A Portland Oregon Fall Weekend
Nov 13th, 2012, 07:05 AM
#1
Original Poster
A Portland Oregon Fall Weekend
Maple and oak leaves making colorful circular piles around the base of the tree from which they fell in downtown Portland viewed outside the window from our hotel room was the beginning of my husband and my second romance with Portland.
A quick weekend getaway beckoned us to Portland. We had friends to visit and, I , a concert to attend.
Thanks to the Fodors board on my last minute decision not to impede on my friend's generous offer to have us stay with her and her husband, I booked through the recommended Travelportland.com website, making reservations at Avenue Fifty Hotel on Morrison.
A good choice.
On Southwest Airlines, our personal airline of choice, I booked several months ago and got airfare for well under $200 each roundtrip. This was my first experience in years on a 1 stop flight. It worked well. Going up from Los Angeles, we had a plane change in Oakland; and returning, we had a stop in Oakland, but no plane change (meaning we should change seats when everyone got off and got our pick at the front!).
Portland Airport appears -- at least domestically -- to be a one terminal airport, easy to navigate, great directional signs, and friendly people to tell us the car rental place was directly across from the terminal.
At Dollar, they did not try to sell us all of the extras they normally do, like a full tank. (One thing you should know about Oregon, though, is that when you get to a station to fill up, you are NOT allowed to fill up yourself. There's a law -- so it's a little freakish someone coming up to your window at a gas station. If that happens in L.A., it's a panhandler giving you some sob story. Here, it's a gas station attendant).
More to follow.
A quick weekend getaway beckoned us to Portland. We had friends to visit and, I , a concert to attend.
Thanks to the Fodors board on my last minute decision not to impede on my friend's generous offer to have us stay with her and her husband, I booked through the recommended Travelportland.com website, making reservations at Avenue Fifty Hotel on Morrison.
A good choice.
On Southwest Airlines, our personal airline of choice, I booked several months ago and got airfare for well under $200 each roundtrip. This was my first experience in years on a 1 stop flight. It worked well. Going up from Los Angeles, we had a plane change in Oakland; and returning, we had a stop in Oakland, but no plane change (meaning we should change seats when everyone got off and got our pick at the front!).
Portland Airport appears -- at least domestically -- to be a one terminal airport, easy to navigate, great directional signs, and friendly people to tell us the car rental place was directly across from the terminal.
At Dollar, they did not try to sell us all of the extras they normally do, like a full tank. (One thing you should know about Oregon, though, is that when you get to a station to fill up, you are NOT allowed to fill up yourself. There's a law -- so it's a little freakish someone coming up to your window at a gas station. If that happens in L.A., it's a panhandler giving you some sob story. Here, it's a gas station attendant).
More to follow.
Nov 13th, 2012, 07:19 AM
#3
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Good initial report - and yes, always try to remember when visiting my old state to wait for the gas attendant, who sometimes comes out when I am about to pull the pump out and gives moi a puzzled look.
Love the fall in Oregon and waiting to hear about your other exeriences, including dining I presume?
Love the fall in Oregon and waiting to hear about your other exeriences, including dining I presume?
Nov 13th, 2012, 12:23 PM
#5
Original Poster
Bobmrg, you're absolutely right, and I wish I had a do-over, but when I wrote this, I looked for and didn't find the button to tag. Still learning the art of using an Ipad.
If you're just going to central Portland, and have packed light, there's no need to even rent a car, since their transit system is blissful and there's a system called the TriMet that has a light rail line (the red line) that takes you all the way from the airport downtown. Right next to our hotel, in fact!
http://trimet.org/
But we had plans where we needed the car.
Airport to hotel was an 11 mile uneventful drive. Except for my husband who cannot read mapquest or any directions for that matter so him trying to navigate me is not particularly fruitful. So why don't I have HIM drive and me navigate, you ask. You haven't seen him drive, and you haven't seen me back-seat drive, that's why. I doubt our marriage would have lasted this long if I allowed him to drive when I'm in the car. Having said all that, I crafted the mapquest, have a good memory, read signs, and generally have spot on directional skills.
