CAB226

First post here, after reading these boards for quite some time.

Anyway, a friend and I are going to Oregon from July 25th to August 1st. We get to Portland at 10 am, will pick up our rental car, then head to our hotel. We are staying at the Hotel DeLuxe. We are only in Portland that night. The things we are thinking of are going to the Farmer's Market (stock up on some picnic lunch items for the week), the Rose Garden, and wandering the Pearl District. Three restaurants that have been recommended to us are Le Pigeon, Beast , and Pok Pok.

The next day, we head to McMinnville for the Passport to Pinot portion of the IPNC that afternoon (if I remember correctly, it runs from 2 - 5:30). We are staying at the Hotel Oregon. We were thinking of going to The Painted Lady that night for a late reservation -- maybe 8:30 or 9. The next day, we thought to drive around to various wineries (don't worry, we are very responsible and will be spitting as much as needed to not get tipsy). I know a fari number are closed on Mondays, so we will obviously deal with that. I'm finding that trying to figure out which ones to go to is a trying issue. There are a lot, and I don't necessarily want to only go to the big name places. A few name places would be nice, but my preference would be places that are smaller operations that don't distribute in NJ / NYC (where we are from).

Tuesday and Wednesday nights, we'll be staying at the Overleaf Lodge in Yachats. Figured we'd see the scenery en route to the hotel and stay around the immediate Yachats area that afternoon and drive south on Wednesday -- see the Dunes and some of the sights around Florence and Reedsport and Winchester Bay.

Thursday, we head north toward Cannon Beach, where we'll be that night and Friday night (staying at the Ecola Creek Lodge). Figured we see Haystack Rock and the town of Cannon Beach Thursday, and Astoria and Warrenton on Friday.

Our flight home is at 1:15 Saturday afternoon, August 1st.

We love good food, good wine, hiking, gorgeous scenery. Any comments, suggestions, critiques of our plans? Oh, regarding the terrain for hiking, are hiking boots needed, or are sneakers okay, or sport sandals (specifically, I have a pair of Keens -- covered toe -- that I walked all over Peru and Ecuador [including Machu Picchu and the Galapagos] last year, so they are certainly sturdy -- just worried about the likelihood of pebbles or whatever getting inside)? Would love to get to the Columbia River Gorge, but am thinking we don't have time. Am I right?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Andrew

If you've not seen the Gorge before, you are missing one of the scenic highlights of the west coast. The area not only has breathtaking views but also great hikes and numerous waterfalls, including the highlight, Multnomah Falls (the most visited tourist attraction in Oregon).

If it were me, I'd cut one day from the McMinnville area (it's an hour's drive from Portland, tops) and spend an extra day in Portland, including a few hours (perhaps half the day) in the Gorge. Get an early start the day you head to McMinnville and I believe you'll have ample time to see all the winery stuff you'd want there, really. From McMinnville it's probably 2.5 hours drive to Yachats.

texasjo

Hi CAB226. Definitely agree with Andrew--don't miss the gorge and especially Multnomah Falls. At Cannon Beach, have a picnic at nearby Ecola State Park; magnificent views.

sunbum1944

If you are interested in hiking, The Gorge is a great place- one hike I like is the Eagle Creek trail- but there are a lot of waterfalls along the Gorge and most of them have at least a short hike envolved-

Along the coast there seem to not be as many hikes that I am aware of - but one of my favorites is south of Yachats- you start at Devils Elbow state park-
walk up to Heceta Head lighthouse- then close to the lighthouse you will see signs for another trail which takes you up behind the lighthouse and eventually down to a beach which is only accessible by walking- Its a place, which, in my opinion, you could spend the whole day.

I think the Keens sandals would work on the trails that I mentioned.

And if you are doing long walks on the beach you need something you dont mind walking through the water with, there frequently are like shallow rivers you have to wade through.

The sand dunes are great - south of Florence is Honeyman State Park where you can climb on the dunes or the South Jetty -

One of the things I love to do is the dune buggy rides south of Florence - you have to go with a driver but he will take you flying over the dunes -very fun! And gives you better idea of how vast the dunes are.

Reedsport/Winchester Bay is serious dune buggy/ATV riding area where people can bring their own equipment - they camp out in huge rigs and have trailers full of dunebuggies and ATV's- and pretty much tear up the area but the rides south of Florence are fun.

In Florence probably the best restaurant is the Waterfront Depot- you will need a reservation on a weekend night for sure but just a short walk from where you are staying at the Overleaf is the Adobe Motel. Paved path along the ocean from Overleaf to there. They have a restaurant with not the greatest food in the world but great views - and love the bar upstairs because you can sit and watch the waves roll in and have a drink - and the restaurant is not terrible - just not terrific.

In Florence, most tourists go to Mo's for chowder but I prefer Travellers Cove as they have a deck overlooking the river - great on nice day- variety of foods- burgers to chowder to Mexican.

In Portland you can do an Epicurian Walking tour - I thought it was fun- I think the venues change from time to time - we went to a brew pub, several restaurants, a tea house -
gives you kind of a walking/eating tour of the Pearl.

Enjoy!

CAB226

Thanks for the comments thus far.

