Last year, for the weekend preceding my 30th birthday, we headed to Portland on the train. (We being Man Candy, our dear friend Mary and myself.) A few other friends from Seattle were planning to come down in a couple of days to hang out and celebrate. That first night, after we watched a movie in the hotel room, Tim and Mary handed me a magazine featuring Portland breakfast spots and told me to figure out where we should go for breakfast the next day.
The front of the first clue in my scavenger hunt.
The inside of the first of 7 clues in my birthday scavenger hunt.
I flipped through, completely overlooking the “clue” they had sneakily hidden among the magazine’s pages.
This clue was the first of many I would find the next day during a birthday scavenger hunt all over Portland.
That first clue took us to breakfast the next morning, where the waitress brought me my second clue.
The coordinates on that second clue took us to a toy store, where my prize was “Newlywed Ken and Barbie.” I was confused by this, because I am not, and never really have been, a fan of Barbie. I wandered around the store for a bit, completely ignoring someone trying to get my attention from behind one of the toy racks.
It turns out, my good pal Reann, whom I have been friends with since before junior high, and her new husband Greg (whom I adore) had flown up from New Mexico as part of my birthday surprise. Wowee was I excited.
My next clue took us to the Portland Saturday Market.
Reann, Greg, Leah and Mary at the Portland outdoor market
Other clues took us for donuts (where my Seattle friends met up with us), to a museum and then to dinner at this awesome Peruvian place that Man Candy and I had discovered in one of our other Portland excursions.
As we’re waiting to be seated for dinner, one of my friends asked Man Candy if there were still 11 people on the reservation. I looked around, counted 9 of us.
Just then, I turned around and saw my friends Cami and Mike from Logan, Utah. Cami and I worked on the college paper together.
They happened to be celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary and decided to come to the Pacific Northwest so they could spend an evening of their vacation with me. I was so giddy.
So the 11 of us had an amazing dinner.
Our dinner party in Portland
After dinner was done, I was surprised with the most awesome birthday cake ever, a gift from Amber. Thanks, Amber, for the best cake a girl could ever hope for. It’s a maple bacon donut cake from Voodoo Donuts in Portland. Yum.
Best cake ever
Like I said in my last post, no birthday celebration could ever top last year. Man Candy knew that the best gift to give me would be spending time with the people I love. Thank you all for being there.
And I would highly recommend the birthday scavenger hunt to anyone who wants a fun way to celebrate. I also highly recommend taking the train to Portland. Best way to travel EVER.