KCRag Forum

I'll be in Portland for a few days soon - and surrounding countryside for another week afterwards (e.g., Crater lake, Rainier).

What are some things to do in Portland? what are the can't miss places? Restaurants? etc... May take Amtrak to Seattle for a day. if you have a day in Seattle, what's the one thing you would do?

We are staying downtown and I am anxious to check out the Portland public transportation system. How extensive is it? Can you get about anywhere on would want to go?

The Portland Aquarium is only 5 bucks on the first Tuesday, but i would have been happy paying full price, it's a dumpy little converted restaurant and a lot of fun.

I really enjoyed the Portland Japanese garden and the surrounding park.

Powell Books is great, but i love book stores.

Take this with a grain of salt as I haven't lived in Portland in almost 20 years but I do visit yearly.

Hit the beaches - Canon Beach, Lincoln City, Depot Bay, Newport, Astoria (Goonies!) are all within a few hours. Mt. Hood is beautiful as is Multnomah Falls. Columbia River Gorge. If you don't have a rental car then you probably won't hit beyond the city.

Portland does have a fantastic transport system. You have MAX and you have the buses and a streetcar and they will take you all over town.

http://trimet.org/pdfs/maps/railsystem.pdf
http://trimet.org/pdfs/maps/trimetsystem.pdf
http://trimet.org/streetcar/index.htm
http://trimet.org/fares/index.htm

Restaurants that are amazing: Bamboo is phenomenal sushi. There is a west side location too though I've not been. Pine State Biscuits - great for breakfast. This is the west side location - I've been to the one on Division and it was amazing. Skip VooDoo and hit Blue Star Doughnuts. Cascade is great for sour beers. There are tons of beer bars and stores all over town. I would recommend getting on Yelp (obviously). Former KC Yelper Matt Eyman is there now and he is a posting fool. I would definitely check out his posts. Indian food? Swagat. PokPok is great for a James Beard award winning meal - Thai and Vietnamese. Le Pigeon for great French food. Portland is also a food truck haven and there are apps that you can use to locate trucks. For a fun experience - belly dancers, sitting on cushions, etc. Marrakesh.

Powells is amazing if you love books. That is a must see. Washington Park is beautiful, the International Test Rose Gardens are beautiful - especially this time of year. Japanese Gardens, Forest Park, Saturday Market, etc. Just so much.

Amtrak from Portland to Seattle is about 4 hours. If you can take the ferry it's neat. They have an aquarium there too and lots of beer. Original Starbucks, Pike's Place Market, etc.

If you do one thing in Seattle, do Pike's Place Market.

longviewmo wrote:If you do one thing in Seattle, do Pike's Place Market.

I disagree on Pikes Place, its just one huge tourist trap that is impossible to walk around, its really hard to enjoy at peak times. If you go super early it will be dead but nothing will be open except the original starbucks.

If you were to do one thing in Seattle it would definitely be to take a Ferry Ride, you can really get some great views of the skyline. I would also stop at Green Lake and take in the neighborhood and walk the lake.

brewcrew1000 wrote:If you were to do one thing in Seattle it would definitely be to take a Ferry Ride, you can really get some great views of the skyline.

is there just one ferry? headed to seattle at the end of the month and haven't done that before.

DaveKCMO wrote:

brewcrew1000 wrote:If you were to do one thing in Seattle it would definitely be to take a Ferry Ride, you can really get some great views of the skyline.

is there just one ferry? headed to seattle at the end of the month and haven't done that before.

There are like 10-12 Ferry Routes that go to all different islands, the most touristy one would be the one to Bainbridge Island since its the closest and cheapest. The area around Bainbridge is fun to walk around as well
http://www.wsdot.com/ferries/schedule/S ... ute=sea-bi

If you have any interest in wildflowers at all, please visit the place called "Paradise" on Rainier. Great masses of gorgeous blooms coat the incredibly beautiful hills and mountains in July and August. We were there in 2001. The view at every turn was jaw-dropping. You will see species that do not grow in lower elevations.

Roanoker wrote:If you have any interest in wildflowers at all, please visit the place called "Paradise" on Rainier. Great masses of gorgeous blooms coat the incredibly beautiful hills and mountains in July and August. We were there in 2001. The view at every turn was jaw-dropping. You will see species that do not grow in lower elevations.

Thanks. It's on the list of things to do. This is as much of a wilderness trip as it is a city trip. I am an ardent mountain climber and would probably be going up Rainier if my knee wasn't such a mess right now.

