Guide to Portland food carts with kids

May 3, 2012 By

Ever since getting my first taste of food cart eating in Vancouver last June, I’ve sought out food trucks and carts while in cities. I’ve found great food cart fare in Boston and traditional hot dog cart fare in New York City, and given Portland, Oregon’s foodie bent, I wasn’t surprised to find the food cart craze had hit the City of Roses as well.

Mexican food cart

During an overnight at downtown Portland’s Hotel Monaco this April, we hit the pavement in search of the best food carts in Portland.

Our favorite Portland food cart finds:

A Taste of Greek: Located on SW 2nd and Oak, A Taste of Greek has, in my 12-year-old’s opinion, ‘the best gyros he’s ever had’. My falafel was tasty too. And we fed two people for under $10.

Starchy and Husk: Also on Sw 2nd and Oak (this is food cart mecca), Starchy and Husk has gourmet mac and cheese kids and adults will love, with add-ins like sweet potato and pancetta. Best of all adding a side salad and corn bread is only $1.

Fuego 1: If you crave Mexican fare, you have lots of options (our favorite, Fuego, has three locations alone). The burritos are great here, and you can find lots of vegetarian options. Fuego 1 is located at 6th and Yamhill.

The Honey Pot: For dessert or an afternoon snack, head to The Honey Pot, located at 43rd and Belmont. They serve slices of pie that will please everyone in your group from the artisan foodie to the pickiest kid. Our favorite: The Boyfriend, which is peach pie made from coconut milk. Plus, they sell pre-made pie dough for only $2.50 if you want to bake at home.

Greek food cart

How to find Portland food carts:

Walking through the downtown blocks of Portland guarantees running into one or more ‘pods’ of food trucks, but if you want to find that particular cart you’ve been hearing about, we’ve found Food Carts Portland to be most helpful for pre-trip review reading, and the Portland Food Cart Directory most useful on the fly. Food carts group together on downtown parking lots, and a sure bet is the Burnside Bridge area near the Portland Saturday Market. Keep in mind that most food trucks are seasonal, so hit ‘food truck and cart season’ from April through October for the most variety.

Full-time family travel: live chat with Britt Reints

December 12, 2011 By

Tonight at Around the Campfire, we’re hosting a live chat with Britt Reints of In Pursuit of Happiness, in which she will discuss her family’s monumental decision to sell their possessions, alter their daily lifestyle, and set off to explore the U.S. in an RV full time.

The Pit Stops crew has taken our fair share of long road trips (as many as 21 days in a row!), so the idea of taking to the highway full-time intrigues us. But how to get away? Pay the bills? Stay in touch with our local community and family? Some of the questions I look forward to Britt touching upon include:

1. How have your children adjusted to life on the road? What type of schooling do you implement with them?

2. How do you plan your extended itinerary (or do you go where the road leads you)?

3. What difficulties have you encountered en route?

4. What have been some of the unexpected joys, surprises, and adventures you’ve experienced?

If the idea of full-time travel interests you, join us on tonight, December 12th, at 9pm EST! In addition to chatting with Britt, we’ll be giving away $150 worth of Visa gift cards to Live Chat participants! (Four $25 prizes and one $50 prize).

Hope to see you there!

One Tank Wonders: where to travel after school starts

September 12, 2011 By

Our family vacations extensively during the summer months, but by autumn, school and sport schedules once again reign. Do we stop traveling? Never! But our adventures do take place closer to home. In fact, some of our favorite trips have taken place less than one tank of gas away from our hometown. Shorter trips are less stressful, usually less expensive, and easier to plan. You can be in the car by breakfast and home by nightfall if needed, or you can opt to pack for only an overnight.

zip line with kidsHere in Oregon, the following are some of our favorite one tank wonders. If you live here too, I hope you’ll check them out!

Crater Lake National Park: Crater Lake is not just one of the true wonders of the world; it’s also full of kid-friendly activities in (almost) all seasons. Roads can close in the middle of winter, but spring and late fall afford snowshoeing, while summer and early fall offer perfectly clear days and miles of hiking trails. We always stop by Union Creek on Highway 62 on the way, where Beckie’s features the best milkshakes and burgers money can buy, and Natural Bridge campground gives kids a glimpse of the icy river rushing through lava tubes.

Bend: This Central Oregon high desert town offers whitewater rafting, biking, hiking, and more volcanic activity at Lavalands Recreational Area. Families will also love the High Desert Museum and in the winter, the skiing at nearby Mt. Bachelor. Stay in Sunriver, or to splurge, Camp Pronghorn.

Oregon Dunes Recreational Area: This past summer, we discovered the fun of camping on the Oregon dunes. Spread out by the Pacific near Reedsport, this section of land is protected from recreational vehicles, and is ideal for hiking and playing on. Families can camp directly adjacent to the dunes, and spend the day on the coastline, or driving to the nearby Sea Lion Caves.

Oregon Caves and Out and About Treesort: Cave Junction, Oregon is less than one hour from our home, and offers the fun of sleeping in your own treehouse! While at the resort, horseback ride or zip line, and be sure to bring food to cook in the communal kitchen or over the bonfire. A short drive up a scenic highway away is Oregon Caves, where kids can spelunk during 90 minute guided tours through the caverns.

I’d love to hear about your one tank wonders! This week, I’m discussing the topic over at the Around the Campfire online community. Come share your own one tank wonder!

.

