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Things to do in Portland?

InfestedKerrigan

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InfestedKerrigan Newbie

InfestedKerrigan

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I'm going to be in Portland with my soon to be 15 year old in a couple of weekends.  We'll be staying off Burnside, east of the river.  Suggestions on things to do, places to go? Botanical Garden any good?  Any other fun hikes a la DesChutes River Trail system?  Isn't there a park at Tigards MWS?  Someone suggested some $50 scavenger app that sounds like Pokemon Go, to me, anyone familiar?  

At the moment, we're considering Cannon Beach on Saturday, and that's about it.  Help me, Ordo-wan Kanoodle!  

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dalmer Proficient

dalmer

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If you go to Cannon Beach, head a wee bit north and stop in Seaside.  Fun place if things are still open... lots of candy shops, bumper cars, nice beaches, lil shops and eateries, etc.  Pig and Pancake, Tuckered Bear

Caveat:  we went there every year when my boys were younger.  Haven't been in a few years so the info might be dated.

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andozane Collaborator

andozane

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Day trip to Cannon Beach is great...though if you really want to do a loop I'd make the trek down to Tillamook and do the cheese factory, that is cool (that is if you like cheese).

 

As for Portland...

  • Powell's Book Store
  • Food
    • Literally, so many options of where to eat.  IF you are staying on E Burnside, a favorite of ours is Ate Oh Ate, amazing Hawaiian food.  Also in that vicinity, Screen Door (long lines), Paadee (great Thai food), Guero (just up on NE 28th, Tortas), Ken's Artisan Pizza (up on SE 28th).
  • Go walk SE Hawthorne up and down, between SE 39th and anywhere in the 20's.
  • Japanese Gardens
  • Oregon Zoo
  • Depending on the Weekend, check the Roseland, Aladdin Theater and other local venues to see if there are any cool shows to see.

Also, have to mention a drive up the gorge obviously, go see Multnomah Falls, drive up to Cascade Locks and hit the Eastwind Drive In for some awesome soft serve 🙂

 

 

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jesselowe Newbie

jesselowe

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Tillamook Forest Center is worth a stop if you're on Highway 6. Ditto the Tillamook Air Museum, if only to gawk at the size of the building.

I like the Leach Botanical Garden, but I'm not sure how much it would appeal to a teenager. It's probably a bit out of the way, too. If the weather's clear, though, Powell Butte has some good hiking and views.

If you head out the Gorge way, I recommend the Gorge Interpretive Center in Stevenson, WA; the Hood River fruit loop; and the Western Antique Air and Automobile Museum in Hood River. (Especially the fruit loop, since we're heading into apple season.) One of my favorite drives is to do a loop out highway 26 to the Hood River Valley and come back on I-84. Lets you hit Timberline Lodge, too.

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On 9/9/2019 at 7:37 PM, InfestedKerrigan said:

I'm going to be in Portland with my soon to be 15 year old in a couple of weekends.  We'll be staying off Burnside, east of the river.  Suggestions on things to do, places to go? Botanical Garden any good?  Any other fun hikes a la DesChutes River Trail system?  Isn't there a park at Tigards MWS?  Someone suggested some $50 scavenger app that sounds like Pokemon Go, to me, anyone familiar?  

At the moment, we're considering Cannon Beach on Saturday, and that's about it.  Help me, Ordo-wan Kanoodle!  

I've seen people playing scavenger hunts with an app, though didn't occur to me that they were paying anything for it. They seemed to be having fun. If you do play Pokemon Go, walking around downtown, or riding the MAX through downtown can be fun.

On that note, you can just walk from one end of portland to another. Streets are safe (though some are not clean). I always discover new things when I just randomly walk through Portland. Bicycles can be quite fun, as well. City is very Bicycle/pedestrian friendly. Get a bus pass, just in case, so when you are too tired, you can ride home. Our buses are everywhere (in the downtown area).

