What rainy season? !! We had a fabulous time from Oct 22-31 in Portland. Ok, a bit of rain, but not as much as we expected. Lots of Sun breaks! We went with hooded jackets and didn't even have to carry around an umbrella.

Recap:
Light rail to and from the airport is under $2.00 each way and very easy to use. All of the public transit including the street car and buses was wonderful. We are in Chicago and next to NY would rank Portland rightup there for great and clean public trans.

Started the weekend with dinner at Manzanos in the Pearl, very good! Sunday hit open houses and Monday hit neighborhoods with a realtor. We hope to move to your lovely Portland area soon. Loved the Mississippi area in N POrtland. Amnesia brewery and Miss. Pizza were wonderful! Also enjoyed a quick bite to eat at the Widmer brewery with awesome hefeweizen.

Other nice neighborhoods to live for us:
Laurelhurst and Irvington, tons of trees, just lovely but higher prices. Same with Sellwood/Westmoreland but again great neighborhood feel. Hollywood area and Alameda Arts and Woodstock were still more "transitional but also nice". The Belmonte/Hawthorne area was great, some guy there told us to "embrace the house" and left us there alone to wander. Wow! I almost felt like I should steal something. Everyone was SO friendly and they Smiled! The midwest is friendly but you dn't get the smiles necessarily. Multnomah Village didn't do much for us, pretty tiny. and the West hills and other suburbs are pretty but not our deal.

Hit the wineries one afternoon with mostly sunshine coming through. Ponzi and Montemarte (sp?) were the most memorable.

Stayed downtown the rest of the week (orig we were in Lake OSwego, RAM brewery there is decent). Paramount Hotel is a great location and very nice. Got a special rate of $99 all 5 nights including the weekend. Walked everywhere for the most part. One day we did take the Sandy Bus up to The Grotto, a beautiful garden in NE portland area and then wandered around HOllywood area, best club sandwich ever and I can't remember the name of the pub/restaurant but it's right across from the pharmacy and around the corner from Trader Joes. Also check out St Johns neighborhood, cute but a bit out from downtown area. Find the Moonstruck Chocolate factory if you go. Yum!
Ringlers Annexx and the Rogue for beers throughout the week were also fun. Breakfast at jakes Grill for Crab Cakes Benedict. Attended a wedding at Urban Wineworks on Saturday after exploring the Chinese gardens (worth a visit) and of course the Saturday Market at the burnside bridge. Sunday relaxed and wandered Nob Hill a bit.
Overall a wonderful city and we can't wait to go back. Thanks to all for the suggestions and banter on here that helped make the trip complete. Hope to see you soon.

nice report, eroz. Sounds like you had a great trip. I'm also a fan of Moonstruck Chocolates... so yummy!

Glad you enjoyed the Paramount, I think the location is great and the rooms we were shown were very well-appointed. (Haven't stayed there,tho.)

Ponzi wines are really nice. If you're ever in the Dundee area, check out the Dundee Bistro. Ponzi wines are served here and there is also a tasting bar adjacent to the bistro. Cheers! ***kim***

Glad you enjoyed your visit here. We are now getting the rain that you expected!

Thanks Kim! We visited last year and made it to Dundee but that one doesn't sound familiar. We stayed at Youngsberg Hill in McMinnville (?), just lovely! Next time we'll head that way again and check it out more in Dundee. Stay dry!

Eroz--We are drier today, but not for long! Kim is dry I am sure...she doesn't live here. She lives in California.

Kim? Dry? With all of that wine tasting?

Rain clouds are gathering in NorCal...dunno about down the valley.

Well we are dry and sunny here in chicago, even kinda warm at 60! But I'll still take the rain if we can figure out a way to get a job and live in Portland!
Hopefully no rain in Cali. What's the famous Johnny Carson line: We have the mudslides to put out the fires!

eroz!
I thought I posted on here, but better late than never, right?
I am so glad you enjoyed your visit to Oregon.
What rainy season indeed! We kept saying that and now it seems to have arrived, so I think you had excellent timing!
Glad you liked Manzanas, one of our favorite lunch spots this summer with Pup.
I really liked what I saw of Laurelhurst - loaded with charm!
Today we had lunch at Miso Happy on NW 23rd then wandered over to Moonstruck for dessert.
Chocolate lovers heaven, no?

Good luck with the move and do let us know how everything progresses!

Scarlett- did you try Miso Happy's crackling rice soup? I can't remember the name, (since we call it rice krispy soup), but it is really tasty. Very light, with fresh veggies and the rice. their stir fries and curries are also good, especially since we almost always have a vegetarian in the bunch. We seem to have lunch here at least each trip.

I am hooked on the Tofu and Vegetable Noodle bowl..I will look for crackling rice next time .. thank you Lucy~

Definitely the monsoon season is upon us! And our house is leaking!!! We discovered our decks were leaking into the walls last summer and have been trying for months to get a contractor. So many unreturned phone calls! Now I cringe as I hear the rain and wind! We finally have a contractor committed, but who knows when he will start? What a mess! pitter patter pitter patter. It's going to be a long dark winter!

Orcas--If you need the name of a good contractor, I can help. A very good friend of ours does amazing work. I do not want to post his name on here due to a ***nutty*** person who has really gone nuts on another forum and so I feel like I have to be very cautious, but if you want, let me know and I can email it to you. He is very well known and like I said does super work.

Orcas, mms, I can be your go between if you like.. [email protected]....

anything to keep Orcas dry !!!

Wow! I should have mentioned this before, as I could have used the name a few month ago. I think we are now in good hands now, though. The guy we hired is coming out on Monday. Crossing our fingers. We're in this for huge bucks and are not happy about it. (Newer house, second owner, so no recourse against builder in Washington state)
I agree re posting identifying info....yipes! Thanks Scarlett. If I need help, I'll contact you.

Hi Orcas, I feel for you. I own a house in Vacaville and I have tried over a year to find a contractor. Call various ones, no return calls . If they do return the call and an appointment is set up they are a no show. And they never even bother to call and apologies for not keeping the appointment. Etc.etc.

Finally I got a brillant idea and went on our local Chamber of Commerce website. Made three calls to three diffrent companies. One company called me. That company showed up for the appointment! That company knows what they are doing! That company started the job today. That company is going to work on the house this weekend as they can't tomorrow as we are having rain. Will wonders never cease??

Yes Kal, it is raining isn't it? Wonder how the weather is in ***Fresno***.

Anyway Orcas I feel your pain. I sure hope your contractor works out for you. But if not it is sure great that mms has a good one. Good wishes to you.

Orcas--I am glad to hear that you have someone! If you have any problems though, please feel free to contact me. I hope your work gets done quickly, and most of all, done properly

<<Rain clouds are gathering in NorCal...dunno about down the valley>>

More like the armpit, not just the valley.

From many different area, though. Why on Tripadvisor, she claims to be from Portland with one screen name and L.A. with another. Only Clovis knows for sure. Have you seen KACinCA or Syrahgirl or KCinCA or KACarter?