Great suggestions. Sounds like some nice restaurants and food trucks in Portland - we look forward to that. We will indeed be headed down the coast. It looks like we may need to start a bit further north on the coast of Oregon than previously planned. Also, the ferry in Seattle seems like a great idea and one that won't eat up a whole day. So - how about the Space Needle? Worth the time and money? I don't mind spending the money but with one day, I don't want to wait in lines but I also don't want to order tickets in advance because I don't want to go up on an overcast day. I am after the photo opportunities more than anything else.

We were there during Fleet Week last year, so things were busy and we skipped the needle. Did everything else though, Chihuly, EMP Museum, monorail, and the Armory. Entire area is fun and walkable as is the entirety of downtown.

If you can get to Mowich Lake on the NW side of Mt. Rainier I would do it. We got on the wrong road, and it led us to one of the most beautiful and tranquil spots I've ever seen. Great low impact trails. Beautiful water. Not a lot of people.



I would also plan on hitting the Crater Lake north shore early and hiking down the Cleatwood cove trail, not for the boat trip, but for the cliff diving. By far the highlight of the trip for everyone in my family.



And then be at the Crater lake lodge on the south rim at sunset for drinks and dinner. The patio overlooks the lake and it is sublime.

Don't know how much time you have or want to devote to Coast and Coast Range, Cascades, waterfalls, and high desert.
I love Astoria. Tons of old mansions. Great seafood. The column. Take US30, not 26.
Seaside-tourist trap. Cannon Beach- beautiful but upscale. Tillamook is farmer town. 3 capes drive-spectacular...netarts bay etc.
Lincoln City sucks. Newport is worthwhile, especially the waterfront, the aquarium, and Rogue Brewery. Keep heading south to Yachats, a tiny town wedged between the
Pacific and the mountains. Breathtaking views
from there till Florence. You can head East to Eugene or continue South on 101.

bbqboy wrote:Don't know how much time you have or want to devote to Coast and Coast Range, Cascades, waterfalls, and high desert.
I love Astoria. Tons of old mansions. Great seafood. The column. Take US30, not 26.
Seaside-tourist trap. Cannon Beach- beautiful but upscale. Tillamook is farmer town. 3 capes drive-spectacular...netarts bay etc.
Lincoln City sucks. Newport is worthwhile, especially the waterfront, the aquarium, and Rogue Brewery. Keep heading south to Yachats, a tiny town wedged between the
Pacific and the mountains. Breathtaking views
from there till Florence. You can head East to Eugene or continue South on 101.

We are definitely visiting the coast. I believe we are staying in Florence and then making our way SW towards Crater Lake. Astoria was on the list of places to stay initially but accommodation scarcity along the way made us change the entire route (moral of the story is not to wait until the last minute to plan). So we will head out of Portland, hit the coast at Cannon Beach and see Ecola State Park, then go south from there.

Highlander wrote:So - how about the Space Needle? Worth the time and money? I don't mind spending the money but with one day, I don't want to wait in lines but I also don't want to order tickets in advance because I don't want to go up on an overcast day.

I personally found the Space Needle to be kind of boring, but the Experience Music Project (apparently now called the EMP Museum) basically next door to the Space Needle to be rather interesting. Based on my reading of the Wikipedia article, it has changed quite a bit since I was there though, and is no longer focused solely on music. I assume this is why they changed the name. When I visited, they had a large collection of artifacts from Seattle music history, from Hendrix to Heart to Nirvana (and "grunge" / "Seattle sound" 90s music in general). No idea how much of that stuff remains, but in any event the Gehry building it is housed in is still pretty cool and perhaps photo-worthy.

The EMP building also houses a SciFi museum, or at least it did five years ago.

I have driven the coast twice, one time was the entire coast. I really like the southern part from Port Orford to the State Line. There is a great Redwood Forest not far into Califorina called Jedediah Smith State Park. I will be back one day, we got married in front of Haystack Rock in Canon Beach.

I've done PCH drive from LA to SF (and some SD to LA), am hoping someday to do SF to Seattle. I did drive Seattle to Vancouver, which was nice but not coastal. As much as I like the Pacific NW, Vancouver BC blew me away on many levels. If in that area and have time, is worth the effort to check out Vancouver.

awynhaus wrote:Skip VooDoo and hit Blue Star Doughnuts.

Can confirm... Blue Star this morning was a great recommendation. I'm sure everything there is good, but I could limit myself to only the Blueberry Bourbon Basil donut if that were the only donut I could eat for eternity.

We drove a from Seattle to Vancouver and agree with earthling that the drive is nice, but not coastal. But we took the (car)ferry back from Vancouver to Victoria to see Butchart(sp?) Gardens, then the ferry back to Port Angeles and drove back to Seattle (I think they have Victoria/Seattle or Vancouver/Seattle ferry service now). The scenery was spectacular - mountains, forests and killer whales right off of the ferry.