Huge fan of Forest Park. That said, the trail that normally connects the Memorial Park and Hoyt Arboretum with the Pittock Mansion and Forest Park, has construction going on. So you can't really get to forest park via the max, unless you take the shuttle bus to pittock. We're getting a much needed footbridge put in to bypass portion of the trail that goes over Burnside. Details here: https://www.portlandpf.org/footbridge-over-burnside-construction-updates-1

For more general forest park: https://www.forestparkconservancy.org/forest-park/maps/

Tryon Creek is fun, though it's a mostly flat and often paved hike. https://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=103

If looking for something harder, Cooper Mountain is rather hilly. Quite pretty. The park is much smaller than forest park, but it's steep. And it's downhill from the parking lot, so it's uphill coming back. http://www.thprd.org/parks-and-trails/detail/cooper-mountain-nature-park

Hmm...thprd doesn't do it justice, here: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/oregon/cooper-mountain

Thprd, in general, has some pretty nice parks. Basically, that's the beaverton/hillsboro parks, but that whole area is just a 15-30min drive from portland.

Though if you do go into Beaverton/Hillsboro, beware, we have a lot more police than Portland does. And ours seem really bored. So make sure you follow the laws. I've been pulled over for jay walking...

Oregon Zoo is quite good. Really has improved over the years. I recommend against going on a weekend, unless you don't mind "wading" through children. Zoo is kinda spendy (movie prices), plus they made a bad contract recently and all their food is now via bad third party and has dramatically dropped in quality while increasing in cost - so bring a lunch if you go.

 

 

 

 

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Purajh Newbie

Purajh

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Most of the stuff has been mentioned above but a few more things here

if you want a good hike that is very interesting check out the Ape Caves. would be a short drive but not as far as the beach. This is a hike through an old Lava tunnel formed when Mount Saint Helens Erupted.

https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/ape-cave

or check out the Oregon Museum of Science across the river there and catch a laser light show or some fun science exhibits. its just down the road from Guardian Games and right near the WOW clubhouse

https://omsi.edu/

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Not really a hike, outdoors, or probably even unique to Portland. But if the weather decides to suck, you might enjoy https://glowinggreens.com/  Quite fun, indoor mini-golf in downtown Portland.

On that note, we also have a Retro Arcade. Not really my cup of tea, arcades, but It's indoors, so like the other, if the weather sucks...: https://groundkontrol.com/

 

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1 hour ago, InfestedKerrigan said:

Okay, turns out we are staying off 94th and Stark.  Taking him out for birthday dinner about 4 or 5.  Haven't decided on where, yet. 

Up in the air about coast tomorrow, yet. 

Okay, so you will be right next to where my Dad lives.

If you don't mind really dangerous streets (unavoidable in that area), you can walk to the Green Line max stop. Directions here: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/SE+Stark+St+%26+SE+94th+Ave,+Portland,+OR+97216/SE+Main+Street/@45.516607,-122.569532,16z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x5495a1a73dcaac97:0xba843438640f33d5!2m2!1d-122.5668808!2d45.5190558!1m5!1m1!1s0x5495a1a5a69e3613:0xaef7484f33b30838!2m2!1d-122.5644639!2d45.5143936!3e2

Google says it's a 13 min walk to the max stop. Can use that to get just about anywhere, including Downtown Portland, the Zoo, and Forest Park. Main thing is that Green "to PSU" goes downtown, and Green "to Clackamas Town Center" goes the other direction (and to a mall known for it's shooting.)

https://trimet.org/schedules/maxgreenline.htm

 

 

 

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6 minutes ago, InfestedKerrigan said:

He's asking Italian, and (sadly) is leaning towards Olive Garden. Le sigh

There's also an Old Chicago within a few blocks of the olive garden. They do more pizza and calzones. It's not an amazing chain, but if he's got his heart set on that kind of food...

Though the best, on that end, is the Spaghetti Factory. Portland has a really amazing branch of that chain located right on the waterfront https://www.osf.com/location/portland-or/

Pick-up menu here(to get an idea of prices):

https://osf.splickit.com/merchants/107366?order_type=pickup

 

That one has it's own parking lot, though I'm not sure how to get there with public transit (it would be do-able).

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