Post 6/30: Portland Anniversary Day 2

I missed posting my blog yesterday for my challenge, but I posted 2 times a previous day. Does that count? Oh well!

Back to our vacation...


So, since I didn't get pictures of a couple of places at the hotel, here are the website pics:

This is the movie theater...

There is sometimes live music and they show movies twice a day. You can see that there are tables to eat at and big comfy chairs to relax in. Super cool place!

And here is the soaking pool...


After, we got a wonderful night's rest at our hotel, we woke up refreshed and ready to go. We drove into the city, about 25 miles away, and found the Ira Keller Fountain. I had seen this online and thought it looked really cool, but had never been before. It is huge! and you can walk out onto any of the platforms or climb the stairs and stand on top of it.




We walked all around, but it was colder than we expected and we were getting close to approaching our cruise boarding time. It's a good thing we left because we got a little lost and then ended up at the wrong dock on the wrong side of the river. We got there just about 10 minutes past boarding time, but 20 minutes before the boat actually left.

Our cruise ship was downgraded to the smaller boat (possibly because they didn't have enough passengers). I was a little disappointed, but it turned out really nice.





There were three levels of the ship. We were on the main level which had a formal dining room and a piano.



Then there was another dining room above us with a bar, and the roof was the top level that had a bench seat. You could walk around the boat where the rails are or climb to the top roof level in order to see the view from outside.


There were assigned seats, but we were fortunate enough to get window seats.


They took our drink order and food order. Both were amazing!
 
He had salmon and I had steak. Perfection!

We ended with dessert... a Snickers cheesecake!


After eating, we got up to walk around the ship and enjoy the view:




 

This sternwheeler is on of the other cruise options, but is more of a historic tour:


This was the original, biggest cruise ship available:


We enjoyed our cruise very much. It was a total of 2 hours for the entire ride. The only thing I didn't count on was having to pay a 15+% gratuity on not just our meal, but on the entire price of the cruise. Let's just say that it cost A LOT of money (for us, at least).

After we got off, this fountain was in the park outside.


Then we drove into China Town and to the Lan Su Chinese Garden.


It was absolutely gorgeous, and perfect for meeting a friend and talking by the river or sipping tea in the restaurant, but it's a little spendy to just walk around once. Still beautiful!














I got this necklace from the gift shop there.


Based on our experience at the Chinese Garden, we decided not to spend even more money going to the Japanese Garden. So, we opted to head home early, but stop along the way wherever our hearts desired. So, less than an hour into our drive, we stopped at the Wilsonville Family Fun Center. They have an arcade:

as well as a mini golf course:

bumper boats:

and go karts:


We only went to ride the go karts, which I was barely tall enough to drive!


From there, we did go home. We met my mom and Josiah for dinner. He was happy to see us, but not as excited as I would've hoped. I guess I should just be happy that he's a well-adjusted kid. After dinner, my mom agreed to go ahead and keep Josiah overnight as previously planned (despite us being home a few hours earlier). This allowed us to have the house to ourselves for one more night. We were able to sleep a little later than usual and get ready for church this morning with ease.

Overall, we had a fantastic time! It was so nice to get away. We had fun doing everything we did and every bit of it was something we'd never done before. We were able to reconnect a little, which was much needed. And we very much appreciated our friends and family who watched Josiah so that we could go.