Count me as another who now wants to see Portland for myself, Scarlett! Who knew? It sounds like a terrific city. Now the big question, and one many cities can't answer in the positive--do people actually <i>live</i> downtown?

Scarlett, this is such wonderful invitation to visit this overlooked city.

And now, think about visiting Canada. Go to Ottawa. Majority visitors to this part of Canada go to Montreal, Quebec City and Niagara Falls. Ottawa is overlooked. Come and visit here during Tulip Festival in May. I guarantee you will fall in love with this place just as we did. You MUST visit beautiful Ottawa. You enjoy museums, you will be very surprised and pleased what Ottawa has to offer. Please come and write about it. Ottawa is waiting for people like you and Yankee.

Scarlett, it sounds like a move is in the future;-)? We are going to Portland and Seattle next June to have a looksee. You never know!!!!

Thanks so much for all the positive feedback!
It is easy to love Portland.
Yes, Marilyn, I was told people do live 'downtown'..
I think the Hills is where I would head for :)

From talking to restaurant people over the course of our stay, we were told that McCormick &amp; Schmick sort of have a lock on the seafood places in town..which having eaten in the one down on the Riverfront, made me sad. I understand that they own Jakes etc..where we did not go once we had eaten in the place on the river.

Also- something that was not usual to us (NYers) but that was quite charming was when we saw both the Taiko Drummers and the Ballet, people that were connected with the Portland Arts came out on stage and welcomed the audience and spoke about the work that they were doing. A touch of small town :) that was very heartwarming~

Scarlett,
I had never really thought about a visit to Portland but now I may just talk my husband into taking me there. Perhaps you and the Yankee could live there part time and work for their tourist board. YOu certainly made it inviting!

Debbie

Nice trip report, Scarlett--sounds as though you enjoyed a wonderful visit :-) A friend of mine attends a Nia dance seminar in Portland each year--she loves it there. I'm excited for you that you got to see Taiko drummers live--I've only seen them on film at the local art museum and was impressed with the power of the performance.

While you were gone I missed the sunshine you bring to this forum, glad you're back! :-)

Scarlett,
Wonderful. I'm glad you enjoyed it however..........never, ever let anyone know how nice it is in the Northwest! I've been telling people who have asked me about Seattle and Portland that it's cold, damp and rainy. It's supposed to be a secret!

johnthedorf is right. And it doesn't just rain water, it rains ash!!! Dangerous place, that Portland.

Thank you thank you thank you!!
Debbie, dcespedes and johnthedorf you are too kind ((F))

I am worried too about the ash..we took a walk, from the Japanese Gardens, through the neighborhoods, down Park Street to NW 23rd .. yes, my feet were bloody stumps...and we passed a beautiful Resevoir. It was uncovered and now I am thinking what happens if ash filters down on the city? What happens to the River? Will you have to wear masks?

<b>I ((L)) Portland</b>

earl, OK, I will visit Ottowa next :D

Scarlett, the ash isn't a problem really. When the mountain blew in 1980, Yakima, WA got the brunt of it and had about 6&quot; of it on the ground. Everyone there was fine. We moved there 2 years after that and everyone we knew didn't have any problems, thankfully:)

mms-happy to hear that. My fingers are crossed that this is not catastrophic for you all.

Out of Town:
We decided after the first 4 days in town, to go to the woods! We rented a little Mazda from Enterprise, which was brought to the hotel in 30 minutes and we were off! The hotel gave us a map and directions which were very easy to follow.
We went to the Columbia River Historic Highway, passing fields, horses, a small store and homes. All while craning our necks to keep looking at that amazing view- the River! We stopped at the Womens Forum Overlook, breathtaking views and to top it off, two eagles soaring, circling, showing off. After taking many photos, we were off to the waterfalls. Stopping at Vista House was a sort of letdown, it is surrounded by wire fencing so it is not so pretty. I did take one photo of the building with those pretty green tiles on the roof and walls.
Our first Waterfall was Latourell. Nice, very nice. The smell of the water and the green woods and all those very large ferns! Quite Jurrassic!
We were sad to see that Bridal Veil Falls was closed, well, the falls are probably still working but all paths to them are closed.. so on to Multnomah falls! WOW! We took a lot of photos again, of the falls and of that little bitty bridge, way up there, where some people with much more courage than the Yankee and I for high places over deep water, stood.
Then we took our picnic that the Red Star Tavern packed and went back to Wahkeena Falls and their picnic area and had lunch.
We got on I-84 and we were back at the hotel in about 30 minutes.
I can still remember the smell of the woods..sort of damp and green and cool~

