioned that they rotate their menu for every season so they can “switch it up and not get stuck cooking the same thing all the time”. It made me sad to think that I could be missing out on an extraordinary dish because we came in the fall. My husband enjoyed his food that he would go back. I enjoyed it enough to finish my food. The modern twist on a classic dish seemed too far off my expectations. Good food, different expectations.

Friday

We shuffled our schedule around and completed almost two days of activities in one day just so we can roadtrip up to Seattle. We woke up early and grabbed some food and then we were off on our three hour drive.

Driving – Shocking that this ends up being a huge part of our morning right?! My husband really wanted to see the Space Needle. I asked him if he had any ideas or activities for our itinerary before I booked flights for this reason. I would have flown into Seattle and spent the first day there and. Then drive down to Portland for the rest of our trip. It’s fine. Really. I wanted to have a rental car for the ability to go on drives. I was planning on driving to the coast but Washington is fine too.

Space Needle – We set our GPS for this iconic landmark. We arrived just shortly before noon and found parking immediately. This parking garage seemed cheaper than anything else we found. It was right across the street, just under the McDonald’s. We went up to the ticket kiosk and found an immediate time slot. The tickets ended up being $45 per person. “We are gonna drive all this way and choose not to go up to the top?” The top was beautiful to see and they even gave us a free picture.

Alki Point Lighthouse – I wanted to see this lighthouse with the perfect view of the Seattle Skyline. Now, Google said this attraction is only open on Sundays. We figured that we would still be able to see the grounds or close. Google did not, however, tell me that the grounds was property of the US Coast Guard. Along with that, it was only Sundays between Memorial Day and Labor Day… It was still worth the walk. Oh, yeah! The street was closed too! We had to park and walk up to the lighthouse.

Harry’s Beach House – After walking the shoreline, we grabbed lunch at Harry’s Beach house. This restaurant was a cute little spot next to the water. My husband ordered the ‘Fish and Chips’ while I ordered the burger. I am not a big seafood person but my husband is. Whenever we visit a coast, we have to go to a seafood restaurant.

Driving – We left Seattle about 3:30 p.m. and still had to get gas. We stopped at a Costco in Tacoma and just happened to find a ‘Cycle Gear’. My husband had worked at a Cycle Gear for four years and just happened to be wearing an old work shirt. He chose to go inside to see if anyone recognized his shirt. Nerd, right?!

Castle Lake Viewpoint – Let’s start by saying that we had to skip this stop due to the sunset. We were looking forward to seeing Mount St. Helen’s. His dad lived here for a few years and he wanted to recreate a picture. I know, I’m sad we missed it.

Saturday

After an early start for the last two days, we decided to sleep in. We had two plans for the day. The beach and Halloweentown.

Cannon Beach – We took an hour drive west over to the coast. This beach is home to a famous picture. I had to see it for myself.

Mo’s Seafood and Chowder – This restaurant can be found in three places, Cannon Beach, Seaside, and Astoria. They are famous for their clam chowder and let me say, it was good.

St. Helen’s – We drove back over to the Portland area to visit St. Helen’s. This small town, like I mentioned above, is home to the movies Twilight and Disney’s Halloweentown. They decorate the entire block for the month of October. It is something that I have always wanted to see.

The Observatory – We wanted to sneak out before the crowd so we decided to get dinner back in Portland. This American restaurant and bar is home to the best fries we had while in Oregon. My husband says that it was his favorite meal but I think it is because he loves an Elk burger.

Voodoo Donuts – This shop is a huge must in Portland. They have two locations. We attempted to visit the location in downtown, however, parking is a nightmare. The second one is located in the Kerns district. We were able to pull up and park right outside. These donuts were fun to see and delicious to eat.

Sunday

We had one more day to finish seeing everything we wanted to.

Slappy Cakes – This fun American breakfast eatery has the option of cooking your own pancakes. We arrived later than we planned and so we just sat at the bar top for kitchen service instead. I ordered the “Strawberry Shortcake” stack and it was to die for. This place is perfect for a Sunday brunch.

Hopscotch – This place is an interactive art gallery. This company can only be found in Portland or San Antonio. Not much to explain so enjoy these pictures.

Portland White Stag Sign – The only way for me to see the sign or take a picture of it, was to drive westbound over the Burnside Bridge.

Tilikum Walking Bridge – We drove over by the OSHI campus and found free street parking by the bridge entrance. We decided to rent some scooters from Lime and “wheeled” across the bridge.

Hawthorne Asylum – I know what you are thinking, “why would I want to go to an asylum?!” Don’t let the name fool you, this is home to Portland’s food trucks.

Fly home – The time had come to fly home. I hate when our trips come to an end, but I have learned something. We are considered pet parents to two dogs and it helps getting over the sadness of an ending trip. We are so excited to come home to our fur babies.