Portland, Oregon...what can you tell me about it?

[Buckalew11]

My DD is there for the summer and I'm going to visit. I know nothing about that area.
I'll be there 5 days if I survive that l-o-n-g plane right!

Places to see, places to eat...

TIA

 

[hlg22]

My sister lives there, so I've been a lot.

Definitely go to Powell's Books, it's a landmark. And definitely take a trip out to Multnomah Falls - there's a lodge out that's good for brunch too. The Rose Garden/Japanese Garden is beautiful too, if you get a nice day. If you like shopping, the Pearl District or 23rd St. are good. Portland has lots of little distinct neighborhoods that are fun to wander around. The Saturday Market is fun - it's like a big craft fair every weekend.

Food...it depends on what you like. We are "foodies" and really enjoy Pok Pok, Paley's Place, Beast, Toro Bravo, Salt & Straw for ice cream, Stumptown for coffee...I am sure there are places I'm forgetting. If you want something simpler, the McMenamins places (burgers, etc.) are fun - I like Kennedy School. Or you might like trying something from the many food carts downtown. There are also a few little "local" places in my sister's neighborhood that I love, but they wouldn't be destinations. Also, depending on when you go, there's a craft beer festival (I think it was called "Brewfest") that was fun - you can sample all different craft beers and it's along the river so it's really nice if the weather cooperates.

If you are interested in wine, there are a lot of fantastic wineries in the Willamette Valley (mostly famous for pinot noir), within about an hour's drive of Portland. It's absolutely gorgeous out there and a great day trip. If you are interested, I can recommend some wineries (my BIL is in the restaurant industry and knows a ton about wine, so we always go to great places).

If you are coming from TN the plane ride's really not that long...I fly out from DC and it's only about 5.5 hours direct.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

I only know what I've learned from the show Portlandia.

 

[Jaya]

Portland's unofficial motto is "Keep Portland Weird".....it's a unique city with a lot of fun things to do. If you're there on a Saturday, the Portland Saturday Market is great with good entertainment and food. Visit Voodoo Donuts for the best donuts in the world and, if you're lucky, there will be a wedding going on. The "Underground Portland" tours are fun and informative. The name slips me right now, but there's a gigantic bookstore that you can spend hours looking around in. Take a day side trip out to Astoria to the maritime museum and then go see Haystack Rock, claimed to be the largest monolith in the world. At low tide, you can wade out around the tidal pools. I guarantee, you'll be impressed. Take an excursion boat ride on the Willamette or see if there are any excursions running up the Columbia. Another day trip would be to drive up the highway that runs along the Columbia to Multnomah Falls - spectacular views). As you can tell, Portland is one of my favorite cities!

 

[mtfarlin]

Visited friends out there about 6 yrs ago and I LOVED IT!!! Great walking town, wonderful public transportation, trollys, etc...many great resturants large and small, shops, boutiques and a huge bookstore (Powells Books, which can be found online). Great farmers market downtown on weekends if I remember. If you are into roses, the rose trial gardens are a feast to behold as is the Japanese Gardens in "China Town" section of town. Many great sights outside of town too (Multnomah Falls are breathtaking) Also Stash Tea is located in Portland. Only about an hour from the Pacific coast and Mt Hood. Just a wonderful place to stay and visit!!!! Friends have moved from there, but I would love to go back and visit again someday

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I only know what I've learned from the show Portlandia.

And Grimm.

Add them together, you get a town full of irritating hipsters and monsters.

 

[mamacatnv]

My family is from Portland and I visit every few months, I agree with all the above suggestions. Love Multnomah Falls, love Saturday Market, the rose gardens and I'll add in the Zoo.

A few of the bridges are stunning, my favorite is the St. Johns Bridge in N. Portland. Its beautiful, the architecture just amazing. There is a park that is under the bridge called Cathedral Park where you will see for yourself why it is called Cathedral Park.

Cannon Beach, home to Haystack Rock is a beautiful little coastal town full of shops, galleries etc. You can continue south to Tillamook and visit the cheese factory.

A day trip to the Mt. St. Helens observation points has been on my to-do list for a long time. It always seems to have uncooperative weather when I am there and I have yet to make it out to see the volcano.