WOW!




You make me drool for Portland just like you made me drool for Savannah!!

Great, great report Scarlett. I'll have to send it to my friend who lives in Portland so he'll know where to go :S-

He's been trying to get me to visit for years. You might have done have accomplished what he hasn't!

Scarlett, come clean - are you or are you not secretly writing for the Portland Tourist Board?

Glad you enjoyed yourself so much and escaped the rain in Florida.

Scarlett, when are we going to see your pictures from this trip?

Great trip report, Scarlett. I'm glad you enjoyed our fair city. Re seafood restaurants and McCormick &amp; Schmicks, I think you got a bum steer. Southpark (kitty corner from the Heathman) and Higgins both do wonderful things with seafood, as do many, many of the smaller places in town. Seafood, particularly salmon, is such a staple here we don't really categorize restaurants as &quot;seafood places.&quot; McCormick and Schmick's is definitely not one of our better options.

I'm glad you had beautiful weather, but for those of you thinking of moving here because of Scarlett's wonderful report, remember it rains almost all of the time. It's totally socked in this morning and of course there's that pesky volcano. ;-)

Hi :)
pdx girl, the Yankee asked everyone he met, what about the rain, what do you do, how bad is it really, does the sun really never shine for months?
I guess if the sun shone all the time, it would be too perfect in Portland :)
Actually, we are not big lovers of heat and humidity and 9 month long summers so the milder weather of the PNW sounds good to us.
The waitress in the McCormick and Schmick told us that her husband was a waiter at Jakes. That it was owned by M&amp;S as are other seafood places in town. We always eat fish, so we had it at the Heathman and a few places and we were happy :)

I am trying to download the photos but our firewall has been updated and I am having a hell of a time getting things to work now :(
Then I will have to figure out how to post photos~

<i>The Last of My Trip Report</i>
We took the car out on Tuesday and drove through the tunnel, and out through farm country and into the mountains toward The Beach! We passed llamas and sunflower farms, stopped to view and photograph the largest Sitka Spruce in the world? country? which is a moot point looking at the photos, no one was standing in front of it so it just looks like a tree.
Our ears were popping all the way, the road was fun, humungous logging trucks coming up behind us full of trees! or even scarier, young men in sports cars wanting to pass where the line said no passing..
We arrived at Cannon Beach and headed for Moes. Our doorman told us we had to have a bowl of Moes clam chowder. So we obeyed. It was indeed very tasty but the view was the important thing. We were looking out at the Pacific Ocean ( I haven't seen it in a few years) at that Rock!! WOW..it was amazing and beautiful and I think even those not into monolithic things would love that sight~
Then we walked along the beach but it was quite windy and cold so we got back in the car and headed South..as far as Ecola beach and more wonderful rocks.
We dawdled along, just enjoying the beach houses, picking out which one we would like to live in..(mine were any that were in the part designated Not In Tsunamai Area) then we returned to Portland.
What a wonderful city ~ that offers you 2 huge rivers, those mountains and the ocean with a lovely town and beaches.
So what if it always rains. ((L))
The End

How wonderful you make Portland sound Scarlett! What a great trip, happy to hear you had an enjoyable visit.

Scarlett,
Glad you enjoyed Portland, and thanks for the colorful, descriptive reminders, that, even compared to Paris, this is not a bad place to live.

Did you make it to the beach? And, what do you think of Oregon pinot? After Paris, I have a completely different opinion.