What to do in Portland OR?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

We’re driving down to Portland OR from Port Angeles WA on March 6, and we’ll have a full day in Portland on Sunday, March 7 before flying to more tropical places on the 8th.

What do people recommend we do, both in Portland on the 7th and during the drive on the 6th? Any secret/hidden interesting or cool things to do? The 7th is a Sunday, and we don’t want to sit in our hotel (near the airport) all day. We’ll have a car, so can get around.

We like natural areas, parks, nature houses, museums, cultural stuff, and unusual sights that are unique to particular place. We’re not much into shopping. Restaurant suggestions are welcome too - especially if they are not chain-style places.

Thanks in advance!

2

The Botanical Gardens are pretty cool, I hear. However, if you’ve got the time (and a vehicle), I’d really recommend a trip up the Columbia River Gorge. It’s an incredible drive.

3

Leave.

Just kidding. (Old Oregonian joke)

Go check out Saturday Market (not just on Saturdays), and eat at the Rheinlander, be sure to have the fondue, which is the best I’ve ever had. (They sell the stuff in local markets; last time I was in there I packed some jars in a cooler to bring back with me to California.)

4

Ooh, my favorite city! I am a constant tourist there (I live about an hour away.)

Here are a few recommendations…

The Japanese Gardensare gorgeous (even in winter), and very authentic (designed by a genuine Japanese guy!) If you are the type to be bored by plants, there is quite a bit of interesting variety in the gardens–rock gardens, strolling gardens, and interesting architecture. These gardens are big and sprawling and naturalistic. They are located on the outskirts of the city.

In comparison, the Chinese Gardenis located in Chinatown, right in the middle of Portland. It is tiny and compact and perfect–designed in conjunction with the famous garden town of Suzhou (also known as the Venice of China), many of the building materials were shipped all the way from China. I highly recommend a guided tour, given by enthusiastic and interesting volunteers, who can give you all sorts of interesting facts and details you would never guess just from looking yourself. The attention to detail is amazing. Then drink tea and eat strange Chinese sweets at the tea house in the garden.

If you go to the Chinese Garden, you can go to the nearby Old Town Pizzafor lunch, a cozy gourmet pizza place built in an renovated 19th century hotel. Comes complete with a ghost story. You can go for dessert at the infamous “Voodoo Donuts” a short walk/drive away. This tiny little shop is a cult favorite, and and sells donuts with somewhat uh, non-traditional flavors. (Chocolate rice crispies and peanut butter! Vanilla frosting and grape powder!)

Also nearby, just up Burnside from the Chinatown gate, is Powell’s Books, one of the biggest used book stores in the world, taking up a full city block. It is an icon in Portland, and although their used books are over-priced and the lines are long, it is still undeniably worth a visit. Probably one of the only bookstores in the world where you actually need a map to get around.

My family usually stops at the nearby Thai Peacock for dinner afterwards. Delicious Thai food (in a town which is packed with Thai restaurants) at good prices and conveniently located within walking distance of Powell’s. (Head down Burnside from the main entrance to Powell’s and turn at the record store whose name I cannot remember.)

I also like the Portland Art Museum–a nice building, an excellent collection of Asian art and sometimes some cool special exhibitions.

If you ever go back in the summer, the Rose Gardens are beautiful too. And I second the recommendation of the Saturday Market–very hip and happening place, and very lively!

Will let you know if I think of anything else. Enjoy your time in Oregon.

5

Go to the strip joints. Portland is famous for them.

6

Portland’s great! I went with my boyfriend last summer and we went to a different Powell’s every single day we were there. I think there’s four of them. Next to the main and biggest Powell’s is Ten-01, a restaurant with a really good happy hour menu. The burger was one of the best we ever had.

We enjoyed the Japanese Garden. It was a serene type of place with lots of little nooks and crannies to sit and just enjoy the atmosphere. We wanted to check out the Arboretum around the corner as well, but ran out of time.

The Saturday market was a lot of fun, with live music and tons of really tempting food. We had both the mushroom and sausage gravy with biscuit and they were both flavorful and delicious. The tiny cookies from the Two Tarts stand (I think that’s what they were called) were expensive, but worth it. We bought some hazelnuts and jerky back south with us and I proceeded to eat them all in a week.

7

Great ideas here! Keep them coming!

I had heard of the Saturday Market, but thought it was only open on Saturday. (silly me). Bookstore! Tanaqui, when I said we didn’t like shopping, I’m glad you realized I meant MALL shopping. A huge used bookstore sounds awesome!

