one week in Portland researching a potential move, what to see and do? (Newport: rental car, apartment)

[khyron]

Greetings!

I have been looking forward to making this post for a long, long time...we are SO excited right now. After years of research and a brief visit last year, we are finally coming out for a whole week to check out Portland in more depth. I know there are a lot of these kinds of "what to do" posts, but since we have the unique perspective of folks wanting to live in Portland someday and not just see the "sights" I hope you kind folks won't mind me adding this thread of our own.

As a disclaimer, here are a few points to get over...we are hoping to move out there next summer, we would never move somewhere without plans, savings, and jobs lined up first, yes we have already started the networking process in that regard, yes we fully comprehend the weather situation, and finally no, we are neither hipsters nor from California. Okay glad that's all taken care of!

So far, here's a list of things we have on our itinerary in no particular order:

- visit various potential job sites (we've secured a rental car)
- make it to the Portland Saturday Market at least once
- see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the Wonder Ballroom
- see Alice In Wonderland at Cinetopia or The Roseway
- have happy hour drinks on top of Big Pink at the City Grill
- visit the Lan Su Chinese Garden, perhaps for morning Tai Chi
- see a burlesque show at the Hawthorne Theater
- check out the "vegan minimall" (seriously, this exists?)
- play some games at Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade
- get lost, but not too lost, in Powell's City of Books
- shop at Sock Dreams and other weird nifty clothing stores
- visit Free Geek, where I just might want to volunteer forever
- explore thrift stores, including Avant Garden
- go for a walk through Tom McCall Waterfront Park
- eat breakfast at Cadillac Cafe (other awesome diners?)
- drink tasty coffee at Stumptown Coffee Roasters
- get our drink on at Deschutes, McMenamins, and other brewpubs
- eat at least once at Voodoo Doughnut
- wander around downtown in the middle of the day eating at carts
- ride around on various forms of TriMet, take the zoo elevator
- possibly visit the shore for a couple hours (no idea where to go?)

We also aim to explore neighborhoods, doing a LOT of walking around and riding transit as much as possible (because transit and walkability are two of our favorite things about the city). For right now though, we're not "neighborhood shopping" for houses or anything like that yet. We would likely move into an apartment for a few years while we learn more about the city to decide on that. Right now what we're most interested in is just having interesting experiences that you "get to have when you live in Portland" to seal the deal on how sold we are on wanting to get out there (specifically, as opposed to just "the Pacific Northwest" because Seattle is awesome but Portland seems more "us" for lots of reasons already enumerated well in other posts).

So for those of you who are natives, love your City of Roses (and stumps) and just can't imagine preferring to live anywhere else, what's missing from the list above that you consider an essentially wonderful thing about calling PDX home? Thanks SO MUCH for your suggestions!

[Discovery1]

Originally Posted by khyron

Greetings!

I have been looking forward to making this post for a long, long time...we are SO excited right now. After years of research and a brief visit last year, we are finally coming out for a whole week to check out Portland in more depth. I know there are a lot of these kinds of "what to do" posts, but since we have the unique perspective of folks wanting to live in Portland someday and not just see the "sights" I hope you kind folks won't mind me adding this thread of our own.

As a disclaimer, here are a few points to get over...we are hoping to move out there next summer, we will not be moving without plans, savings, and jobs lined up first, yes we have already started the networking process in that regard, we fully comprehend the weather situation, and finally no, we are not from California. Okay glad that's all taken care of!

So far, here's a list of things we have on our itinerary in no particular order:

- visit various potential job sites (we've secured a rental car)
- see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the Wonder Ballroom
- have happy hour drinks on top of Big Pink at the City Grill
- visit the Chinese gardens, perhaps for morning Tai Chi
- see a burlesque show at the Hawthorne Theater
- check out the "vegan minimall" (seriously, this exists?)
- play some games at Ground Kontrol classic arcade
- get lost, but not too lost, in Powell's bookstore
- shop at Sock Dreams
- visit Free Geek, where I just might want to volunteer forever
- explore thrift stores, including Avant Garden
- go for a walk through Tom McCall Waterfront Park
- eat diner chow at Cadillac Cafe
- drink tasty coffee at Stumptown Coffee Roasters
- get our drink on at Deschutes Brewing, and other brewpubs
- eat at least once at Voodoo Doughnut
- wander around downtown in the middle of the day eating at carts
- ride around on various TriMet vehicles/routes, take the zoo elevator
- possibly visit the shore for a couple hours (no idea where to go)

We also aim to explore neighborhoods, doing a LOT of walking around and riding transit as much as possible (because transit and walking are two things that would be key to us choosing a place). For right now though, we're not "neighborhood shopping" or anything like that yet. We would likely move into an apartment for a few years while we learn more about the city to decide on that. Right now what we're most interested in is just having interesting experiences that you "get to have when you live in Portland" to seal the deal on how sold we are on wanting to get out there (specifically, as opposed to just "the Pacific Northwest" because Seattle is awesome but Portland seems more "us" for lots of reasons already enumerated well in other posts).