One of my favorite off the beaten paths places to eat is Pine State Biscuits, sooooo good! http://www.pinestatebiscuits.com/

We also love OMSI http://www.omsi.edu/
It's not just a kids museum. I noticed they are hosting the "Mummies of the World" exhibit beginning this week. My daughter and I saw this exhibit in San Antonio, TX in January and really enjoyed it. Fascinating

I am very fond of McMennamins Pub's http://www.mcmenamins.com/
The food is just okay, but the beer is delicious and the atmosphere is like none other I have seen. Each location is different and fun! I love the Ruby Ale

Another fun food adventure is the food carts located downtown in the Pearl District. Lots of yummy stuff to sample.

If you have children in you life, the best toy store on the planet is also downtown near Pioneer Sq. http://www.finneganstoys.com/ If you can find it at Toys R Us chances are you won't find it at Finnegans. They have wonderful toys, dolls, science stuff etc. My kids have outgrown it but my Dad and I spent an hour in there last year just browsing!

 

[tasha99]

And Grimm.

Add them together, you get a town full of irritating hipsters and monsters.

 

[ImDMous]

My DH goes there on business a few times a year and this is one I love tag along with. Love Portland!

Some great suggestions above, we've done Tillamook, Cannon Beach and wine country in one day.

We've gone the other direction along the river to Mt Hood and seen Timberline Lodge, the hotel where the exteriors for The Shining were filmed. It's beautiful up there and there was a tiny bit of snow left in July. On the drive out there, you pass dozens of roadside produce stands for snacking.

Go to the OMSI for the day and take a ride on the Jet Boat that leaves from there.

I really love the Japanese Gardens there, but the Chinese Gardens are really nice also and have a tea house with snacks.

In Washington Park where the zoo, rose garden and Japanese Gardens are, there is also a train to ride and the World Forestry Center that was really cool.

 

[Buckalew11]

5.5 hours IS long to me! lol It takes me less than 1 1/2 to get to Orlando and that plenty long enough for someone with a flying phobia!

I have a stop in Chicago.

I'm getting excited about it, reading through your post! She has posted picks of the Japanese Gardens and Salt and Straw. She's having a blast out there--working, doing an unpaid internship and exploring the city.

 

[Buckalew11]

I only know what I've learned from the show Portlandia.

I think DD showed me a bit of this on-line. The people were out to eat and wanting to know where their chicken came from. It was hilarious and frustrating all at the same time!

Portland's unofficial motto is "Keep Portland Weird".....it's a unique city with a lot of fun things to do. If you're there on a Saturday, the Portland Saturday Market is great with good entertainment and food. Visit Voodoo Donuts for the best donuts in the world and, if you're lucky, there will be a wedding going on. The "Underground Portland" tours are fun and informative. The name slips me right now, but there's a gigantic bookstore that you can spend hours looking around in. Take a day side trip out to Astoria to the maritime museum and then go see Haystack Rock, claimed to be the largest monolith in the world. At low tide, you can wade out around the tidal pools. I guarantee, you'll be impressed. Take an excursion boat ride on the Willamette or see if there are any excursions running up the Columbia. Another day trip would be to drive up the highway that runs along the Columbia to Multnomah Falls - spectacular views). As you can tell, Portland is one of my favorite cities!

So many exciting things to see! However, VooDoo Donuts stands out in this post, for some odd reason!! I wonder if they have a hotel closeby

Visited friends out there about 6 yrs ago and I LOVED IT!!! Great walking town, wonderful public transportation, trollys, etc...many great resturants large and small, shops, boutiques and a huge bookstore (Powells Books, which can be found online). Great farmers market downtown on weekends if I remember. If you are into roses, the rose trial gardens are a feast to behold as is the Japanese Gardens in "China Town" section of town. Many great sights outside of town too (Multnomah Falls are breathtaking) Also Stash Tea is located in Portland. Only about an hour from the Pacific coast and Mt Hood. Just a wonderful place to stay and visit!!!! Friends have moved from there, but I would love to go back and visit again someday

Thank you ALL for all this wonderful info. Sounds like I'll need more than 5 days and it sounds like my enduring the flight will be quite worth it.

