Visiting Portland for 4 days (last week of February)... (Green: 2013, renting)

[daryldarko]

My best friend and I are riding the Amtrak up from the San Francisco Bay Area to stay in town for a few days. It's both of our first visits there, and we've done a lot of pre-research to suss out places of interest to both of our liking.

Bookstores, thrift stores (not vintage clothing stores), cafes, pubs, eateries, I think we have pretty much figured out from Yelp and Foursquare listings/ratings.

Out of the ordinary interests we have are visiting Elliott Smith "locations". Have a short list of places he's performed/recorded/bar-hopped at, but wonder if there is a more established checklist of his places to follow.

Also, cemeteries. I read that there are 8 in town, but I've been hard pressed to find any expressive tales about which are the best/most beautiful to visit. (It's just a hobby of mine, visiting/photographing cemeteries when I travel.. long story.)

We're a little bit into the stories of "haunted Portland" and are already signed up for the Beyond Bizarre Ghost Tour (the Sunday night we arrive). We've become a bit fascinated by the tragic story of Thelma Taylor and plan on visiting St. John's Bridge and her grave in Historic Columbian Cemetery.

Oh, and my friend is a singer and is interested in performing at an open-mic night, if there is one with a piano. Saw that one place does have a piano but the open-mic is on Thursday nights. We leave on Thursday afternoon.

And we are planning on renting a car to get around for at least two days. We're staying at the Bluebird Guesthouse.

Okay, so now you kinda know what we're into... any fine tuning anyone can suggest?

Thanks!!

[EnricoV]

I can help you on two of the topics.

As for Elliott Smith:
Here's a"location" map: Mapping Elliott Smith's Portland | Portland Monthly

Here are some other locations listed: Pieces of Elliott: How to Find Elliott Smith in Portland.

As for Cemeteries:
There are lots more than 8 cemeteries in Portland. And many more if you're looking at the Portland metro area. Lots of different types and characters of the cemeteries. Portland's historic cemeteries are managed by the Portland Parks Bureau. They have a website, with a listing of the 14 they manage here: Metro: Historic cemeteries

The two that I think are most visit-worthy (and I'm a cemetery person, too) are Lone Fir ... which is the larger, historic cemetery, and River View Cemetery ... which is/was the "fancy" cemetery, where all the rich and important people were buried. It's a lovely cemetery, covering the hillside. Up at the top, there are several either adjacent or nearby cemeteries. The GAR Cemetery, which is filled with Civil War soldiers and their families. Green Wood Cemetery, and two Jewish cemeteries, Beth Israel and Ahavai Shalom.

Be cautious when visiting Columbian Cemetery. It's in a bad location, under the freeway, and is known to be frequented by homeless folk. Not saying don't go ... just be aware.

Not sure what it is you're looking for in a cemetery (now doesn't that sound weird), but there are lots of them. Especially when you start adding up all the single, or just a few, burials here and there. But mostly, they're in the outlying area. The ones that were in the downtown area of Portland, generally got moved out.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by daryldarko

We're a little bit into the stories of "haunted Portland" and are already signed up for the Beyond Bizarre Ghost Tour (the Sunday night we arrive).

Most of that tour is bunk BTW. Especially when they touch on any of the Shanghai Tunnels history. It's OK entertainment otherwise and gives you a decent overview of the history of that part of town.

[ChristinePDX]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

Portland's historic cemeteries are managed by the Portland Parks Bureau.

Sorry to be so nit-picky, but Portland Parks and Metro are different government entities. Otherwise, great info.

Lone Fir Cemetery is definitely very interesting if history and cemeteries are your thing. Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery have a good walking tour on the second Saturday of each month:

» Tours

Since you're going to be in town at the wrong time, you might check out their website and see if they have a self-guided tour option. If not, you can probably find some of the highlights, like the peculiar gravestone of James B. and Elizabeth Stephens, just by messing around on Wikipedia and whatnot.

Have a fun trip!

[Haley James]

A link to haunted Portland with photos, recommendations and history....

Haunted Portland: Ghosts, Spooky Spots and Paranormal Activity | Neighborhood Notes

[PNWdreamin]

Don't forget to try some of Portland's awesome food! I few favorites from when I was there were Blue Star Donuts, Porque No, Saint Honore Bakery, and Mother's Bistro. Also don't forget to try a food cart! Have fun!

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by ChristinePDX

Sorry to be so nit-picky, but Portland Parks and Metro are different government entities. Otherwise, great info.

Lone Fir Cemetery is definitely very interesting if history and cemeteries are your thing. Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery have a good walking tour on the second Saturday of each month:

» Tours

Since you're going to be in town at the wrong time, you might check out their website and see if they have a self-guided tour option. If not, you can probably find some of the highlights, like the peculiar gravestone of James B. and Elizabeth Stephens, just by messing around on Wikipedia and whatnot.

Have a fun trip!

I did my own self-guided tour of Lone Fir for a school project a while back and just stopping to look at the tombstones to read what they said was sort of a history lesson in itself. It gets you to wondering about the stories of the people buried there.

It was really interesting I think.

From there you are just a few minutes away from Belmont Av to the east with interesting shops and restaurants and then paralleling that to the south about six blocks is Hawthorne which is has an annex of the famous Powell's Bookstore and cookbook store as well as other interesting stores and restaurants, small movie theaters and food carts. You will also be ten minutes from downtown. You won't need a car for any of this. There is bus service on all streets. Belmont for the cemetery and Hawthorne for the other neighborhood. You can walk all in between.