Oregon road trip: beach, river, vineyards?
 

[I've seen some great posts already but would appreciate confirmation or other ideas about plans for a road trip in Oregon]

My husband and I will be in Portland for a business trip in June; we will have about 1 day to see some highlights in town plus a few nights out to dinner. Suggestions for best seafood restaurants would be great (we are from land-locked Colorado).

We will then have between Sunday afternoon and Thursday afternoon to enjoy some of the beautiful spots in Oregon. The original plan was 2 nights in wine country followed by 2 nights in Cannon Beach. After seeing more on Columbia Gorge, I'm thinking we should head there instead and then to the beach. What would be the best route to travel from one area to the other?

Our priorities are great views, water, R&R, and a break from business for a few days. We are wine lovers but it sounds like wine country doesn't need a lot of time and that the sights in the Gorge are not to be missed-correct?

We are booked at The Ocean Lodge at Cannon Beach--how does it compare to The Stephanie Inn? Looking for hotel/inn on Columbia Gorge and/or wine country depending on what destination would be best. Luxury and king size beds are required; this is an anniversary trip as well.

Thanks in advance for your help with this adventure.

Tough call!! The beaches in Oregon are pretty great, but I haven't been to the Gorge. You could do a quick drive/stop by a couple wineries along old highway 99, that wouldn't need to be a major part of the trip.

Hi and welcome to the Forums! The Ocean Lodge is right next door to the Stephanie Inn. It's a beautiful oceanfront property. I would consider a meal at Stephanie Inn. :)

The Columbia Gorge Hotel is our favorite place to stay in the Gorge area. It is a historic hotel with a full famr-country breakfast, beautiful grounds and very friendly staff. Have a great trip! ***kim*** ((f))

Seafood:
Jakes Famous Crawfish on SW 12th
Southpark on Park
Truth is, most of the good restaurants here ( and there are sooo many!) have excellent seafood.

Wine Country here is nothing like California, it is really just a day trip.
The Gorge is just wonderful! Amazing sights, those waterfalls!! Again this can be done in a day.

You should find a hotel you like in town ( our favorite is the 5th Avenue Suites) and rent a car when you are ready to take the day trips.. The wine trail is 99W and very very easy to get to from downtown. The Gorge is only about half an hour from downtown and equally easy to get to.

This leaves you with plenty of time to be in town and experience the fun & good restaurants in Portland.

We live in the Pearl, have not stayed over in Cannon Beach although we have been there a few times. It is 90 minutes from downtown.
Friends always say good things about the Stephanie Inn but they also like the SurfSand.
Since this is your anniversary - the Stephanie Inn would be better ((L))

Since ***kimamom*** is a visitor to Oregon once in a while, she might have some insight on where to eat in Cannon Beach.

Hope this helps~

If an anniversary trip, no question; book Stephanie Inn if you can. Ocean Lodge is nice too, but Stephanie Inn is a cut above, and with its no-kids-under-12 policy, appeals especially to couples.

From the Gorge to the beach, it's easiest and quickest to just go back through Portland, and get on hwy 26 west, which takes you directly to Cannon Beach. If you wanted to make a sightseeing day out of it, you could take hwy 30 from Portland to Astoria, and south from there.

I agree that wine country is a nice day trip from Portland, but if you do opt for an overnight, either Youngberg Hill B&B or Black Walnut Inn would fit the bill.

A second reco for The Black Walnut Inn!

http://www.blackwalnut-inn.com/

As Scarlett has mentioned, you can do the Columbia River Gorge in one day. You may want to start early as the stops, like Multinomah Falls, can take some time, especially if you want to hike a bit to get a better view/different view. You could get back to Portland for dinner! :)

Oregon wine country is also a day trip, then you could either stop off there for the ight or continue on to the coast.

I really like the Oregon coast, especially the mid-to lower parts. Astoria and where the Columbia River empties out into the ocean is kinda flat and bit as interesting to me as the southern coastal areas. One of my favorite memories is staying at the See-Vue Lodge at Yachats, Oregon. Nothing fancy, but how great to wake up to the entire Pacific Ocean before you! :)

Hi easy!! good to see you :)

Hi, Scarlett! Good to see you too! (Just got back from New Mexico - wow! what a beautiful state!)

Hi easy, artlover was just mentioning on another thread she was wondering how you were and I commented I thought you had just returned from a trip. Hope you are having a beautiful spring!!

