I am convinced this is a new definition of sin— a bacon maple bar from Voodoo Doughnut shop in Portland. The donut shop was located next to the Press Publish Conference I was attending in Portland, Oregon.
Peggy and I made a quick trip up to Portland from our home in southern Oregon this weekend. I went to attend a Word Press conference; Peggy was along to play. We stayed at the conference site: Embassy Suites in downtown. The hotel’s idea of a room with a view was a room overlooking the Voodoo Doughnut shop. I think they charged extra, seriously. Peggy, as part of her play-day, checked out the shop and bought the bacon-maple bar featured above. It was waiting for me when I returned to our room. The first bite assured a sugar high, the second a heart attack. My arteries will never be the same again. Later I went over and took some photos of Voodoo Doughnuts and its ever-long line of customers.
The ever present line of people waiting to get into the Voodoo Doughnut shop for their daily dose of sugar. Note the young and old. Age is not an issue.
This sign welcomes customers to the shop.
This is how my stomach felt after eating the bacon-maple bar.
Peggy, in addition to descending (or is that ascending?) into doughnut heaven, spent her day at Powell’s Bookstore and Portland’s huge downtown Weekend Market. I was a bit jealous. Powell’s is one of the world’s great bookstores and the Weekend Market has over 250 vendors selling everything from fruits and vegetables to pottery, clothes, jewels, etc. Musicians, mimes and other performers provide unending entertainment. Both Powell’s and the market would have made great blogs. Oh well.
Not that I am complaining. There were several good sessions at the Press Publish conference. I was particularly impressed with workshops on Longreads, travel blogs and book blogging, all subjects of particular interest to me as a writer, travel blogger, and author. The most inspiring workshop I attended featured Eric Prince-Heaggans. I also had lunch with him. Eric is a travel writer and blogger who uses his writing to inspire people of color and disadvantaged youth to discover the benefits of travel in terms of broadening their perspective on life. Check out his post on travel and African American Men. For a more traditional post, visit Eric’s blog on Dubrovnik.
One of my photos looking down on Dubrovnik from a visit Peggy and I made and blogged about.
Eric also has a great sense of humor. For example: “I’ve learned through my travels,” he told us, “that I don’t like monkeys.” He had a photo to prove why. I get it.
Monkey wraps itself around Eric’s head.
But I must say Eric looked a lot happier about his monkey than I did mine. Peggy took this photo when she and I were traveling in the Amazon.
Peggy’s monkey, on the other hand, was something of a sweetheart. There was a slight matter of flea bites, however.
Jerry Mahoney, author of Mommy Man: How I Went From Mild-Mannered Geek to Gay Superdad, was also quite humorous in describing how he and his husband became parents of twins and eventually published a highly popular book about the experience. Failing to sell the book on his first round, his agent told him to go back and establish a presence on the Internet, a platform in social media. It’s a message that writers hear over and over. As a result he created the blog Mommy Man. It is definitely worth a visit.
Jerry talks animatedly about his book in a panel discussion that also featured four other authors.
I also visited the Happy Lounge and a Happiness Engineer. How could I avoid such an opportunity? It was like I had died and returned to the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. So I sat down with Happiness Engineer Josh R. He seemed quite happy. More importantly, he immediately solved the technical problem I had in featuring my book, The Bush Devil Ate Sam, permanently on my blog. I was quite happy as well. My thanks to the people at Word Press for a job well done.
Happiness lounge at Press Publish Conference. My answer was yes.
Joss R, Word Press Happiness Engineer, answered all my questions and made me happy.
The Happiness Lounge also featured swag you could buy ranging from T-shirts to coffee mugs.
NEXT BLOG: On a recent trip to Reno, I visited the Generator, a huge warehouse where some of Burning Man’s best art is produced. I will take you on a walk-through. It’s a trip you won’t want to miss.
Wandering through Time and Place 
Nothing surprises me anymore. Who would want to line up for a do-nut. let alone a do-nut that is both sweet and salty. I am not enticed by the photo of it either.
All in all a good story and the photos, especially of Dubrovnik are a delight more enticing than a maple bacon bar.
Laughing here, Gerard. Voodoo Doughnuts is either a phenomena or a fad, but it certainly has its fans. I threw in the bacon maple bar because I found it humorous. I would return to Dubrovnik in the drop of a hat, as they used to say. (Or is that an American idiom?) –Curt
Sorry, Curt – that donut looks horrid. I think you manufactured that long line of customers. But, the conference sounds like a winning experience. I’d never heard of anything like it, and am happy you blogged it.
(It was horrid.) Just a little secret between you and I, Susan. The sweet tooth I once had has long since disappeared. 🙂 But there are always long lines there, and some of their doughnuts are far more reasonable. Note I didn’t say healthy. The conference was quite interesting. Word Press went all out. There were definitely some things needing improvement but it was WP’s first conference for bloggers, and they had some excellent people there. The primary problem was trying to cover too much in too short of a time period. –Curt
I’ll keep my ear to the ground for news of their next conference!
sounds fascinating, especially Peggy’s agenda! 😉 😉
Yes, Peggy was rather pleased with herself. I think she bought five books at Powell’s. I am surprised she still isn’t there lost in the stacks somewhere. (grin) –Curt
I never knew there was such a conference. Sounds like a great event.
