Portland, OR ideas

On Feb 11, 3:28 pm, "Bill in Schenectady" wrote:
I had previously asked about things to do and see in Seattle. Well, our
trip plans have changed and instead of taking Amtrak to Seattle, we will
disembark in Portland. We'll probably spend a couple of days in Portland
before moving on to spend most of our visit in and around the Columbia River
Gorge.

I'd love to get ideas of things not to miss in Portland. We are a family of
four with two teenaged girls. By the way, we are not shoppers....even the
women of the family...unless it's really unusual.

Our interests include museums, unique parks and views, hiking, perhaps bike
rentals if there are good bike trails.

Thanks.
--

Downtown Portland is a free fare zone, that is the buses and trains
are free in the downtown area. Don't miss Powells Books, the largest
independent book store in the country. Jakes Seafood is close and not
to be missed, especially for it's happy hour specials.
Take the bus across the river to the Hawthorne District, where all the
old hippies have become capitalists. Further up is Mount Tabor, the
only volcano within a city limit. Don't worry it is extinct, but great
for hiking.
Huber's is the oldest restaurant in Portland, famous for it's flaming
drinks and turkey is big on the menu. Al Amir is great Lebanese
cooking in a historical building. For wonderful Northwest cuisine may
I suggest Lucy's Table?
There are seven bridges crossing the river and each one is a
different type. The River Walk goes by many of them is a great little
hike. The Spirit of Portland is ship that does a tour of the river and
is the best way to see and understand the river. There is also a jet
boat that does the river and goes all the way to the falls. Not for
wussies.
Portland is very low crime, you should feel safe in any neighborhood.
One thing different from most cities is that you will see no grafitti.
First Thursday of every month is the day when the local artists are
on display. Go to the Pearl District and enjoy the carnival
atmosphere.
Fit in with locals by not dressing up and never carry an umbrella.
Also, the river is the Multnomah pronounced mult-no-mah.
Portland is a very bike friendly city, nearly evry road has a bike
path, perhaps you might rent them.
Trivia: Portland was almost named Boston. A flip of a coin made the
decision and that coin is diplayed in some museum downtown.

On 12 Feb 2007 11:57:06 -0800, wrote:

.... Don't miss Powells Books, the largest
independent book store in the country....

Not any more -- actually, not even close, unless you concoct some specific
criterion that excludes Larry McMurtry's store.

-- Larry

On Feb 12, 7:52 am, "Mimi" wrote:
wrote in ...


Speaking of waterfalls, a bit of a detour south and just east of Salem is
Silver Falls State Park. It has a 5-mile hike passing by 8 waterfalls (and
behind one). For an extra couple miles you get 2 more waterfalls. One of my
favorite places. Maybe you could do it on your winery tour day.

Marianne

They call it the Trail of Ten Falls, but there's another that I'd add
to the list (at least during the winter). The trail actually goes
behind four waterfalls. However, the trail to North Falls was closed
when I was there in December. The web site says that it's still
closed.

On Feb 11, 3:28 pm, "Bill in Schenectady" wrote:
I had previously asked about things to do and see in Seattle. Well, our
trip plans have changed and instead of taking Amtrak to Seattle, we will
disembark in Portland. We'll probably spend a couple of days in Portland
before moving on to spend most of our visit in and around the Columbia River
Gorge.

I'd love to get ideas of things not to miss in Portland. We are a family of
four with two teenaged girls. By the way, we are not shoppers....even the
women of the family...unless it's really unusual.

Our interests include museums, unique parks and views, hiking, perhaps bike
rentals if there are good bike trails.

Thanks.
--


What have you got planned in the Gorge?

On Sun, 11 Feb 2007 23:28:13 GMT, Bill in Schenectady wrote:
I had previously asked about things to do and see in Seattle. Well, our
trip plans have changed and instead of taking Amtrak to Seattle, we will
disembark in Portland. We'll probably spend a couple of days in Portland
before moving on to spend most of our visit in and around the Columbia River
Gorge.