And Portland is tricky. Tricky because the downtown area has a lot of one-way streets, and a lot of little side passages next to big streets going over the river to the highways. Tricky because the I-5 has this weird loop around the middle of the river where it intersects with the 405 and the 84. But using common sense and reading the signs helps.
Hotel Fifty: I wrote a report on Fodors Portland Hotels. A nice 3 star hotel that is, in fact, what I'd call a 3 star hotel. Very good value, very comfy bed, free wifi, large flat screen t.v., well situated. In short, everything that we needed.
Weather: According to the Portland folks, we just missed the warm weather. It was turning cold, quite cold, in fact, but a nice change from our 80 degrees in L.A. Saturday, it was sunny; Sunday and Monday it rained all day. But that's Portland, and that's why it's so pretty.
We got in around 3:30 in the afternoon on Saturday, and headed straight over to the Saturday market, since I like the Saturday market. I like crafty, hippie kind of stuff and they have a lot of that at the Saturday market. I bought a cool incense holder and a bunch of handmade glass window ornaments. Checked out the line out at Voodoo Donuts, and marveled at all of the brew pubs that have cropped up in the last few years.
Then met up with friends and headed over to the Pearl district. Got on the list at Deschutes Brewery on 11th, and with an hour wait, nipped over to the Teardrop Cocktail Lounge around the corner.
The Teardrop is one of those fancy nouveau cocktail bars that seem to be cropping up lately in most major cities. The just post-teenage set call themselves "mixologists" and try to outdo other cocktail bars in fancy concoctions. Or the classics, expecting James Bond to stop in for a shaken, not stirred martini. High priced, but fun. Had a classic gin and tonic with their made on the premises tonic, that was orange in color. Delish. The post-teen explained that it was made with Sichuan peppercorns, cardamom and quinine bark. Hence the color.
Deschutes on 11th has really good food, good brews and, since I don't drink beer, a pretty decent cabernet. My friend went for the quinoa and cashew burger with cheddar that she raved about; I had a bowl of french onion soup that had great flavor; and I think the men had a couple of burgers that they enjoyed.
We were going to meet up with my friends on Sunday before the concert and head over to Multnomah Falls, but it was raining and we'd been there before. So we settled on my husband's desire to walk around in the rain, pop in cheap stores, buy things tax free, and try out one of those pubs.
After a whirlwind walking tour, a couple of purchases, a fond hello to the Monaco, where we previously stayed when it had a different name, and a quick visit to my beloved Apple Music Store on 1st(a guitar shop -- not to be confused with Steve Jobs' Apple anything), we ended up at Kells Irish Pub on 2nd for lunch and an Irish coffee.
http://www.kellsirish.com/
Although I heard the place can get pretty rowdy on a weekend night, it was a gorgeous pub with a fire by the front, little booths and a magnificent wooden bar that ran a good 40 feet along one wall. A decent pub lunch.
Now, something I guess not everyone does when they come to Portland, but something I have been yearning to do, was visit the Reed campus. We drove over to my friends, who live practically next door to Lewis & Clark, and they took us past some really neat little areas that are crawling with antiques. Areas with names like Sellwood and Moreland. Sellwood, down by the river, has an old fashioned amusement park called Oak Park, which would have been lovely on a warm day. I only wish we had a few more days to explore this very charming area that I think is missed by most tourists.
If you haven't been to the Reed campus, it is worthy of a visit, even if you don't want to stop and get a commie t-shirt. (If you have to ask what that is, you need to brush up on your Reed trivia). Plenty of free parking, huge expanse of lawn and trees, and I think just walking around the beautiful campus it lifted my IQ by a few points. The quintessential LAC.
Next, the Rose Quarter.
If you're just going to central Portland, and have packed light, there's no need to even rent a car, since their transit system is blissful and there's a system called the TriMet that has a light rail line (the red line) that takes you all the way from the airport downtown. Right next to our hotel, in fact!
http://trimet.org/
But we had plans where we needed the car.