Can't really change our itinerary (the suggestion was made to take a day away from McMinnville), as the hotels are pre-paid for greater discounts. I don't really want to short-change the Gorge, if we can get there, but I'm thinking the only possibilities would be to get up early on either that first Sunday and go there before McMinnville (and we need to be there by about 1:30, at the latest), or early on our last day and go from Cannon Beach before our flight out. If you all don't think it's possible in either of those half days, I'm thinking it may have to wait for another trip. Saw Hetismij's (I think that was her name) pictures, which were gorgeous, and realize there are MANY more places to see in the general area than we will get to in just this one week.

Keep the comments and suggestions coming!

Fodorite018

The Painted Lady is good, but it is about 30 minutes from your hotel. Instead, I would opt for either something in town or in Dundee. Dundee is just south of Newberg, and would save you about 10, possibly 15 minutes. Red Hills Provincial Dining in Dundee is excellent. There is also Tinas a few blocks down from there. If you need other McMinnville rec's just ask.

As for the gorge, yes, get up early and do that before you head to Mac. It really is a hikers paradise!

CAB226

Thanks MMS. We knew it was a little bit of a drive to The Painted Lady, but honestly didn't think it was a half hour. not so sure I want to be doing that at night in an area I don't know.

Fodorite018

CAB226--I make this drive at least weekly. You will be here when it is still light out pretty late, but if you dine later the drive back will be in the dark. Even with doing this drive weekly for years, I still don't like that stretch between Dundee and Mac in the dark.

CAB226

Okay, looks like we WILL be getting up early on Sunday to go to the Gorge (at least the first part of it, as far as Multnomah Falls). I was figuring if we were out of the hotel by 7:30 or 8 and heading east, we could get to Multnomah in about 40 minutes (generic [no addresses] Google maps time from Portland to Mult. F. said it was a 36 minute drive) -- wander around there for a bit, head west to Bridal Veil Falls and/or Latourell Falls, and finally Crown Point and Vista House, before heading to McMinnville. We need to be there by about 1. How does that sound? Might be a very full morning, but the consensus seems we can't NOT see the Gorge.

Will go through our guidebook and come back in the next few days with more specific questions about our week.

Thanks in advance for any and all input/advice.

CAB226

As I said in the initial post, the three Portland restaurants we had been told about are Le Pigeon, Beast, and Pok Pok. These others are in my guidebook (Moon Handbooks, by the way) and sound good: Dan and Louis Oyster Bar, Jake's Famous Crawfish, Higgins, Heathman Restaurant, Veritable Quandary, Andina, and clarklewis. Anybody have any thoughts on any of them for our one Saturday night dinner in Portland?

beachbum

Of all those you've listed, CAB, I'd choose Le Pigeon. The chef/owner there has been winning all kinds of awards in the last couple years. But be forewarned; it's very casual, and some tables are communal. Higgins would probably be next. It's one of Portland's pioneers in farm to table, but quite a bit less casual than Le Pigeon. Don't need to dress up for sure, though.

Those on your list that I would definitely not choose are Dan & Louis, Jake's, and the Heathman. Not necessarily because of the food, but rather that everyone who visits and/or lives in Portland has been to one of them. And that's pretty much the only thing that sets them apart.

Everything else on your list is fine, as long as you know what you're getting into. If you have questions, ask.

Now, to complicate things, have you heard of Toro Bravo, Sel Gris, or Clyde Common? Maybe it would help matters some if you said more about what kind of place you're looking for. Or, did you already? I've only read a couple of the posts in this thread.

CAB226

Hi Beachbum. Thanks for the feedback. I have heard of the three places you mentioned, but honestly don't know too much about them -- just recall the names from here and Chowhound. Le Pigeon is the first place that was recommended to us and is pretty much at the top of our list because of that recommendation.

I just am always looking at restaurants and things to do and such, almost to my detriment -- get overloaded with ideas.

As to what we're looking for, excellent food and wine are the keys. If it's on the more upscale side or casual side -- doesn't matter, so long as we're going to love what we're served. I kind of like the communal table idea -- a way to meet new people and chat, if just for the evening.

Oh -- when you say it's "very casual", do mean along the lines of business-casual-type clothing, or jeans and a t-shirt with sneakers (not that either of us really dress that way anyway, but just to know what to expect)?

beachbum

Here in Portland, unless it's a business lunch/dinner or special occasion, business-casual is about as dressy as we get. Le Pigeon is a tiny place, with a small bar behind which the chef/owner and sous chef do most of their work, in full view of the patrons. I've been in there at least once when one or both of them had baseball-type hat on... backwards. So if you go, I'm betting you'll jeans, and wouldn't be surprised if you saw a t-shirt.

Given your "love what we're served" criterion... hmmm... Gabe Rucker (Le Pigeon) is nothing, if not daring, creative, innovative... I can't honestly say that I've loved everything I've been served there, but I've definitely appreciated what went into it (profiteroles with a foie gras ice cream?). You'd be taking less a risk at a place like Sel Gris, Carlyle, and most definitely, Higgins.

CAB226

I guess I was being a bit over-the-top in saying "love what we're served." Of course, everyone WANTS to love what they're served, and of course too, it doesn't always happen. I'd say your description of "daring, creative, innovative" is better. I can love the ordinary too (you can't ALWAYS have the innovative, can you, or else it doesn't seem so innovative anymore, right?), as long as it's done well; but happen to like the more avant-garde every so often. By the way profiteroles with foie gras ice cream sounds awfully intriguing to me.