I'd love to get ideas of things not to miss in Portland. We are a family of
four with two teenaged girls. By the way, we are not shoppers....even the
women of the family...unless it's really unusual.

Random thoughts: June 27-July 6 is fairly high season
around here. I'd stick with the city in the weekends... coastal driving
is a dead crawl on summer weekends. The two areas I love best are Astoria
to Tillamook, and then down around Florence, particularly for Darlingtonia
Wayside Park. Big downtown Portland doings during that time is the Blues
Festival, July 4-8, in waterfront park. That is also rodeo time in a couple
small towns s of Portland, St. Paul and Molalla.

Portland area museums: Art Museum, Forestry Center, OMSI (btw, the Blueback
docked at OMSI is a US sub, the Blueback, seen breaching the water in the
film Hunt For Red October), Oregon History, Oregon Zoo, Pittock Mansion
(good views from the grounds -- Mansion has admission, grounds are free),
a hat museum, an aviation museum, a Jewish museum, a sports hall of fame,
etc. Don't know if the Elvis museum is still around but it may be. Very
odd place.

Lots of gardens, many within Forest Park, one of the largest US city parks:
International Rose Test Garden (good views!), the arboretum, the Japanese
Garden, the Chinese Garden. S of Portland again, in Silverton, is the
Oregon Garden, a horticultural display garden with a Frank Lloyd Wright
house on the grounds. Nearby is Silver Falls State Park -- very nice place,
10 waterfalls, bike trails, hiking trails, bridle trails, etc. --
and not as overrun as, say, Multnomah Falls. Good biking country. At least
three small wineries within 15 miles-- and more over around McMinnville.
Don't pass up the roadside fruit stands... the raspberries and blackberries
should be in, some of the cherries. Watch for yellow cherries -- heavenly.

Views: Pittock Mansion, Forest Park, top of the new OHSU Center for Health
and Healing (catch the trolley from downtown, take the elevator to the top
floor and look out from the waiting room areas), or take the new aerial
tram up the hill to the main hospital area and back -- I think the round
trip is going to be $4 -- it just opened, badly overbudget, but apparently
the views are spectacular.

Unique shopping: well, there's Saturday Market -- Saturdays and Sundays only,
local artisans, lots of food, easily accessible from downtown (public transit
in the downtown area is free, btw). Or Powell's Books, a whole city block
x 3 floors of new and used books (and a few tchotchkes), open till 11 pm
most days. You can pick up a nice walking tour map at Powells, too.

Lots of biking in the Portland and Gorge areas. Ask the POVA and the
gorge visitors association for maps. Part of the historic gorge highway
is biking and walking only.

Other thoughts: snowboarding on Mt. Hood. Windsurfing in The Dalles.
Maryhill Museum if anyone has interest in post-war French fashion.
Multnomah Falls is a zoo, but get off the main area, and there are
plenty of good trails and parks. Bring a GPS if you have one.

Two books you might consider before traveling: Best Places Northwest
and 100 Hikes in NW Oregon and SW Washington. Restaurant guide from the
local slightly counterculture newspaper: http://foodfinger.wweek.com
(the "cheap eats" section may be useful for traveling with teenagers g)

Kay

On 12 Feb 2007 11:57:06 -0800, wrote:
Fit in with locals by not dressing up and never carry an umbrella.
Umbrellas? We use umbrellas here in the Land of Goretex??? g

Also, the river is the Multnomah pronounced mult-no-mah.

But you'll have an easier time following directions for the N/S river
if you use the more modern name, Willamette. g The Columbia is the
east-west river in town.

One of the methods of catching nonlocals is names...
Willamette is will-LAM-met and Couch St. is "kooch"; Glisan is "glee-son";
Aloha is uh-LOW-uh. And "The Schnitz" is the Arlene Schnitzer concert hall,
an old theatre downtown.