Hi, loveitaly!

Good to see you too too! :)

It rained so much in California, I just had to go and follow the sun! Been to New Mexico twice already this year!

How are you doing? If I get "upstate", let's get together again at that restaurant! Great Italian food!

I'll try to look for artlover and say hi to her too. Been away from this board more than I've been on it this year!

traelbuz: sorry to hijack your thread! Just wanted to say hi to my Fodors friends!

easytraveler

travelbuz,
i loved the crab cakes at Mos on Cannon Beach--great place for sunset.

hi easytraveller--nice to see you back

and hi loveitaly--glad to see you here a well

:D :D :D

artlover, I like Mo's crab cakes too. Although the clam chowder on a blustery day is great too!

You can do the Gorge in a day. You Should consider spending an extra night or so in Portland and taking a day trip to Mt. St. Helens. For seafood: Jake's Crawfish.

Thanks everyone for your great advice and ideas. I've quickly become a fan of the forum and will contribute in the future. Response was delayed due to business travel-in and out of Orlando; no time for attractions.

Here's the way the plan worked out: due to conference hotel availability, flights, etc. we were not able to get any extra nights in Portland and will have to settle for the 1-1/2 days we have plus a few possible evenings.

On Sunday afternoon, we drive to the Gorge with a stay planned at Skamania Lodge. Monday, we're heading to a 3-day stay at Cannon Beach with day trips planned once we get there. The only king room available at Stephanie Inn was $500/night, and so, we'll keep to our reservation at Ocean Lodge. If we get back there, we'll allow more time for primo reservations.

We'll save the wine country trips for California and just enjoy some pinot noir with dinners, etc. If we do head there in the future, the Black Walnut Inn looks fab!

Thanks for the recommendation to Jakes-sounds like a favorite although there are too many choices to pick from in Portland-nice problem to have!

Thanks again!

Jake's Crawfish is very good. Make sure you try some of the crawfish they are famous for! Have fun! ***kim*** ((f))

Great plan..hoping weather will be good for you too.
Jakes is my neighborhood seafood place..you will like it,( and not just crawfish) but then again, I cannot say much bad about any of the restaurants where I live :)
Have fun!

=-O What!!!! Jake's Crawfish serves crawfish? <i>WHO KNEW?</i>

What next, ***kimmer***? Burger King sells burgers or KFC has chicken? :-D

Memo to self.....set e-mail address spam filters to &quot;stun&quot;.
:-&quot;

Looks out Portland....Kal may be visiting sooooon.....((B))

Kal is gonna visit?
There might be a PortlanOregon GTG out at the Astoria Museum..someones husband is giving a talk about Duck Decoys!

LOL KAL :))

WHAT!!!!
Perfect place to have a GTG! \:D/

I can finally see the beautiful Astoria (Ever since Goonies) and meet **Le Kim***, the respective Bums (beach and sun), mmms, the other Portland irregulars and Ms. Scarlett in the conservatory with the lead pipe! ((F))

Kal, you're killin' me.. :-) :-) :-)

If you do make it up here, maybe you could schedule to caravan with your neighbor to the south. I've read she's got all kinds of fine-dining road trip recs along the way. ((d)) :@)

Yep, Jakes IS famous for crawfish.... Probably because it's the only place in town that serves 'em. Never had 'em myself though. Do they taste like ~:&gt; ? travelbuz, you might want to know that Jakes is part of the McCormick &amp; Schmick's (or is the Schmuck's?) chain. It's good, but I might steer you towards Southpark Seafood Grill.

Too bad about Stephanie Inn, but I'm sure you'll enjoy Ocean Lodge. Have a great trip!

While I do have an ample arse, it refuses to sit in a car more than 2-3 hrs at a time.

Drive-by, one day tours of SF and the like aren't even in my vocab.

I'll shoot you all an off board note should I actually pull this trip off.

I had crawfish growing up in the South and in St Martin. Nope, they don't taste like chicken LOL

Kal, remember, if you decide to come to the Coast, bring your own wine glasses ((D)) , I hear that is the way some out of towners drink at the Pub &amp; Grub :D

I like to eat Skippy peanut butter while driving on road trips....straight outta the container so can I use the empty jars?

I was in Dallas last week and ate Beaumont Bugs at Love and War. Yummy!

Oh Kal...you gotta come up now! The GTG would be too much fun:D Grab LoveItaly on your way up too!