 

[mamacatnv]

The original VooDoo is an interesting visit. Their logo "There is magic in the hole". DD and I stood in line for over an hour to get inside the little tiny shop but it was worth a visit. I thought the donut was average as far as donuts go, sure they have some weird toppings, names and combinations but in the end, it was just a donut. The shop however is really fun, the walls are covered in newspaper obits of famous persons along with all sorts of eclectic memorabilia and there are their famous pink boxes stacked everywhere

 

[Buckalew11]

The original VooDoo is an interesting visit. Their logo "There is magic in the hole". DD and I stood in line for over an hour to get inside the little tiny shop but it was worth a visit. I thought the donut was average as far as donuts go, sure they have some weird toppings, names and combinations but in the end, it was just a donut. The shop however is really fun, the walls are covered in newspaper obits of famous persons along with all sorts of eclectic memorabilia and there are their famous pink boxes stacked everywhere

Sounds interesting. Donuts here are hard to come by. We have Krispy Kreme for that yeast, glazed goodness but I rarely go to Knoxville for donuts. I find that if I just buy them in the store that I might as well eat the store bakery ones.

Otherwise, we do not have a good bakery for donuts around here. There is one place that isn't a chain (we do have Dunkin Donuts) but they do not have much of a variety. I grew up on LBI, NJ and we had the Crust and Crumb Bakery that had wonderful donuts.
I need a donut like I need a hole in the head but I love them anyway!

All your info is so good, mamacatnv!

 

[justjulie]

I stayed in Portland when my son went to skateboard camp - I LOVED it! While I was there I did something different every day - chocolate tour, food tour, Powell's book store, cooking class, waterfall tour, waterfall and wine tour, bridge tour - if I was only going to get there once, I was going to see it.

I bought the $5 day pass and took public transportation everywhere - the train from the airport to the hotel, then the streetcar loop all around town, tried some little local restaurants and stopped by Voodoo - go it's so neat - the Memphis Mafia(?) donut was HUGE and delicious - worth the wait as was the maple/bacon donut LOL

I toured and sampled the food carts - yum and got in a little shopping while walking all over the place. Stopped by several little parks and, of course, visited the local skateboard store with my son before we left.

I used a tour company that, amazingly, committed to a tour when I was the sole participant - at first I was nervous being the sole female with a male tour guide but it was so much fun to have a one on one tour ...

Enjoy and simple as it may seem, stop by the Grill Cheese cart - delicious grilled cheese and tomato soup and The Whole Bowl was another huge hit!

 

[Diznotyzed]

If you like to walk, a loop around Waterfront Park and the East Bank Esplanade will take you across a couple of bridges and along both sides of the Willamette River downtown. It's a little noisy on the east side from the nearby freeway, but you get a lovely view of the skyline from that side. There are jet boat tours that leave from a dock at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) that are great fun - in the summer you'll definitely get wet!
http://www.willamettejet.com/

My brother-in-law is on the Grimm crew, and they love to film at Cathedral Park under the St. Johns Bridge.

If you go to Cannon Beach, be sure to visit Ecola State Park just north of the town. Stunning views down the coastline from there, and a nice place to picnic.

 

[Jaya]

Too bad that the 24-Hour Church of Elvis has closed. It used to be one of our favorite places to visit. I never could figure out how to describe it to anyone. Part gallery, part wedding chapel, part performance-art venue, all weird.

 

[Buckalew11]

Well, it sounds like a very interesting city with tons to do! I'm guessing that, if possible, she will be out there every summer while in college. She wants to go to grad school out there (or so she thinks!)

Of course, she was there on her Spring break this year and now this summer but according to other DISers, on another thread, Portland is great in the summer and not so fun during the dreary winters. We'll see how she does...
But, if her plan works, I may get to visit more than once!

Sounds like some good places to go for a little run while I'm there also. I know the cooler temps sound great to me! The rain, nosomuch.

Hmm...tours, I may look into doing one when I know DD's work schedule. That sounds like fun.
Also going to Jeldwen Field to watch a soccer game. (Quick, I need Cliff notes for soccer, it is one of the few sports I do not know much about and DD LOVES it!)