Portland Visitor Suggestions - Oregon (OR) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

leastprime · 09-12-2019, 01:24 AM

Darcelle XV (https://www.darcellexv.com)
Amtrak Station to Burnside (encompasses Pearl and Brewery Blocks) Now Cleaner and more train passengers.
Crystal Ballroom & Hotel restaurants, Music venues aren't bad. 2 blocks east of Powell's Book on Burnside.
Mary's
Dan and Louis Oyster Bar (Skidmore fountain, Saturday Market, Voodoo, food trucks ). My first oyster, 1955.
(Burger King on Burnside is no more, I was looking for this restaurant a few weeks ago)
Trimet ticket office is still in Pioneer Square but the Visitors office moved. The unisex restroom is kinda neat. The wash sinks have hand-dryers. No washlet bidets.
Countless brew bars.

StealthRabbit · 09-12-2019, 07:39 AM

Columbia Gorge abbreviated. If time constrained...

Eastbound WA SR 14 during AM, good sunrises from Cape Horn (WA) , or Beacon Rock, or Skamania Lodge.

Westbound on OR side. PM for best sun for pics. (I-84 and Historic scenic highway) good sunsets from Crown Point (Vista House) and nearby 'woman's overlook' (where most pics of Vista house are taken). Either Cape Horn (WA) or Crown Point (Oregon) are only 20 min east of I-205.

Hood River (pubs and kite boarding) and HR Valley (parkdale) are nice on nice days. Columbia Gorge wine tour for a nice weekend.(annual events planned on their website)

Nell Plotts · 09-12-2019, 10:55 AM

There is a free Washington Park Bus that stops at the MAX Zoo stop, it will take you to the Rose Garden.

Food-wise St. Honore can't be beat for pastries. I know the NW location (on Thurman Street near 23rd) but I understand they also have a downtown spot at SW Broadway near Washington (501 SW Broadway St.). As cornsnicker3 has mentioned, parking is a challenge.

If you are 65 or older tickets on TriMet are less expensive ("Honored Citizen").

sdurbanite · 10-02-2019, 12:27 AM

Sorry it's taken so long to post my trip report here. Finding time to do anything seems to get harder and harder all the time. haha.

Let me start by saying that I really enjoyed my four days in Portland. Weather-wise, the first 2 days were perfect, with temps in the upper 70s and low 80s. It rained the last 2 days, which was a nice change for someone visiting from moisture-starved Southern California. I took advantage of my first full day of good weather by visiting Washington Park. The Japanese Garden was awesome. Took lots of good pics there. And I was surprised there were still roses in bloom in the rose garden. Pretty awesome sight to see so many rose varieties in one place. And the view of Mt. Hood in the background made it even better.

The next day i drove out to Bonneville Dam, only to find it closed. I did check out the fishery, which was pretty cool. Along the way, I stopped at both Multnomah Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. The hike up Multnomah was just a cool as the first time i did it. My heart was definitely pumping by the time I reached the top. And I forgot how you can see the falls from the parking lot off the freeway.

One thing that I really enjoyed was driving around and checking out all of the different neighborhoods/streets in the city. You can tell that many areas are being gentrified, especially around Williams Ave. with all of the new infill projects going up. Division St/Clinton Ave, Alberta St, Belmont and Mississippi Ave were all very cool.

And don't me started on the restaurants. I managed to eat very well the entire time I was in town. Some of the more memorable meals were at Hat Yai, Gumba, Matt's BBQ, Nong's Khao Man Gai, Yonder, Lardo and Duck House. And don't think I skipped out on Blue Star and Voodoo Doughnuts.

Other places I visited were the Portland Saturday Farmer's Market, Powell's Bookstore, Pioneer Square Park, Waterfront Park, Portland Art Musuem on Friday night and the Oregon Historical Musuem. Took the tram up to the hospital and even managed to drive to Salem to visit the state capitol building because I'm a nerd like that. haha And I made it a point to see the White Stag sign lit up at night.

I must say that drivers in Portland are very nice. No one cuts you off or tries to cut in at the last minute on the freeway. And people actually use their blinkers haha. i really had to pump on the brakes because it seemed i was passing everyone on the freeway going only 65-70 mph. And I'm used to seeing homeless people, but it was crazy to see their tents set up along the freeway and on ramps.

i'm definitely a Portland fan and can't wait to go back, even just to eat my way through the city. Thanks again to those who posted in this thread. You all helped make my trip a good one.

psichick · 10-02-2019, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

I must say that drivers in Portland are very nice. No one cuts you off or tries to cut in at the last minute on the freeway. And people actually use their blinkers haha. i really had to pump on the brakes because it seemed i was passing everyone on the freeway going only 65-70 mph. And I'm used to seeing homeless people, but it was crazy to see their tents set up along the freeway and on ramps.

Sounds like a nice trip and makes me want to get out and go do those things all over again.

I had to laugh at the driving part, mostly because that's what I thought when I first moved up here from OC. Granted, when the speed limits are usually around 55, yeah, going 65-70 was flying by people. I love going back to OC and driving 80 on the 405. LOL. Gotta say though, things have changed up here where people are speeding more and they are more aggressive, so I'm surprised you saw lots of polite drivers. That makes me happy though, it just means SoCal is still worse. Haha

leastprime · 10-02-2019, 04:23 PM

Corps of Engineer's Columbia drainage, including Willamette System...Since 9/11, access to dams have been severely restricted. We have learned that you need to check ahead to discover what is opened and when.

sdurbanite · 10-03-2019, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psichick

Sounds like a nice trip and makes me want to get out and go do those things all over again.

I had to laugh at the driving part, mostly because that's what I thought when I first moved up here from OC. Granted, when the speed limits are usually around 55, yeah, going 65-70 was flying by people. I love going back to OC and driving 80 on the 405. LOL. Gotta say though, things have changed up here where people are speeding more and they are more aggressive, so I'm surprised you saw lots of polite drivers. That makes me happy though, it just means SoCal is still worse. Haha

Yeah, I had a great time. i could definitely live in Portland. It's not too big or too small, and it's really beautiful. Next time I want to visit the coast and Mt. Hood.

And yes, because the speed limit within the city is 55mph, everything seemed to moved so slowly. I got used to it after a couple of days. And you are correct about the average flow of traffic down here being between 75-80mph. Another observation I forgot to mention is how so many females had multi-colored hair. Maybe it was just places I visited but it definitely stuck out to me. Whether it was women in the 50s/60s, teens, millenials...you name it, they all had streaks of color.

psichick · 10-07-2019, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

Another observation I forgot to mention is how so many females had multi-colored hair. Maybe it was just places I visited but it definitely stuck out to me. Whether it was women in the 50s/60s, teens, millenials...you name it, they all had streaks of color.

OMG, so so true! I did it, subtley, when I lived in OC, but that's because I worked for conservative companies. Up here, I am able to get away with it more at my job, so I know I'm guilty of this. It's fun.

pdxMIKEpdx · 10-08-2019, 04:17 PM

My wife, who is 65, gets streaks of teal in her hair.

It isn't really noticeable until she puts her hair up.