We can give you directions to the Maritime Museum in Astoria too :D
quack quack

Hey let me know when you're doing the GTG! I'll try to be there, in my pink Duh Ray Cruizer. We could get some ***yummy*** food and cruise the sewer project down by Riverplace!

Seriously, I'd love to have an excuse to visit Portland!

Okay... I come back thinking I'm gonna steer travelbuz further from Jake's... then I read, &quot;pink Duh Ray Cruizer&quot;. Thank gawd I wasn't drinkin that ***$150*** Archery Summit pinot.

But really, we gotta do better than Jake's for travelbuz. Am I wrong in thinking that Jake's in any other major (well...semi-major) city would be struggling? It's just too... uuhhhh... predictable? Any ideas, Scarlett?

I'd suggest Alberta St. Oyster Bar &amp; Grill if there was anyone around to back me up. Icuy, next time you're in town, you gotta try it. Not tooooooo far from UP.

I've heard great things about the Alberta St. Oyster Bar &amp; Grill - its just so hard to get to all the places on my &quot;list&quot;, especially since it keeps growing!

I will say that I like Jakes though. It is predictable, and I HATE the crayfish, but the oysters and other shellfish are always wonderful. I especially like to come if I am with a big group with varying tastes. It may not be the &quot;best&quot; place, but we alwsys find it very good, and the people watching is fun too. I have noticed that service is inconsistent.

Oh, man, I am so hungry for Portland food!!! Even my daughter in NYC says she misses the food in Portland more than anyghing. Prices are so reasonable too.

&gt;&gt;..its just so hard to get to all the places on my &quot;list&quot;..&lt;&lt;

What else is on the list? Maybe we can help you pare it? :-) Or, maybe we can find a better fit for travelbuz! ((I))

What was wrong with SouthPark? Beautiful restaurant, nuthin but seafood and right in the heart of town on the Park Blocks.
In the Pearl..my new favorite ( and Mrs Beachbums too, I betcha) Fenouil..mussels for an appetizer, lobster risotto for main, chocolate souffle for dessert, what can be wrong with that? ((L))
Scarlett

Oh good gracious Scarlett, mussels and lobster risotto!!! I would think I had died and gone to heaven, sigh :-P
As you know, my favorite foods.

Scarlett, you are making me green with envy!

Thanks everyone! We just got back and loved the beauty of Oregon with the stunning gardens, lush farmland, majestic trees (they don't grow that tall in Colorado), and gorgeous river and ocean! Did hit a lot of cloudy and rainy days but we were prepared.

First evening was at Genoa with a seven course prix fixe dinner; yummy but we would have liked some homemade bread/rolls before consuming too much of the pinot. Caught Jake's at around 3:00 the next afternoon (after a great walk at the Rose Test Garden and Japanese Garden) which avoided a wait plus we were able to get a large group reservation. The fresh fish was wonderful even if it is a chain. :)

All lodging worked out wonderful although we missed some sites including Astoria when we both caught an extended 24 hour flu bug! Tough to be listening to the ocean while feeling miserable. Will do the Stephanie Inn next time; more luxury and larger ocean front decks off of rooms.

All staff at all hotels/resorts (Portland Doubletree/Lloyd Center, Skamania, Ocean Lodge) were friendly, helpful, and went out of the way to ensure we had a great stay. Wait staff at Skamania restaurant didn't warn us, however, that the dinner portions are &quot;lodge-size&quot;, and so, a lot of food was wasted.

Travelers Tip: in Oregon or elsewhere, triple-check dates and times for any key event. We saw several different weekends posted/printed for the Sandcastle event in Cannon Beach; some online guides didn't indicate that the Portland Saturday Market also had Sunday times.

We would definitely go back and will likely add a day or two to the wine country after discovering several primo pinot noirs! Maybe next time, we'll have more time for additional Portland restaurants.

Hey! Glad you enjoyed your trip and I am so sorry that you got sick!!
The name &lt;Portland Saturday Mkt &gt;is misleading, we should always make a point of telling people it is Sunday too.
The weather is drier but cloudy, we are still waiting for warm and sunny days ... I hear that will happen July 5th. Maybe you can come back then? :)
Thanks for reporting back !

Thanks for letting us know how it turned out. The weather...yeah, pretty typical...glad it didn't bother you:) Sorry to hear that you were sick though.