Hail Portlanders

[kiya]

So, people in Portland! (Oregon.)

If a guy were thinking about maybe spending a couple of days in or around your lovely city, do you have any particular suggestions or recommendations on things that might be worth doing?

(I am not sure if we are going to be spending the couple of days or just passing through on our way to a wedding; trying to figure out what is compatible with our tastes and the, y'know, to-be-eleven-month-old who will be along for the ride will be part of the decisionmaking process.)

Comments

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

The Portland Zoo is nice. That's on our list for when we're in Oregon with our to-be-9-month-old in July, although that's mostly because we haven't been to a decent zoo in a long time... OMSI is also pretty cool.

Powell's Books is astonishingly huge and may be worth an afternoon, depending on how patient your critter is feeling.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Last time we were there, we hit the OMSI (with jaylake and child), Powell's, and the Portland Children's Museum.

[polydad.livejournal.com]

If "near Portland" is a broad enough definition to include Corvallis I'd be happy to meet with y'all and see if the child and I get along well enough to entertain each other while the adults go off and be adults. (I'd also be happy to go with the adults, but I can't figure out a way to do both at once.)

best,

Joel

[lupagreenwolf.livejournal.com]

If you're up for a little driving, the Columbia River Gorge is beautiful--Multnomah Falls is about 20 miles east of the city and a popular, though worth it, attraction.

[boojum.livejournal.com]

In addition to what others said, note that "Powell's" also refers to Powell's Technical Books, which is about two blocks from the big downtown Powell's and carries most of the math, CS, science, engineering, etc. books. It also often carries things like robot statues.

There's a nice park along the west side of the Willamette: Waterfront Park. There are lots of nifty parks in general, and if it's warm enough, there will be fountains in many of them with lots of child-splashing.

If you're here on a weekend, Saturday (and Sunday) Market is like a giant arts 'n' crafts flea market. (Warning: the press of people can be overwhelming, especially on sunny afternoons.)

If any of your party are into either interesting beers or berries, this is a good city for it, although it may still be early in the year for berries.

Likewise, if any of your party are vegans or have complicated allergies / food sensitivities, that's very well supported here, even in many restaurants.

Moonstruck Chocolates is a fabulous wonderful place. I like their chocolate pigs in a pen (mama pig + piglets) and little chocolate dogs and cats, but the PB&J chocolate eyeball is still my favorite. They also make wonderful hot chocolate.

The big downtown library has beautiful interior architecture and a really nice kids' section. They seem (from my uninformed childless perspective) to be pretty supportive of reading aloud to kids and other somewhat noisy kids+books activities.

If your small human is into machines, we have both serious lightrail (trimet.org) and serious freight rail / shipping (Swan Island and the area north of the east end of the Steel Bridge are good for this). As an adult, I find the zoo lightrail stop to be particularly fun (since it's deep underground, they decorated the walls with lots and lots of science).

If you are in a car, try to drive over the Marquam bridge after dark. Everyone except the driver will get a lovely view of the downtown lights.

The Japanese and the Chinese Gardens are both calming and beautiful. I'm not sure the Japanese Garden is wheel-navigable, so if that's relevant, check first.

[ivy]

The Portland Japanese Garden is the best one I've ever seen outside of Japan. I maintain a membership there even though I don't live in Portland. Also, Powells like everyone says, and Voodoo Doughnut.

[beaq.livejournal.com]

http://web.pdx.edu/~nac/pdxdirtcheap/

He may or may not touch on things you'd really like.

I do personally like the Stumptown Coffee on Division, and Saturday Market is worth going to at least once -- the part where they sell handmade stuff is pretty cool. I ran into some local comics artists selling prints, frex, and there is some neat metalwork.

Multnomah Falls is easy to find, not super far away, and is awesome. If you care to use the Old Columbia Highway, and the weather is good, you won't forget the scenery. (It's hard to rave enough about the scenery in the Columbia Basin. Or any part of the Cascades. Or the Oregon Coast. Or.) I'd say the two together are about a four hour trip, with longish stops. (I personally have a very hard time not stopping at every waterfall. There are public facilities.) Presuming you have a car.
View Larger Map

The above are "tourist" things well worth the trip, I think. I am kind of done with Powell's ($$ every time! and crowded), but I think everyone should go once. Also the McMenamins series of pubs is pretty good. It's gotten all big and full of itself, but I still like the atmosphere(s). (All the places are different. The food and service are ... variable.)

I'm not from Portland, but I wish I was.

[beaq.livejournal.com]

OK, everybody should go to Powell's at least a great number of times, but I am more a library person after a while.