So for those of you who are natives, love your City of Roses and stumps, and just can't imagine living anywhere else, what's missing from the list above that you consider an essentially wonderful thing about calling PDX home? Thanks SO MUCH for your suggestions!

I would expand my venture further away from the city such over the border in Washington along highway 14 east to Camas, Washougal. Check out Mt.Hood then a short drive to the coast to Lincoln city.
I am sure some folks here will add a whole lots more to the list.

Have fun in Portland.

[sayulita]

When exactly are you coming? If it's in May, plan on a Farmer's Market visit.

[khyron]

Originally Posted by sayulita

When exactly are you coming? If it's in May, plan on a Farmer's Market visit.

Sorry I didn't make it clearer than just mentioning the concert and movie, we will be out there next week!

I would edit my post to clarify this, but apparently it's been too long according to the forum gods, oops.

[Leisesturm]

The distances to the coast cities might seem trivial but the roads to the coast cities have curves and are single lane for a lot of the way. IOW allow an hour to nearby coast areas like Cannon Beach or Tillamook and allow more for cities like Newport Beach. IOW 'a couple of hours' to check out the coast is IMO a non starter. I would add the Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Portland Tram, Mt. Tabor, Forest Park and a Trader Joe's.

H

[XandV]

My GF and I did a similar trip back in the summer, so one thing that I'd recommend is to check out the Gorge. I'm not sure what it's like in the winter (I'm sure a local could weigh in), but the waterfalls were really cool to see, and the gorge is beautiful, especially if you take the scenic highway to the really cool rest stop that overlooks the gorge.

Also, A Pizza Scholl's on Hawthorne is a great place to eat.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by khyron

Sorry I didn't make it clearer than just mentioning the concert and movie, we will be out there next week!

I would edit my post to clarify this, but apparently it's been too long according to the forum gods, oops.

Saturday Market opens this weekend, but the Farmer's Market doesn't open until March 20.

If you are going to hit Powell's (which I recommend), remember to go to Powell's Technical Books, which is a separate building about 2 blocks east and 1 block north.

Make sure the movie at Cinetopia is playing in one of the "living room" theaters. The first time I went to Cinetopia, I spent like $90 - movie tickets, wine bar, some appetizer plates, pitcher of beer (split 4 ways). The pitcher of beer during the movie is a mistake unless you have a guaranteed 2 hour-after-beer bladder, lol....

Even though it's a chain now, I'd still recommend the Harborside McCormick and Schmick's for drinks or dinner. Nice location, right off the trolley, nice view of the river and harbor. I also like Southpark, just north of the Portland Art Museum for lunch/dinner. Especially the butternut squash ravioli with marsala and sage. The spouse loves their oysters, but I am one of those non-oyster lovers. Might as well soak little bits of soft sponges in salt water and swallow them whole as buy expensive oysters....

[khyron]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

The distances to the coast cities might seem trivial but the roads to the coast cities have curves and are single lane for a lot of the way. IOW allow an hour to nearby coast areas like Cannon Beach or Tillamook and allow more for cities like Newport Beach. IOW 'a couple of hours' to check out the coast is IMO a non starter.

I could probably have worded that better, in my head I was thinking "drive out to the shore, spend a few hours looking around and eating, then come back" as opposed to "drive out to the shore and make a whole day of it and spend the night." I realize it's upwards of 90 minutes each way in average conditions, and thus "a couple" of hours is necessary for the commute alone. So does anyone have a favorite "not very far off but fun for a quick visit" shore town and/or lunch spot out by the ocean?

[bledsoe3]

Lincoln City. There is shopping, dining, beaches to walk on and a casino if you're into that.

[Leisesturm]

IMO Lincoln City is too far south for someone on a PDX lookaround. Cannon Beach is my vote. I can't tell you where to eat but I can tell you what to avoid. Avoid Mo's. They are full of themselves and boldly advertise their wares everywhere you look but seek other recommendations.

H