Airport to hotel was an 11 mile uneventful drive. Except for my husband who cannot read mapquest or any directions for that matter so him trying to navigate me is not particularly fruitful. So why don't I have HIM drive and me navigate, you ask. You haven't seen him drive, and you haven't seen me back-seat drive, that's why. I doubt our marriage would have lasted this long if I allowed him to drive when I'm in the car. Having said all that, I crafted the mapquest, have a good memory, read signs, and generally have spot on directional skills.
And Portland is tricky. Tricky because the downtown area has a lot of one-way streets, and a lot of little side passages next to big streets going over the river to the highways. Tricky because the I-5 has this weird loop around the middle of the river where it intersects with the 405 and the 84. But using common sense and reading the signs helps.
Hotel Fifty: I wrote a report on Fodors Portland Hotels. A nice 3 star hotel that is, in fact, what I'd call a 3 star hotel. Very good value, very comfy bed, free wifi, large flat screen t.v., well situated. In short, everything that we needed.
Weather: According to the Portland folks, we just missed the warm weather. It was turning cold, quite cold, in fact, but a nice change from our 80 degrees in L.A. Saturday, it was sunny; Sunday and Monday it rained all day. But that's Portland, and that's why it's so pretty.
We got in around 3:30 in the afternoon on Saturday, and headed straight over to the Saturday market, since I like the Saturday market. I like crafty, hippie kind of stuff and they have a lot of that at the Saturday market. I bought a cool incense holder and a bunch of handmade glass window ornaments. Checked out the line out at Voodoo Donuts, and marveled at all of the brew pubs that have cropped up in the last few years.
Then met up with friends and headed over to the Pearl district. Got on the list at Deschutes Brewery on 11th, and with an hour wait, nipped over to the Teardrop Cocktail Lounge around the corner.
The Teardrop is one of those fancy nouveau cocktail bars that seem to be cropping up lately in most major cities. The just post-teenage set call themselves "mixologists" and try to outdo other cocktail bars in fancy concoctions. Or the classics, expecting James Bond to stop in for a shaken, not stirred martini. High priced, but fun. Had a classic gin and tonic with their made on the premises tonic, that was orange in color. Delish. The post-teen explained that it was made with Sichuan peppercorns, cardamom and quinine bark. Hence the color.
Deschutes on 11th has really good food, good brews and, since I don't drink beer, a pretty decent cabernet. My friend went for the quinoa and cashew burger with cheddar that she raved about; I had a bowl of french onion soup that had great flavor; and I think the men had a couple of burgers that they enjoyed.
We were going to meet up with my friends on Sunday before the concert and head over to Multnomah Falls, but it was raining and we'd been there before. So we settled on my husband's desire to walk around in the rain, pop in cheap stores, buy things tax free, and try out one of those pubs.
After a whirlwind walking tour, a couple of purchases, a fond hello to the Monaco, where we previously stayed when it had a different name, and a quick visit to my beloved Apple Music Store on 1st(a guitar shop -- not to be confused with Steve Jobs' Apple anything), we ended up at Kells Irish Pub on 2nd for lunch and an Irish coffee.
http://www.kellsirish.com/
Although I heard the place can get pretty rowdy on a weekend night, it was a gorgeous pub with a fire by the front, little booths and a magnificent wooden bar that ran a good 40 feet along one wall. A decent pub lunch.
Now, something I guess not everyone does when they come to Portland, but something I have been yearning to do, was visit the Reed campus. We drove over to my friends, who live practically next door to Lewis & Clark, and they took us past some really neat little areas that are crawling with antiques. Areas with names like Sellwood and Moreland. Sellwood, down by the river, has an old fashioned amusement park called Oak Park, which would have been lovely on a warm day. I only wish we had a few more days to explore this very charming area that I think is missed by most tourists.
