3boymom

Fodorite018

Do the day trip to Cannon Beach at the beginning of your trip as most schools in OR start their spring break that last week of March, so the coast will be chuck full of families starting on Friday the 22nd. CB is a fantastic area!

As for unique places, take a look at the McMenamin properties. The brothers have bought and redone numerous properties in OR and WA and turned them into destination hotels. Each one is unique. We have stayed at almost every one and love them. The Edgefield is outside of Portland toward the gorge in Troutdale and is not to be missed. It is a good jumping off point for seeing the gorge as well. The Kennedy school in NE Portland is fun, and easy to get to the heart of downtown if you are spending time there. Do check their website though and you can see all their locations and see if another town appeals to you etc.

5alive

I agree with MMS about McMenamins. The only one I would not advise is the Crystal as mostly people going to concerts at the adjacent Crystal Ballroom go there, and it could be a little loud. I love Kennedy School & Edgefield though.

Other unique properties that come to mind:
Cannery Pier Hotel. We have eaten by there but not stayed. But it is a tremendous view being built out on the pier.
https://www.cannerypierhotel.com/


There are many many great restaurants of all price points and types of food. Any thoughts on what you like would help.

If it is nice weather, the food carts are fun for lunch. The best pod in my opinion would be the one on 10th and Alder. You can walk down to Pioneer Square to eat your spoils. Not so fun if it's raining to eat outside though.

In Washington Park, the Japanese Garden is really very nice. You would be there about when the lovely flowering cherry blooms, one of my favorite spots. And, Hoyt Arboretum is also nearby with a great hike through some interesting trees, including several redwoods.

3boymom

tomfuller

Very good advice so far. The Cherry blossoms would be a nice bonus for Portland if it doesn't rain and spoil them. Take US 26 west out of Portland and NOT US 30. If you want to spend a night at the coast, you may find that Seaside has cheaper and more available rooms than Cannon Beach. In Seaside you can walk the "prom" and see the spot where members of the Corps of Discovery boiled seawater to make salt to preserve elk meat for the long trip back to St. Louis.
The famous sight in Cannon Beach is Haystack Rock which I am told is the most photographed spot in Oregon. On the way back to Portland, you might want to visit the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville. There you can see the Spruce Goose and a lot of other aircraft and a few spacecraft as well.

Gardyloo

It's not difficult, and if you're looking for a base that would serve for touring both the city and the Columbia Gorge, it's a decent compromise. I'd also look at McMenamins' Kennedy School in NE Portland - a very fun place. https://www.mcmenamins.com/kennedy-school

This has been a colder and somewhat snowier February than typical throughout the Pacific Northwest, so I don't know how far advanced spring blooms will be in a couple or three weeks. The waterfalls in the Gorge are always worthwhile, and if there's been any significant snow melt in the next two weeks they ought to be pretty spectacular. I'd be skeptical that the Hood River Valley is going to be in spring blossom mode by then (when it is, it's spectacular) so I'd play that by ear. However, if the weather is lousy (high probability) you might consider driving east along the river to the Maryhill Museum, which opens on March 15, which is in the drier and sunnier east side of the Cascade crest. It's a fun place, with an eclectic collection. You can also visit the interesting copy of Stonehenge that's just east of the museum. Map - https://goo.gl/maps/mBAgb2DfTtA2

Maryhill Museum of Art
Stonehenge Memorial & Klickitat County Veterans? Memorials | Maryhill Museum of Art
https://www.dfw.state.or.us/resource...chery_more.asp

Cannon Beach is an okay day trip destination. Frankly I'd return via Cape Disappointment and the north shore of the Columbia rather than via the Willamette Valley - more spectacular coastal scenery and the north bank of the river is fairly scenic in parts and quite historic. Map - https://goo.gl/maps/8CQAHPydF9R2

sunbum1944

Check out the website Travel Portland. Lots of info about the city and a calendar of what is going on while you are there. Hope you enjoy visit.