Where would you take a first time visitor?

[mixtape]

I'm planning on doing the 4T trail when I get time: 4T Trail - Travel Portland

Food/Drinks: Rimsky-korsakoffee house, Kachka, Hale Pele, Roadside Attraction, Toro Bravo


Shopping: Canoe, Powells, Anchor & Beam, Paxton Gate....or just walk down Mississippi, Alberta, Hawthorne, Division, NW 23rd, Portland Flea (3rd or last Sunday), PSU farmers market

Sights: Rose Garden, Japanese Garden

Other: kayaking, Soak pool + movie theater at the Kennedy School,

[ToddATX]

I just wanted to come back around and thank everyone for input on activities and stops in town. Some of them we definately took, and others I would love to come back and explore. I just got back from my 2 week west coast vacation, we were here for 3 nights and 4 days.

There was definitely a lot of "Austin" vibe about the city (and give us back our slogan, Austin was weird before you ).

Some of our favorite things while in town:

Washington Park: We spent an afternoon exploring there a bit. I was a little disapointed by the Japanese Garrdens (but maybe I'm spoiled because San Antonio's is breath taking when in bloom), but I really loved and was very moved by the Holocaust Memorial. The park was a cool place with a lot of options and we enjoyed it considerably though.

Hiking in the Multnomah area: We hiked not just the Multnomah-Wahkeena loop, but also the Oneonta Gorge was a lot of fun. Very beautiful, really cool places.

Salt & Straw Ice Cream - we have a place in Austin called Amy's that is also amazing and popular and i think we actually edge the ice cream department, but S&S was still great, and the smell of those waffle cones is amazing, you get it blocks away at the spot we went to.

Powell's Books - we went to the giant downtown original location. Loved the place, I wish we had one of these here. I did get "accosted" by a guy outside, but the store was pretty incredible, picked up a few items here.

Hawthorne & Division - we pubbed around/walked around the areas a bit and had fun there.

Forktown Food Tours - It wasn't recomended here, but we did a walking foodie tour with these people and it was pretty awesome. Great information, great walking tour of the city, and some really great food along the way. Highlights included the duck confit sandwhich at Addy's (loved it), the Kargi Gogo food truck with authentic Georgian cuisine was awesome as well, and the pasta at Lardo were all really very good.

Imperial - restaurant with Doug from last season's Top Chef - we had a really amazing meal, and pretty good service here as well.

A ton of other pubs/bars/breweries and fun was had and so I'm probably leaving alot out ... but I loved my visit. I will say one thing though ... I really thought I would wind up leaving wanting to move here (I love your climate so much better than ours), but I was amazed at how truly awful the traffic was. It really put me off to any ideas of moving there at least at this point, though I will probably be back to visit some more.

As an example, we left Washington Park at 2 pm on a weekday, and the 12 mile trip to our hotel took LITERALLY an hour and a half. I was so annoyed by that. I was hoping it was a fluke, but the next day (a Friday) we were making a drive in town around 1:30 and again, the same horrendous traffic. I honestly didn't think I would ever find traffic worse or that I hated more than Houston (where I lived for almost 30 years) outside of New York or LA, but I did ... I was really put off by that.

But I don't want to leave on a sour note ... again, thanks so much for 3 pages of feedback and suggestions, Portland was still overall an awesome and beautiful place!!

[CanuckInPortland]

Originally Posted by ToddATX

As an example, we left Washington Park at 2 pm on a weekday, and the 12 mile trip to our hotel took LITERALLY an hour and a half. I was so annoyed by that. I was hoping it was a fluke, but the next day (a Friday) we were making a drive in town around 1:30 and again, the same horrendous traffic.

Where was your hotel? I find traffic is bad often on the freeways, but if one is driving within the city it's usually not that bad unless it's right at rush hour. If you were driving 12 miles from Washington Park you must have been staying way out in the suburbs(or at the airport).

[ToddATX]

Originally Posted by CanuckInPortland

Where was your hotel? I find traffic is bad often on the freeways, but if one is driving within the city it's usually not that bad unless it's right at rush hour. If you were driving 12 miles from Washington Park you must have been staying way out in the suburbs(or at the airport).

We were staying not far from the airport. After sitting in stagnant, non moving freeway traffic forever I decided to try the overland route and jumped off and tried Killingsworth. At first it was better, and made me feel like I was making progress but then it became a parking lot too.

[oldtintype]

That's surprising that traffic was that bad at that time. Usually you see it like that after 4.

[kittykitten]

It is great. But I did not go there before. So I can not give you some advice. I am sorry for you. But your post is great. I want to go there. I hope one day I will go there with my family.

[58rhodes]

I would take the scenic highway to Mult Falls, then the freeway to Hood River then do the MT Hood loop hghwy 35. Hood looks bada$$ from the north and east sides. Pretty awesome staring up to 11,000 ft from 1800 ft