If you haven't been to the Reed campus, it is worthy of a visit, even if you don't want to stop and get a commie t-shirt. (If you have to ask what that is, you need to brush up on your Reed trivia). Plenty of free parking, huge expanse of lawn and trees, and I think just walking around the beautiful campus it lifted my IQ by a few points. The quintessential LAC.
Next, the Rose Quarter.
Nov 13th, 2012, 12:34 PM
#6
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I hear that quite a bit about the streets in downtown. I live here, and so don't even think about it. I have taken a few friends (locals too) with me that were amazed at how I whip around in town
Yes, you missed some warmer weather, but our cold weather hasn't even shown it's face yet. I keep waiting since I love it
I could tell immediately that you were from CA. We call our roads just by their name, like I-5, without ever adding "the" before it.
Love Deschutes
Don't worry, you didn't miss anything at Voodoo, IMO. The line is usually more entertaining anyway
I love the Saturday Market, and this time of year they get more vendors that have fantastic Christmas gift items.
Yes, you missed some warmer weather, but our cold weather hasn't even shown it's face yet. I keep waiting since I love it
I could tell immediately that you were from CA. We call our roads just by their name, like I-5, without ever adding "the" before it.
Love Deschutes
Don't worry, you didn't miss anything at Voodoo, IMO. The line is usually more entertaining anyway
I love the Saturday Market, and this time of year they get more vendors that have fantastic Christmas gift items.
Nov 13th, 2012, 02:28 PM
#7
Original Poster
Thanks MMS for giving me the correct terminology for the freeways! Sounds like the English -- who say "I went to hospital" as opposed to "I went to THE hospital".
Yes, the Voodoo line was certainly entertaining, and I took a few photos of it and the neon sign.
McMenamins -- I do have to put in a good word for these brothers that have turned the art of brewing and restoring old buildings into a real cash cow. Not to mention helping the Oregon economy by supplying a lot of jobs. And being a really fun place to stop, be it for a brew, or the night.
Had we had enough time, I would have welcomed a trip back to the Edgefield -- one of those places that stick in your mind for many years. (We also spent a few nights at the St. Francis School while in Bend a few years back). Instead, my husband headed off with my friend's husband to their local McMenamins -- the Hillsdale brewery, that I understand was their first.
http://www.mcmenamins.com/Hillsdale
My friend and I headed over to the Rose Quarter to the Leonard Cohen concert. The Rose Quarter is where there's the Oregon Convention Center that lights up the skyline at night (and the first convention center to get a LEED certification for sustainability) and the Rose Garden stadium where the Oregon Trailblazers play.
Contrary to the grounded, funky, artsy, cozy, pub on every corner you find to be the essence of Portland, the so-called "Theater of the Clouds", is a fictional term of art for the theater that is created from the Rose Garden stadium space. It is simply a sterile, newish stadium that has been converted into a stage area for concerts, with the rest of the vacuous arena closed off.
Pre-concert there's the so-called "Pyramid Taproom". Sounds cool and cozy, with a warm vibe. However, it's a brightly lit, lineoleum floored nearly stark white eatting establishment that could be classified as one step down from the local coffee shop. It has all of the charm of an army barracks.
A decent selection of Oregonian wine but . . . served in cheap plastic cups.-- the kind you wash your mouth out after brushing your teeth at the local Super 8 Motel.
But the soup and salad combo was pretty tasty.
My Portland friend insisted we get there early, because even though there wasn't a game being played, and not a lot of cars going to this complex, there was a concern over the just over 1,000 parking spots at a venue that has about a 7,000 capacity for concerts, and much bigger capacity for sporting events.
Which was fine -- The Rose Quarter is situated off to one side of several freeways that loop around in the middle of Portland and confuse the hell out of everyone, including people who live there. We ended up taking a brief unintentional detour thanks to the misinformation of Mapquest, a common inadvertent detour that my friend assures me has been the subject of at least one major song.
We still arrived egregiously early, which was fine, because we had superb parking and a choice spot in the sterile Taproom that quickly filled up as we were working on our second drinks.