And thanks Soul Brother Number Two, but I will save your idea for when the family is not with me (wink wink)

8

Powell’s Books is a Portland icon. Some things can be overpriced, but if you want something rare, out-of-print, or hard to find used*, it’s a gold mine. The thing is about three stories tall and takes up an entire city block. I usually end up walking out with one or two books that are worth owning, not worth buying new, and difficult to track down.

Voodoo Donuts is also excellent, if you’re into donuts. It’s supposed to be one of the best donut shops in the country. Fair warning, though, that some of the donuts are, shall we say, NSFW. Great tasting, and very funny, but if you’re not comfortable biting into a big penis-shaped donut, you might steer clear.

Portland’s famous for its bar scene. Lots and lots of great microbrews if you’re into beer, and lots of good Pacific Northwest wineries if you’d rather drink wine. And if you’re a teetotaler, try Rimsky-Korsacoffee, the only place I’ve ever been where the tables spin, rise and lower, and move in and out of the wall veeeeeeery slowly as you drink.

9

Powell’s is no mere bookstore. If you’re looking for a book, go to Powell’s, and if they don’t have it, stop looking.

10

Powell’s sells new, used, rare, odd books and periodicals and has a comprehensive web site. There’s a coffee shop in there too so you don’t starve to death while browsing. Smaller version on Hawthorne a block down from the Freddie’s, block away from the Bagdad Theater and next door to Oasis Pizza and Pastaworks (best garlic/sea salt foccaccia evar.)

11

Naturewise, maybe try Forest Park.

One of our favorite places to eat is Tin Shed. For breakfast there’s good French pastry at Ken’s Artisan Bakery.

Powells is a must, of course. The Chinese Garden is really nice too.

12

Go up the gorge to see multinomah falls, and don’t forget to drive east and west along the road the falls are on as there are at least half a dozen falls along there. Also bring hiking shoes if you want to climb the trail to the top of the falls.

If you like beer, try lots of different pubs, something for everyone, I didn’t even like beer till I moved up here.

What food do you like? there are many options but I’m sure us PDX’ers here can help point you towards lots of good restaurants.

13

Fourth Powell’s.
A good place, but not open on Sunday, is the Leatherman Factory not far from the airport. You need a reservation, and you can’t wear open toed shoes, but you get to tour the factory right on the floor, near the machines, which is rare these days.

14

Brewpubs! If you like beer you need to visit one of our many quality brewpubs! There’s lots of places to go depending on what area you’re going to be in. Henry’s, Full Sail Downtown, The Horse Brass, Belmont Station (which is a bar and bottle shop), Lucky Labrador NW and Deschutes are all good ones. McMenamin’s is a Portland staple and there’s many all over the place, although some liken it to the Starbucks of the brewpub world. My favorite McMenamin’s is Kennedy School, which used to actually be a school. Now it’s got bars, restaurants and a movie theater you can drink in! Rogue, Bridgeport, Hopworks, Laurelwood (which is on the east side too), Almeda, Lompac are on the west side. I just went to the Laurelwood on Sandy, it’s pretty good. They had a batch of beer brewing while I was there. Heavenly! Pubquest is a great way to find good brewpubs in the area.

15

Yeah, I figured there were few SDMB posters who wouldn’t enjoy the thought of a huge book store… it doesn’t even count as shopping as far as I’m concerned! A bookstore that big is more like a tourist attraction. :slight_smile: Feel free to ask if you have any more questions.

This thread is making me homesick… :slight_smile:

16

Stay at McMenamins Edgefield or any other McMenamins property. LOVE IT!

17

Apologies, I was referring to the Saturday Farmer’s market and not the Saturday market (where they sell crafts). We did stumble upon the Saturday market too, but being more food orientated, we enjoyed the farmer’s market at the University more.

I’ll second Laurelwood too. We had a Laurelwood beer at the recommendation of some random guy (thanks, random guy!) at the Brewfest last year and it was the best beer we had that day.

18

Last time I killed a day in Portland, we went to OMSI - the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. It technically is a children’s museum, but its terribly fun and informative. Plus, onsite, they have the Omnimax theatre, which projects the images in a half circle 3 stories high around the audience. If you get motion sick, it will bother you. They also only really show documentaries. I would still do it.

But if you don’t feel like that, Powell’s and coffee shop hopping should be great fun!

19

The streets around Powells are packed with great brewpubs and restaurants. Lot’s of live music in the evenings. Jimmy Maks is a great Jazz club if you like Jazz.

Portland Bar and Grill (20th floor with fantastic views of city and river) has a certain casual elegance.

OMSI is one of my favourite science museums in the whole world.

20

Man, I remember going to OMSI back when it was next to Washington Park Zoo, when the giant heart was inside the building. It’s better than anything around where I live now, that’s for sure.

Beware, if you enter Powell’s, you won’t want to come out.