I haven’t been to Portland since I was a teenager. I’d love to go there again. And I know we couldn’t leave the city without my husband sampling a treat from Voodoo Doughnuts. Of course, I suppose I’d have to partake in one, too. You know, just to be a good sport. 😉
It was the first conference hosted by Word Press, Carrie. They have another one planned for Phoenix in April. Check out Press Publish for details. We love Portland. It has much to offer besides gooey doughnuts. 🙂 –Curt
I thought Portland was supposed to be foodie heaven… That doughnut, or whatever it is, looks ghastly. Sounds like you had fun, though. To be quite frank, Peggy’s agenda sounds the better of the two. 🙂
What, Linda… you don’t want a bacon maple bar? I thought that was southern food. 🙂 It was my Tennessee son-in-law insisted I buy one. Actually, some sections of the conference were very good. I think you would really like Longreads. Of course missing Powell’s was a disappointment. –Curt
You could have saved that donut for April fool/foods day, I can’t believe anyone would eat that! Gord on the other hand, thinks it looks yummy. -Ginette
I confess, Peggy helped and we only ate a part of it. Just enough to clog our arteries. 🙂 –Curt
Oh dear, just looking at that doughnut brings me out in a sweat! Not the envious kind though 😉 Press Publish sounds like a fun get together – oh to have time to visit such a gathering. Sounds like your happiness engineer did the trick too.
Time: never, ever enough. Why can’t the Happiness Engineer give us more? Well, I guess he did save me some time. As for the bacon-maple concoction, you are not likely to find it in a French Bakery. 🙂 –Curt
Sounds like powerful voodooism to me. And right in broad daylight.
From the looks of comments to your post, those doughnuts cast their magic right through the Ethernet and into screens across the country.
Around the world, Bruce. 🙂 That’s how powerful their Voodoo attraction is.
Curt – you are right. You don’t look too pleased about that monkey on your back.
He was an evil monkey, Bruce. He bit me when I suggested he should get off my back and go climb a tree. –Curt
Hmmm… maple bacon bar? Sounds good to me. It’s appearance is not very attractive, but I could happily blindfold myself and down half of one right now (a full one might kill me!). A fun trip to Portland! Thanks for taking us along!
Blindfolded while eating a bacon-maple bar? Might get a little messy. 🙂 It was messy when I took my bite and I could see. –Curt
They’re doing “voodoo” with their doughnuts XD
The conference sounds like fun. If there’s ever one in my neck of the woods, I may think of attending. Glad the happiness engineer helped you out.
I am thinking the doughnuts are possessed. 🙂 Good conference. I think you would enjoy it. I think the world needs a happiness engineer. –Curt
The voodoo donut looks like a fine place for visiting once a year. Thank you for the reminder – I must get to Dubrovnik!
I wish Dubrovnik was as easy for me to get to as Portland and Voodoo Doughnuts. 🙂 –Curt
Fun post, Curt. First of all, I wondered what in the world that first shot was. Sorry you ingested it. LOL. Goodness, may your arteries outlive the shock. And yes, ascend is what the wife did. So this is quite a happy post. Wife happy, Curt (otherwise) happy, Josh looking happy indeed. How did you learn about the conference? Very cool. We must have them in Southern CA.
I picked it up off a Word Press post, D. I think you would have made a good presenter. Actually, this was the first of it’s kind. They are doing one in Phoenix in the next couple of weeks. Type in Press Publish. (We didn’t eat the WHOLE thing… laughing, but it made a great visual— much more so than a conference room full of people.) –Curt
How interesting (the conference, but glad you didn’t eat the whole thing, too LOL). I should be dismissing the compliment in appropriate Korean modesty. But I’m so not Korean. I really enjoy public speaking. =) That’d be SO cool to present there! Thanks.
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I’ve never been to Portland but I think we would like it there. I’d skip the donut shop though and likely would end up spending a whole covetous day in Powell’s.
Having followed your blog now for several months, Bill, I can almost guarantee you would like Portland. But if you make it this way, you should also plan a visit with us in southern Oregon. 🙂 –Curt
Oh yeah – a bacon maple bar! Hats off to Peggy for forcing you to try this novelty (poor Curt). And then a trip to Powell’s Bookstore – Peggy had the right idea. I hope the conference was worth missing the good stuff. ~James
It was James. But if I do it again, I’ll plan in some time to enjoy the extras. As for that bacon-maple bar, i feel a little twinge down in my stomach each time I think of it… even now over a week later. 🙂 –Curt
I am pleased to read all had good times there… but I am unhappy about the monkey fleas your better half had to endure… But the question of the hour: was the bacon applewood smoked?
I think she stopped counting at around 40 flea bites Koji. Lucky all she got was itches. As for the question of the hour, could it be they used maplewood? 🙂 –Curt
Though delicious, it was not worth the wait. I had a comparable maple bacon doughnut at the coast a few years back that was out of this world. 3 thick sliced pieces of the most mouthwatering bacon on top…. *mouth waters*
Laughing… and you survived? 🙂 –Curt
I think I gained 10 lbs that weekend…. But I survived 😉