land at noon? get to your hotel and get settled. i'm assuming you're staying downtown? just explore downtown PDX. it's a pretty walkable area - it's all flat and the bums generally aren't aggressive. take a stroll on the waterfront (and if either you or your girlfriend are runners, run it + some of the bridges. it's easy to do any sort of mileage there). i think you should spend your first night just walking towards NW Portland. So the waterfront. Then Pioneer Park. The Park Blocks. Grab happy hour at Departure, which is not a super cool place but has the best view in Portland. After a cocktail, walk to the Pearl District and grab dinner at any of the dozens of ideal places to eat. Google whatever you prefer. On the way home, stop in at Powell's (greatest bookstore in the world - plan to spend an hour there), grab a donut at Voodoo (a total tourist thing... but when in Rome...), and go home and get ready for the interview. You will have walked around much of downtown. You didn't specify when your interview was on the 7th. If it's later, wake up and grab Mother's brunch (nearby your downtown hotel). If it's early, celebrate afterwards with a meal at a local NW Brewery (and maybe lunch at the food carts on Alder). You'll probably walk back towards the Pearl and you can bum around town a bit and pop into more places. In the late afternoon, you should drive up to the International Rose Test Garden. It'll be awesome in May, hopefully, and you see some awesome flowers and a cool view of the city. Take the girlfriend. Try a second restaurant in the Pearl/NW and then head home (or head to a brewery for more drinks). So the 6th and 7th were about the west side of Portland. The 8th and 9th should be about the outdoor activities you can do in and around the city and some of the east side fun. On the 8th, wake up and go for a hike out in the Gorge. I don't know what your fitness level is (or your father's or girlfriend's), but there are different things for different levels, obviously. If you guys are fat and lazy, Multnomah Falls is popular and easy. If you are in decent or good shape, there are better hikes just 10-20 minutes past the Falls that are gorgeous with better views. Estimate your fitness and then google some of these views: http://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Columbia_River_Gorge_Hikes. Tom, Dick, and Harry/Mirror Lake is a great hike around Mt. Hood and the Lower Macleay Park to Pittock Mansion hike is a pretty good one in the city of Portland. It'll probably be a 10-15 minute drive from your hotel. After, shower at your hotel and rest up for a bit and then go grab dinner/drinks in the inner SE around Belmont. On the morning of the 9th, drive out to Cannon Beach and frolic in the water a bit... if the weather is decent. The Oregon coast is scenic but it's not really a sun tanning place. Grab some clam chowder and a good lunch and then drive back. There are some other fun little beach towns - Seaside, Astoria, etc. - that you can check out if you want. Eat whatever you want for your last meal. Maybe try and get Salt N Straw Ice Cream (I've never had it... but get ready to wait in line, though). Or on the 9th hit up the Portland Saturday Market downtown (waterfront walk from where you are probably staying) and just enjoy your last day. Or do another hike in the Gorge or near Mt. Hood. The Timbers are playing Montreal on the 9th so you could get a ticket to that, too (game is at 1). You could also go to the Zoo, which is pretty cool. It could be tough going to the beach on any day but Saturday, though, as traffic backs up on the highway on the way back into town in the early afternoon and it's tough to wake up in the AM, drive out to the coast, enjoy your time out there, and drive home before the early afternoon starts. reddit.com/r/portland has some good tourist info on the sidebar (and a lot of people who frequently ask which restaurants to eat at, which breweries to go to, what to do for a few days in the city, etc.). Enjoy your trip and hopefully you get good weather.
Billy Ball if you're flying in from the east, get a window seat on the left side of the plane. You descend right next to Mt. Hood.
Download the app for your airline - it will allow you to select seats. The airlines release more seats as it gets closer to the departure date. At 24 hours prior to departure, medallion flyers will be upgraded so a lot of premium seats open up. Just keep an eye on it - you should be able to switch to a better one
If I HAD to choose between Portland or people, I guess I'd have to go with Portland. Because 93% of people bother me.
Despite living in Portland for 2 years, I still learn about/try new places when I go back. Last time I was in town we went to Podnah's (Pok Pok had a 2 hour wait) and followed it up with Salt and Straw. Would highly recommend both places (Salt and Straw was great but a little touristy and hipster).
Excellent post I would add that when you go to the coast, go down highway 6 either on the way there or back because Highway 6>>>>>26 in terms of scenery, also traveling from cannon beach to tillamook is a great little drive if the weather is nice. If you or your father aren't ready for a big hike and you still want to see the gorge? Drive along the gorge and continue all the way to Hood River. Grab some pizza and beer and Double Mountain Brewery (both are top notch, and pizza is brick-oven). After take a drive up highway 35 into the 'Fruit Loop' and grab some wine and enjoy the best views of mount hood while sipping on a Pinot Noir. Continue down 35 and jump onto 26 and head back towards Portland and a drive through the Cascades.
Anyone have any connections at MHCC in Gresham. I have an interview for the physical therapy program at the school. Trying to get as much info as I can about the interview.
if you decide to travel to the Coast for a day and go to the Seaside/Astoria area let me know and I can give you some places to visit and eat or drink.
Got dam, coming back to town in a couple months and cant wait. Rumor is user OZ hasn't been to a tittie bar since I left, we'll have to change that.
Casa Diablo. I was so drunk the last time I was there I fell down and rolled down the hill outside the front door.
I cannot tell you anything about MHCC. But, I know from personal experience that Portlanders trash Gresham every chance they get....which is unfair. I found Gresham to be quite civil and down to earth....something that downtown Portlanders have a hard time relating to. My point being, do not let posts about Gresham have an effect on you. Focus, instead, on posts about MHCC.
