Hi all! Just a few questions for those Portland experts... My husband, myself, our daughters (ages 3 and 8 mos) and my mom are headed off on our 1st trip to Portland on Mon. (the 10th) via Amtrak (Sea-->Pdx) and needed just a bit of advice to help reel in our itinerary. We'll be staying through until Wed. at 2:50pm (when our train departs north). We'll of course be making use of Portland's fabulous public transportation system during our stay!

We'll be staying at the Hotel Deluxe (thank you Priceline, I love you) in Downtown, and are looking to cover the Oregon Zoo, Children's Museum, and Portland Japanese Garden. Here are my questions:

1) Kid friendly restaurants? I went through jotting down restaurant recommends from previous posts, and by the time I got through crossing off the non-kid friendly restaurants, all I was left with was Kenny and Zukes and the Pearl Bakery.

2) How long would you say the above listed activities take to enjoy? Would we be able to start sightseeing anything on Mon.? (We should be checked in by 3:30pm or so).

3) Also, the Rose Test Garden. I read the roses don't start blooming until mid-May, so would you try to go here, or save it for a return trip to Portland? Or should we head to the Chinese Gardens? We also have listed as fill in activities Powell's, and Washington Park, and/or Waterfront Park. But, since this is our 1st trip, I'd love your advice/suggestions if I'm headed in the wrong direction. Since we live so close now, I'm sure we'll be visiting Portland again and again (with the exception of my mom who will be visiting from AL)! Thanks for your time and thoughts!

Even when the roses aren't blooming the Rose Test Garden is one of my favorite spots in Portland. The Japanese Garden is directly in front of the rose garden so it's not out of your way to stop by. Another great place to go to is the Hoyt Arboretum (next to the Zoo). The magnolia garden should be in full bloom which is absolutely beautiful. If you can, renting a bike and riding along the waterfront, across a bridge and on a bike path is a lot of fun. The Japanese Garden is a lot more interesting in my opinion than the Chinese Garden. Go to Pambiche! It is an AMAZING hole in the wall cuban/creole restaurant. It is my favorite place to eat. If you go for happy hour you can order a couple small plates for dinner which is a great deal. Make sure to take dessert!

The activities you listed will take a while to do but if you are diligent you can fit it into one day. The zoo is big, though, and can easily take hours. OMSI is fun, too! Oh, and farmers markets are great for the family.

Given the short duration of your trip, I would definitely try to start seeing things on Monday if you want to make it through your list.

Since the Children's Museum closes at 5:00 and the Zoo closes at 4:00, those probably aren't options for Monday. I would save those for first thing Tuesday when the kids are well-rested and fresh. They are right next to each other, so could be done together. The museum is great and you could spend the better part of a day there. However, since your kids are 3 and 8 months, you can probably spend less time there by just focusing on the exhibits that are geared toward the younger kids.

I have not been to the rose garden or Japanese garden in years, so can't really help you out there. Waterfront Park and/or Powell's might also be good options for Monday afternoon / evening. If you like bookstores, Powell's is a must-see. Powell's is open late (until 11 pm), so you could spend the afternoon at the Park and walking around downtown and then head to Powell's later in the evening, maybe before or after dinner.

Another thing to consider for Monday afternoon is the new aerial tram that goes up the hill to OHSU. You purchase a ticket at the bottom and then can ride up to the Hospital and back. On a clear day it gives a great view of the city, the river and the bridges. We took our kids on this (ages 2 and 4) and they loved it. Not great for anyone with a fear of heights, however. The Portland Street Car has a stop right at the Tram Station, and my kids loved getting to ride on a "trolley". We went around lunch time and ate at one of the hospital cafeterias. Not elegant dining, but certainly kid friendly with lots of options.