Good seating, above the floor on sufficiently tilted risers for good viewing. I would have hated being on the floor. Here, our seats were about the same height of the stage. Only one problem on the risers is that the height of the steps are not uniform. It's like small step, small step, big drop to the next step. Holding the bannister is essential.
The space between the rows were narrow, so all toilet moments were experienced by an entire row standing up.
Although this being a travel forum rather than a music forum, so I won't report on the concert, the cloaking of the arena to create the space made the accoustics palatable. The music was a little change up from L.A. -- no Famous Blue Raincoat (a surprising absence for Portland!). However, we did get the debut for the 2012 tour of Joan of Arc which, if you know anything about Leonard Cohen, was off a 1971 album and was gorgeous.
The following morning (Monday), we packed, and had plenty of time and no traffic to make it back to the airport, drop off the car, and catch the 11:30 a.m. back to L.A.
A great weekend!
Sounds like the English -- who say "I went to hospital" as opposed to "I went to THE hospital".Yes, the Voodoo line was certainly entertaining, and I took a few photos of it and the neon sign.
McMenamins -- I do have to put in a good word for these brothers that have turned the art of brewing and restoring old buildings into a real cash cow. Not to mention helping the Oregon economy by supplying a lot of jobs. And being a really fun place to stop, be it for a brew, or the night.
Had we had enough time, I would have welcomed a trip back to the Edgefield -- one of those places that stick in your mind for many years. (We also spent a few nights at the St. Francis School while in Bend a few years back). Instead, my husband headed off with my friend's husband to their local McMenamins -- the Hillsdale brewery, that I understand was their first.
http://www.mcmenamins.com/Hillsdale
My friend and I headed over to the Rose Quarter to the Leonard Cohen concert. The Rose Quarter is where there's the Oregon Convention Center that lights up the skyline at night (and the first convention center to get a LEED certification for sustainability) and the Rose Garden stadium where the Oregon Trailblazers play.
Contrary to the grounded, funky, artsy, cozy, pub on every corner you find to be the essence of Portland, the so-called "Theater of the Clouds", is a fictional term of art for the theater that is created from the Rose Garden stadium space. It is simply a sterile, newish stadium that has been converted into a stage area for concerts, with the rest of the vacuous arena closed off.
Pre-concert there's the so-called "Pyramid Taproom". Sounds cool and cozy, with a warm vibe. However, it's a brightly lit, lineoleum floored nearly stark white eatting establishment that could be classified as one step down from the local coffee shop. It has all of the charm of an army barracks.
A decent selection of Oregonian wine but . . . served in cheap plastic cups.-- the kind you wash your mouth out after brushing your teeth at the local Super 8 Motel.
But the soup and salad combo was pretty tasty.
My Portland friend insisted we get there early, because even though there wasn't a game being played, and not a lot of cars going to this complex, there was a concern over the just over 1,000 parking spots at a venue that has about a 7,000 capacity for concerts, and much bigger capacity for sporting events.
Which was fine -- The Rose Quarter is situated off to one side of several freeways that loop around in the middle of Portland and confuse the hell out of everyone, including people who live there. We ended up taking a brief unintentional detour thanks to the misinformation of Mapquest, a common inadvertent detour that my friend assures me has been the subject of at least one major song.
We still arrived egregiously early, which was fine, because we had superb parking and a choice spot in the sterile Taproom that quickly filled up as we were working on our second drinks.
Good seating, above the floor on sufficiently tilted risers for good viewing. I would have hated being on the floor. Here, our seats were about the same height of the stage. Only one problem on the risers is that the height of the steps are not uniform. It's like small step, small step, big drop to the next step. Holding the bannister is essential.
The space between the rows were narrow, so all toilet moments were experienced by an entire row standing up.
Although this being a travel forum rather than a music forum, so I won't report on the concert, the cloaking of the arena to create the space made the accoustics palatable. The music was a little change up from L.A. -- no Famous Blue Raincoat (a surprising absence for Portland!). However, we did get the debut for the 2012 tour of Joan of Arc which, if you know anything about Leonard Cohen, was off a 1971 album and was gorgeous.
