The Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade is named after the former Portland mayor whose vision and support helped with the construction of the Esplanade.

The Esplanade is 1.5 miles long along the Willamette River, extending north from the Hawthorne Bridge, past the Morrison and Burnside Bridges, to the Steel Bridge with connections to eastside neighborhoods as well as across the river to Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

It is a perfect place to walk or bike.  The Esplanade begins at SE Water and Hawthorne Blvd. and there is plenty of parking in the area – very close to OMSI.

We chose to ride our bikes along the Esplanade following it all the way down to the Steel Bridge where you can cross over the river and continue along the Tom McCall Waterfront.  If it is Saturday, it will take you right to Saturday’s Market.

If it’s a hot day you can stop and cool off in the Tom McCall Waterfront fountain!

Along the Esplanade you can enjoy the sensation of walking on water as you walk across the 1,200 foot floating walkway which is the longest of it’s kind in the United States.

The view is beautiful as you take in downtown Portland as well as the many bridges crossing over the Willamette River.

For a fun date night as a couple or with a group of friends we have taken a folding table and chairs down to the Esplanade, brought along some candles and treats and played cards – right there along the river!  The lights at night from downtown Portland are amazing!

Enjoy the beauty of downtown Portland from the Eastbank Esplanade.

If you have a favorite place in the Portland to see or play please leave us a comment and let us know!

For our first cupcake stop we headed down to NW Portland to Saint Cupcake, Portland’s first official Cupcake Bakery!  St. Cupcake opened in 2005 and is located at 407 NW 17th Ave at Flanders.  If you are down on NW 23rd doing a little shopping it’s the perfect place to stop for a sweet treat.  They also have a location at 3300 SE Belmont in Portland.

We bought 5 different types of cupcakes at Saint Cupcake. I thought the Big Top cupcakes were darling – it is a vanilla cupcake with chocolate chips on top – like a cookie and a cupcake! The color of the vanilla cream cheese frosting changes daily to match the mood of the baker. He must have been happy the day we were there because they were orange!

They have two different sizes of cupcakes available – dots (2-3 bites) and regular. Their dots cupcakes are $1.25 each, and regular cupcakes are $2.50 each.

We stuck to the basics there with the Vanilla with Cream Cheese Frosting, Vanilla with Buttercream Frosting, Hot Fudge on Vanilla, Hot Fudge on Chocolate and a Big Top. Their selection varies daily and you can check out what’s available each day here.

St. Cupcake uses all natural ingredients (except for those yummy little “jimmies” we love!) They also have a selection of vegan cupcakes.

You can read all about the story of St. Cupcake on the wall of the bakery.

St. Cupcake has a delivery service for their cupcakes and they can even be delivered accompanied by a singing telegram – really!!  They ship their yummy goods right to your door too!  Check out their website for more information!

Stay tuned for even more cupcake capers!