Well, Casa Diablo. What do you expect. It is a place that all TMBers should have a chance to visit....and remember for the rest of their lives.
TheChatch I was doing some more reading on the hike suggestions yall gave me since i leave wednesday morning. I saw a lot of people saying not to jump off at punchbowl....is this because theres a bunch of dumb teenagers doing dumb shit off of it or what?
Well the high point is easily 60 feet above the water. I did it once and came close to touching bottom, and that was enough for me.
Yeah Gresham is pretty much your typical suburban sprawl town. Lots of strip malls, lots of chains. Almost all of the bad shit happens in an area called Rockwood, which I think actually used to be part of Portland proper, that the city of Gresham annexed for some reason. Rockwood is a rough area, populated by poor immigrants mostly, but it's not like you're going to get mugged if you go down there.
Billy Ball Yeah the upper bluff is a 60' drop easy. Joe_Pesci Did you really come close to touching bottom? I feel like the bowl is like 20' deep. I think the thing is that the water is usually cold as hell, and you have to swim all the way out of the bowl, which means if you get into trouble, you're on your own in there, pretty much. If you hurt yourself on the fall, it's going to be a bit before someone can get to you, unless they are up on the cliff as well.
We ditched school around this time of year my sophomore eye are at Sunset and drove out with some beer and hiked up to jump the falls. The girls actually went first, jumping together. I was fucing shicked. After that, we all had to do it. It's a long ways down. You feel like you're floating out there in the air, you're up so high. I don't think I came close to touching bottom, but the shock of the cold water, pus my board shorts shooting up my arse was pretty surprising.
Anything less than a 1 and a half would be bitch made. I personally would add an aggressive 1.5 gainer so that I could see the rocks I was plummeting towards.
ive done my share of gainers off of high objects but if you jump to the left up above the waterfall thats a bit to high to be doing risky shit
Get in the water first to feel how cold it is. It happens every year where tourists will jump into cold water and drown because water at 40-45 degrees can throw you into shock if you are not ready for it. Even more so if you are 20 feet under after you just jumped off a 50 ft cliff. There have been something like 2 or three Oregon athletes that have died over the last 5 years doing that exact thing.
at this time of year the only way I'm going up the Oneonta Gorge is with a pair of hip waders. Needs to be a 90* day to be comfortable, July August.
lol a Vegan Titty Bar. Oh, Portland. Portland is a vegan paradise May 5, 2015 Facebook.com/Scapegoat-Tattoo There is a place where vegans can go and never have to worry about running across something derived from an animal: The world's first vegan mini-mall in Portland, Oregon. Portland has a long history of supporting vegetarians and vegans, the Los Angeles Times reports. In the late 1800s, Seventh-Day Adventists, who shun meat, flocked to the Rose City, and today it even has a vegan strip club, where animal-free food is served and the dancers aren't allowed to don fur, leather, silk, or pearls. At the mini-mall, the Food Fight! grocery store sells such staples as fruits and vegetables and specialty items like meatless jerky and dairy-free chocolate. After loading up on groceries, patrons can hit up the Sweetpea Baking Co. for vegan baked goods, Herbivore for clothes and pleather purses, and Scapegoat Tattoo, where owner Brian Thomas Wilson uses ink that does not contain any animal byproducts. Wilson told the Times that when he opened the shop a decade ago, there weren't too many people looking for a vegan tattoo parlor. Now, he often finds himself tattooing pieces that showcase a client's dedication to the lifestyle. Wilson himself became a vegan in 1999, after he ordered a 79-cent breakfast at a casino in Reno, and couldn't eat the hunk of ham and fluorescent yellow eggs. "That was the lightbulb that went off," he said. "It changed my whole life."Catherine Garcia
Making my first trip to Portland end of June for the international beer fest and the sounders timbers game. Coming with people and we are looking for an airbnb. What neighborhoods/areas should I look for a place? Everyone is late 20's. Obviously proximity to bars/restaurants/nightlife is the most important thing.
If you're doing AirBB, do yourself a favor and just stay in the Pearl District. Everything is at your fingertips there.
The weekend im there is sounders timbers, so I'm not going to miss that. Anyone thats been to games, I see tickets available on stubhub in the sounders army section. Is that the best place to sit? I assume its first come first served.
Sounders section is not the best place to sit. That side of the stadium has posts which block the view of the field. Of course the Timbers Army area might too...I've never sat with them.
Sounders/Timbers will be fun. It's really the best environment professional soccer has to offer in the US.
Best spot to be, but be prepared to stand the whole time (its only 90 minutes so enjoy it). Scalping will likely cost you more money and the other ways I know you can get tickets for cheaper than stub hub are likely a no go for a game as big as the Sounders (especially since both teams are going to be in playoff hunt and even if they weren't its the biggest games). That might be the game the do a giant TIFO for so....if it is, maybe you will want to look for tickets just to the west of the army in sections 109-115 would give you the best of all worlds. All the atmosphere, best view (imo), and a view of TIFO (I can't remember if it is that game or not, I can get back to you). Public transportation is pretty damn good so that won't be a problem getting to game. Pearl area is nice but isn't the best flavor for what portland is like. Having said that, hotels are going to be expensive as fuck with it being best festival so I would look to book shit asap. There are some good hotels in the Northwest district that will be a bit cheaper and are just as close to good entertainment (and still just a few blocks away from Pearl). Otherwise, you are going to have to stay in a suburb and take Max or a Cab/Uber. But warning, downtown is going to be expensive that weekend.