More information about the tram and the streetcar are available at: www.portlandtram.org/ and www.portlandstreetcar.org. If you do the tram first on Monday afternoon, then you can get off the street car on the return trip after it turns onto Mill Street. This will put you within walking distance of the South end of Waterfront Park. You can then walk north along the length of the Park to Burnside. Powell's is then about a 5 minute bus ride to 10th and Burnside.

Hope you have a great trip. If I think of any other suggestions, I'll post again.

Getting from Union Station to your hotel via MAX train is fairly easy, but you have to take two trains; take a green or yellow train from Union Station into downtown to Pioneer Courthouse Square and then connect to a red or blue MAX (direction: Beaverton or Hillsboro) to the PGE Park stop and walk 2-3 blocks back to the hotel.

The Rose Test Garden is an amazing place (less amazing before the roses come out but still really nice), but it's not completely convenient to get to via public transportation The MAX train will take you up to the zoo directly but to get to the Rose Garden (which is adjacent to the Japanese Garden), you either have to take the #63 bus up the hill or catch the Washington Park Shuttle - and the Shuttle isn't running weekdays yet (not til the summer). The #63 bus originates not far from your hotel but runs only about every 40 minutes or so, so you really have to time it well. If you are going to do the zoo, you should plan pretty well to combine that with the Rose and Japanese Gardens. (Both of them are in Washington Park FYI - it's an enormous park.) If you didn't have mother and children with you, it's not an impossible walk up the hill directly to the Gardens, actually - maybe another trip.

(FYI, I recommend Google Transit (via Google Maps) for using Portland's Trimet public transportation system. Works really well for figuring out point to point bus and train routings. You can even type in things like "Union Station" and "Hotel deLuxe" rather than the addresses and Google will find them most of the time.)

For a fun little pizza place - a child friendly restaurant - consider Hot Lips Pizza, a local chain of pizza places that supports local farmers and environmental sustainability (and also happens to have good pizza!). There's a Hot Lips near your hotel on Morrison and about 18th I think, across the street from PGE Park (baseball/soccer stadium).

Normally I'd suggest taking a walk along NW 23rd Ave in NW Portland (an easy bus connection on the #15 from your hotel), but NW 23rd is all torn up right now and not necessarily the most pedestrian-friendly place to stroll for a tourist. Check it out next time.

The Classical Chinese Garden is close to the Pearl District (and Union Station actually) so if you are doing the Pearl you might consider throwing in the Chinese Garden to boot - it's fairly small, only a city block, but pretty nice.

I think we're due for more rain next week, so you might get your time at Powell's after all - not exactly a disappointment. If you do get nice weather, do consider a walk around the river area - the Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront park on the west side and loop around the Hawthorne and Steel Bridges to the east side and walk back along the Eastbank Esplanade and cross back over another bridge. You get a nice view of downtown from there. And OMSI is just a slight detour from the Hawthorne Bridge.

On a future visit, when you drive down to Portland, drive east out to the Columbia River Gorge and check out the amazing waterfalls and views.

http://www.sipandkranz.com/SK/Home.html
This restaurant actually has a kid friendly playroom!!


http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/...ropertyID=1140

Jamison Square: There are so many restaurants for children, ice cream stores, children stores, and a wonderful park designed for children in Jamison SQ.in the Pearl District. There is public transportation that loops around the district too.

The below link will give you information & location.

http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/...ropertyID=1140

It is my granddaughters favorite place to go, she loves it better than the OMSI, and any other museums we go to.

sorry for the double post.

One thing I forgot to add, this park has rocks set up like boulders kids can climb on, and a large water pond that is set up to ebb and flow like the ocean tides. This place is usually packed with kids and families so it's a fun place to sit on the grass, watch the kids play and meet a lot of locals.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone for taking the time to help us! If ya'll are a representation of the people we'll encounter in Portland, then this is going to be one of our favorite destinations! We will try our best to follow your advice, and will reference back to this post for future visits as well! I'll be sure to post a trip report after our return so you can see how it all turns out. Thanks again, so much!