Voodoo and the Hands On Children's Museum

We had one last day of Portland and then we needed to head back to home base.

The Airbnb had some very cool artwork on the walls.

Voodoo Doughnut is usually on my Portland todo list.

We crossed over into Vancouver, WA and visited Vancouver Mall. Ernie is really fun to shop for because he's growing so fast that no item of clothing is ever that big of a commitment, so we can get silly stuff on occasion. It's also usually pretty cheap and has fun designs.. what more could you ask for? Also once you start licking the clothes I think you are obligated to buy them so that simplifies the decision making process.

There was a little mall playground we needed to scope out.

On the drive home we made a quick detour in Olympia, WA to the Hands On Children's Museum. We put our hands, feet, and probably tongues on all kinds of things there.

This was a pretty cool set of pipes with some air pressure in them. You could stick a scarf in one of the holes and watch it zip around the tubes and then get launched out somewhere.

There was a giant Lite-Brite.

There was a boat.

We figured out how to time the drives during nap time so that we had a very happy Ernie Babe.

Smashing Pumpkins and Eating Biscuits

We did a bit of shopping in downtown Portland. It was an experience.

We went to more than one store where the entire place was under lock and key. That process was quite a pain so I can imagine they must have a big problem with crime/shoplifting. From my point of view Portland is a more liberal version of Seattle and serves as a warning I think of what Seattle might become if they don't get the downslide under control.

I am tempted by the Pendleton store. Now that I'm a western man I feel like I need more wild western printed clothing. This stuff is wildly expensive though so that helps keep my cowboy aspirations at bay.

We had lunch at Pine State Biscuits which unsurprisingly has a lot of biscuit foods going on. I love biscuits and gravy and that sort of diner scene doesn't really exist in Seattle like it does in St. Louis so I've been biscuit starved lately. 

It goes without question that we had to hit some McMenamins on the way out of town. This time was McMenamins Kennedy School which as a defunct catholic school would have been creepy anyway, but with my own catholic school experience it was downright terrifying. They still had some of those weird multiheaded drinking fountains in the halls even. Some of the classrooms had been converted into hotel rooms which is a big nope from me.

Luckily they don't require you to actually stay at the hotel to get the stamp in your passport, but they do send you on a hunt with a riddle to find a particular artwork somewhere in the building. Sometimes these searches are quite involved. It's fun and it forces you to pay attention to all of the cool stuff they have on the walls.

This is objectively scary.

Just about every single McMenamins is in some cool converted historic building, a school or an amazing dance hall with a ton of fun stories and cool architecture. Then there is the turd that is McMenamins East Vancouver sitting on the end of a strip mall in Vancouver on the Washington side of the Columbia River.

I will give them credit for doing a great job on the interior of the pub. The lighting for example was amazing.

So I will admit that it was a little intense of us to then return to Seattle and see yet another live show after the amazing time we just had with Lizzo. BUT this was justifiable because it was just such a good deal. I spotted tickets to Smashing Pumpkins + Jane's Addiction: Spirits On Fire Tour on Groupon for $30 a person including fees! We got both of these tickets for less than the crap fees on ONE of the Lizzo tickets. It was an offer I couldn't refuse.

They did a pretty good job filling Climate Pledge Arena considering they haven't had a hit since the Clinton administration.

We were definitely punished for our thriftiness. Our backs were literally against the wall of the place. We had achieved the worst seat in the house!

The Smashing Pumpkins have some bangers.

Lydia's Ernie belly is getting more and more noticeable. Our Thanksgiving baby reveal can't come soon enough.