Road-trip troubleshooting: when things go wrong on the road

July 25, 2011 By

I’ll admit it: I’ve run out of gas on the road during a family vacation. (I’ve also had a U-Haul trailer break down on me in the middle of the night in the middle of Washington State, but that’s another story.) It wasn’t much fun, and I’ll tell you what I wish I’d had at the time (both times): Allstate’s Good Hands Roadside Assistance.

Now I do (which as the laws of the universe dictate, means I’ll probably never be stranded again, right?). But the best part is, this Murphy’s Law guarantee of stress-free travel comes completely free: you don’t pay a dime for signing up for Allstate’s Roadside Assistance, and you never pay unless you use it. Regular readers of Pit Stops for Kids know that when we find a product that we find beneficial (and use ourselves) for traveling families, we promote it. Traveling with kids can be challenging enough at times, and we’re all about making it easier, more fun, and hassle-free, which is why you can sign up right here in this post. It takes about two minutes, and doesn’t require digging into your wallet or looking up any complicated personal information, I promise.

Of course, even once you have roadside assistance, it’s good to take practical measures to be prepared while on the road with kids. To that end, we always toss a few blankets and a small case of water bottles in the back of our vehicle (they come in handy during picnics and roadside stops), carry a spare tire and jump kit at all times, and bring car chargers for our cell phones. And ever since that day we ran out of gas, we take signs like this one (near California’s Death Valley) seriously:

Enjoy your summer, and safe travels! See you on the road!

A Pit Stop a Day Keeps the “Are We There Yets” Away

June 22, 2010 By

Or at least, that’s my hope as my family and I embark upon a 22-day road trip, touring four national parks, six family-friendly resorts, eight states, and a partridge in a pear tree. Well, maybe not that last one (which means it’s sure to show up on auto bingo, right?).

Where are we going?

Glacier National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Zion National Park

with overnights and multi-night visits at many mountain and family resorts, all of which we’ll be reviewing!

I’ll be posting ‘A Pit Stop a Day’ during our travels

(as WiFi availability allows), and hope you’ll follow along as I document our progress with texts and photos on Twitter using the hashtag #apitstopaday. Throughout our trip and after we return, you can expect extensive reviews on not only the best potty break locations (although those are worth their weight in gold), but on all the “Off the Beaten Path” resorts and attractions we visited.

If you need further incentive to stick with us as we make our way along the interstates and highways of the western U.S., Pit Stops for Kids will have not one, but TWO great giveaways introduced during our road trip!

Details to follow in the next few days, so make sure you’re following us on Twitter and ‘liking’ us on Facebook so you don’t miss out on opportunities to win!

Below is our general route. Our first stop: Portland, Oregon, where we’ll be reviewing the Portland Spirit Sightseeing Cruise and the Hyatt Place hotel!

To see all 23 posts on this road trip, click here.

View National Parks road trip 2010 in a larger map

When Pit Stops are Far and Few Between

March 30, 2010 By

Photo taken on the valley floor of Death Valley, CA

When we first planned our recent spring break trip to Death Valley, CA (more on that to come!), I knew pit stops en route would be in short supply. I’d noted the lack of places to stop and play on Google Maps, and I thought I’d planned accordingly. Even so, I was concerned anew once we’d turned onto lonely I-95 shortly after our overnight in Reno, NV. For hundreds of miles, there’s simply…nothing. Nowhere to stop. Next to nowhere to eat.

At least, no place that we could consider…’family friendly’. Traveling down the center of Nevada, the only colorful landmarks we passed were, shall we say, very colorful indeed. (It did prompt one lively conversation that started like this: “Mom, why is that motel called a ‘playmate house’? Who plays there?”)

The boys and my dad standing under I-50\’s \’Shoe Tree\’ during a long car trip.

In a nutshell, not exactly where you want to pull off the road to let the kids run around.

So what do you do when confined largely to your car on long stints, whether due to weather conditions, lack of eminities (or lack of non-‘adult’ fare, as was our case)?

1. Plan ahead when possible. If you know you’ll be driving a particularly desolate stretch of highway, plan accordingly. For this trip, we bought car adaptors for the kids’ beloved Nintendo DS consoles to ensure hours of game play, and I brought along a bag of hands’-on activites, including the kids’ favorite action figures and a My Busy Kit, which was worth its weight in gold. (More on that in an upcoming review!) I helped myself to the hotel ice machine before pulling out in the morning, dumping a copious amount into our cooler filled with drinks and snacks. We also packed a loaf of bread, some cheeses and lunch meats, and a selection of chips, veggies, and hummus (all in the cooler) so we would not be reliant on restaurant fare on the road.

2. Be wary of rest stops in very rural locations. Once, while traveling solo with my three kids, I stopped at a clean (but empty) rest stop. Everything was fine until another person pulled into the complex…and the lone driver sat in the idling car watching us for too long for my comfort. Suddenly, I felt volnerable in the isolated location, and hustled my kids to our vehicle. Since then, I don’t rule out simply pulling over on a safe road-side turn-out. I let the kids take that much needed potty break (shield them with a beach towel if you must) and at least stretch their legs, all while I’m very close to my car.

3. Think outside the box. What may not look like a good pit stop to you might be your kids’ idea of heaven. We’ve stopped at fish hatcheries, dams, off-season state parks, and even a tree filled with shoes (a local landmark) when traditional pit stops have been in short supply.

4. And when all else fails, just focus on getting to your destination. The kids have all gone to the bathroom? Have enough snacks to last the distance? Have their books or games at the ready? Just GO. And don’t look back. We all know the feeling! (Just watch for speed traps!)