The following morning (Monday), we packed, and had plenty of time and no traffic to make it back to the airport, drop off the car, and catch the 11:30 a.m. back to L.A.
A great weekend!
Nov 13th, 2012, 02:52 PM
#8
Next time you have more than a weekend to spend in Oregon, please come to Deschutes County (Bend area). We now have at least 3 breweries in town and will soon have another one on the east side of town.
If you like skiing or snowshoeing head out toward Mt. Bachelor.
If you like skiing or snowshoeing head out toward Mt. Bachelor.
Nov 13th, 2012, 03:18 PM
#9
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Thanks for the report. I'm looking forward to my first trip to the area next summer.
What sort of things do they sell at the Saturday Market? Is it something a 15 year old girl would enjoy going to?
What sort of things do they sell at the Saturday Market? Is it something a 15 year old girl would enjoy going to?
Nov 13th, 2012, 06:39 PM
#10
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@travelerfromtx -- mms can probably tell you more about what they sell at the market, but what I like are the arts and crafts, interesting scarfs and unusual clothing, so yes, it would definitely be something a 15 year old girl would enjoy. I remember when we were there last, when my son was 16, he enjoyed the arts and crafts stuff. And has one of these colored glass hanging things (with a kind of stained glass dog on it) handing from his window. From a company called "Broken Pieces". Some of the artisans can be found here:
http://www.portlandsaturdaymarket.co...lass/glass.htm
@tomfuller -- may do just that! Have a friend who moved up to Bend to retire about 8 months ago, and it is the home of my Breedlove 12 string.
http://www.portlandsaturdaymarket.co...lass/glass.htm
@tomfuller -- may do just that! Have a friend who moved up to Bend to retire about 8 months ago, and it is the home of my Breedlove 12 string.
Nov 13th, 2012, 08:20 PM
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Surfergirl- enjoying your report.
My DD and I had been looking for a 5-day girl trip somewhere last month and we ended up in Boston. But my first choice was Portland. I'd been there years ago for a couple days on business and have thought since how much I'd like to go back and explore on my own.
Alas, if we didn't leave at midnight, and return at midnight, we'd have spent 8+ hours traveling from Dallas. Not a good thing when you only have 4 days for activity. So, Portland will have to wait.
I enjoyed visiting Portland through your eyes, though! Thanks!
My DD and I had been looking for a 5-day girl trip somewhere last month and we ended up in Boston. But my first choice was Portland. I'd been there years ago for a couple days on business and have thought since how much I'd like to go back and explore on my own.
Alas, if we didn't leave at midnight, and return at midnight, we'd have spent 8+ hours traveling from Dallas. Not a good thing when you only have 4 days for activity. So, Portland will have to wait.
I enjoyed visiting Portland through your eyes, though! Thanks!
Nov 14th, 2012, 05:59 AM
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travelerfromtx--Surfergirl described the market really well. It is basically a real mix of vendors. All sorts of art including photography, pottery, jewelry, knits...way more than you could imagine though. Soaps, pet items, foods, toys...every oddball thing, lol. This will give you an idea of how out of the ordinary much of the stuff is. One vendor sells hand drawn decks of cards. He has decks of Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Paris and one or two others. Each card has a design of some unique feature to the city, so you can see 52 different things. The cards are reprinted, but numbered in a series. We have given them as gifts and everyone loves them. Anyway, YES, teenage girls and boys love the market! When our kids were in high school they loved going there with their friends or with us. They still do, and they are in college now. It is a real mix of ages.
Nov 14th, 2012, 08:12 AM
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Great report and wonderful details. I always feel as if I were along for the ride when you write a report, Surfergirl!
Just an aside, my son and DIL LOVE Portland. After my husband and I relocate to LA, we will have to be sure to go up there. Nice to know that there are lots of places we have never been that will be such fun to explore.
Just an aside, my son and DIL LOVE Portland. After my husband and I relocate to LA, we will have to be sure to go up there. Nice to know that there are lots of places we have never been that will be such fun to explore.
