Our third day in Portland started off at Canteen, a local juice bar close to our B&B. In addition to juices and smoothies, it has food items on its menu such as oatmeal and cereal for breakfast as well as salads and rice bowls for lunch. And craft beer! We had a couple smoothies and headed to Forest Park—one of the country’s largest urban forest reserves, covering a little more than 5,000 acres in the northwest quadrant of the city, with about 70 miles of recreational trails—for a hike.

We spent about three hours hiking, and during that time, we didn’t see many people. There were just a few joggers, walkers, and dog-walkers, but it wasn’t crowded, which was great! The forest was lush with vegetation and trees. I highly recommend visiting Forest Park on your trip to Portland because even if you aren’t an avid hiker, it’s an easy and beautiful walk through the woods and a great way to get out of the city for the day.

After our hike, we headed to Stark Street in southeast Portland, where The Herbivore Clothing Co. Store is located in the vegan mini-mall, one of the destinations in the city that I was looking forward to the most. The store is run by Michelle Schwegmann, and it’s a bounty of vegan goodies—much more than just clothing. One wall features animal rights T-shirts and hoodies, and another is full of vegan cookbooks. Nonleather purses and wallets are everywhere. The store also carries jewelry, fun socks, and AR posters, buttons, magnets, and bumper stickers. Michelle is lovely, and her store is cute, well-organized, and fun! On my next trip here, I will bring an extra backpack to fill up.

Next door to Herbivore is Sweetpea Baking Company. We stopped in late in the day, and the sweets were all but gone, but we made a note to put Sweetpea on our list of breakfast spots for our next trip to Portland. The menu looks mouthwatering! Food Fight!, a vegan grocery store, is also in the same mini-mall, along with a vegan tattoo shop called Scapegoat Tattoo Co.

We ended up at Vita Cafe again for dinner. I had just about the best tempeh Reuben sandwich ever, along with some great fries. David had mac and cheese, made with Daiya cheese—creamy and delicious. And we finished the meal with a piece of cherry almond cheesecake.

We planned to go for pizza one evening at Sizzle Pie, but with all the eating out that we had been doing, we were just too full for pizza. Sizzle pie has an extensive vegan pizza menu, and on our next trip, we will definitely be eating there.

Portland, Oregon, Day Four

We were lucky that on our last day in the city, the huge Portland Farmers Market was held on the lovely grounds of Portland State University. It was the biggest and best farmers market I had ever attended—so much gorgeous produce, along with many other vegan items.

We were happy to see Petunia’s Pies & Pastries was there, so we were able to sample some of its sweets. We never made it to the bakery, which by the looks of the website and the taste of the sweets at the market is a must-stop next time. Another local company, Heidi Ho, was selling vegan cheeses. We munched our way through the Farmers Market and then headed to the airport.

There were so many restaurants, cafés, and food trucks that we never got to try, but they are on our list for our next trip. I fell in love with Portland. With its abundance of vegan and vegan-friendly eateries and its eco-friendly attitude, it’s an especially great vacation spot for vegans.