And if you're visiting Forest Park because of its large size (about 5K acres),
you might want to visit the smallest park, Mills End, 452 square inches.
Yes, it's really a city park, maintained even -- and the occasional wedding
there, too. http://tinyurl.com/p5v8d It's not every park that's been
picked up and moved intact to another site while they worked on the road.

Portland definitely likes its oddities. vbg If you're up for a bit
of history, there's an underground tour featuring some of the tunnels
that were used to shanghai sailors in the 19th century.

Kay

In article ,
Kay Lancaster wrote:

And if you're visiting Forest Park because of its large size (about 5K acres),
you might want to visit the smallest park, Mills End, 452 square inches.
Yes, it's really a city park, maintained even -- and the occasional wedding
there, too. http://tinyurl.com/p5v8d It's not every park that's been
picked up and moved intact to another site while they worked on the road.

Oh, that's great! I hadn't heard about that park. Thanks for the link.

By the way, I don't recall whether anyone has mentioned it yet, but
there are several Lewis and Clark historical sites in easy driving
range of the areas already suggested, such as Fort Clatsop.


Patty

On Sun, 11 Feb 2007 23:28:13 GMT in rec.travel.usa-canada, "Bill
in Schenectady" wrote:

I'd love to get ideas of things not to miss in Portland. We are a family of
four with two teenaged girls. By the way, we are not shoppers....even the
women of the family...unless it's really unusual.

even for books? i always set aside a half day for powell's
bookstore, a full block x 4? 5? stories of books, new and used,
complete with in-store coffee bar. great way to spend a rainy
day.

a drive up the columbia gorge to hood river is a great day drive
if you take the old highway along the top and stop at the
viewpoint (can't remember the name). hood river seems to be the
busiest windsurfing spot in the west, great fun to watch the
sailboarders.

Our interests include museums, unique parks and views, hiking, perhaps bike
rentals if there are good bike trails.

the rose garden is really a don't-miss if you like flowers at
all. such a great variety of roses, and it overlooks downtown.

the oregon museum of science & industry always has exhibits for
kids of all ages, many of them interactive.

portland is also the home of the movie theatre/pizza brewpub. one
of the local brewpub chains owns a couple of movie theaters where
they took out half the seats & installed tables. you buy your
ticket, walk in, order your pizza, get your pitcher or pint, and
place the little numbered sign for your pizza order at the end of
your aisle when you sit down. they bring the pizza to your seat.
something for your kids to enjoy (minus beer) if they're showing
an appropriate flick.

the lloyd center has a nice ice rink in the middle of a shopping
mall, if your kids like to skate. and the public transportation
in portland is pretty good, especially the MAXX light rail
system.

On 13 Feb 2007 03:42:06 GMT in rec.travel.usa-canada, Kay
Lancaster wrote:

Don't know if the Elvis museum is still around but it may be. Very
odd place.

No, no, no! it's the 24 hour CHURCH of Elvis! but according to
the web site, it's no longer open. apparently the landlord
raised the rent...

http://www.24hourchurchofelvis.com/

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 00:34:29 GMT in rec.travel.usa-canada, "Bill
in Schenectady" wrote:

We will arrive in Portland on June 27 and leave Portland for Glacier
National Park (and ultimate trip back home) on July 6. So that's ten days,
including arrival and departure day.

We don't intend to rent a car immediately, but would like to stay a couple
of days in Portland without a car. After that, we'll do a slow loop around
the Columbia River Gorge, with side trips to interesting areas. Figure that
we'll rent a car for a week of the ten days.

if you have that long, and you want to range south, remember that
the oregon shakespeare festival in aspen has performances almost
every day, and there are lots of associated performances and
activities. this could work with a coastal trip that returns to
portland via crater lake...

i'll echo silver falls park, too, along with what another poster
said about trying to get to the coast (or mt. hood) on a summer
weekend. best to stay in town on weekends and see the busy
places on weekdays.