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Portland, Oregon
My hubby and I are headed to Portland, OR in July and are looking for for suggestions of places to stay. Would love to stay downtown, but are open to other places in the area. Would really appreciate any feedback on where to go/what to see!!
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21 Replies
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voodoo donuts!!!!!
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Kennedy School is fun. It's an old Portland Public Schools elementary school building that was bought by McMenamins Brewery and transformed into a hotel/restaurant/movie theater/brewery. It's in northeast Portland, so not close to downtown, but its fun to eat/drink there even if you don't stay there. McMenamins actually buys up lots of historic properties so most of their restaurants/pubs are pretty cool.
If you like hiking/outdoors, Forest Park is one of the largest urban forest lands and it's pretty accessible from downtown.
If you are a book person, hit up Powells City of Books. Its a huge book store that takes up an entire city block in downtown. I love Powells.
Also, not sure what you think about hard alcohols, but I have heard that Distillery Row is fun. You can do tastings and tours from 6 different craft distilleries in the lower eastside industrial district. Also not sure when in July you are going, but a visit to Portland wouldn't be complete without microbrews (especially if you are into beer) and the Oregon Brewers Festival is July 24-28 in the downtown waterfront park.
The Lan Su Chinese garden in Chinatown is pretty nice, but I love the Portland Japanese Garden up in the west hills. The International Rose Test Garden is up there as well, but by July, it's kind of starting to get past peak rose season. Its absolutely stunning in May/June, and the views from up there are good year round, weather permitting :).
I love Portland! It's such a cool city. Hopefully at least something here sounds like fun.
http://www.mcmenamins.com/KennedySchool
​http://www.forestparkconservancy.org/forest-park/
http://www.powells.com/locations/powells-city-of-books/
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Katana, I will definitely check out Voodoo Donuts. Thank you!
Corby! Thank you so much!! You are hitting a few of my passions; gardening and books, as well as my hubby's; BEER! I saw something about Kennedy School, but didn't read up on it yet. It sounds like somewhere we will have to check out! How nice to have the links here as well! You are a doll!
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I can't help it, I like to promote Portland at every chance I get. 🙂 I only left Portland for Hawaii, or I would still be there today, I am sure. I hope you have a lot of fun on the trip!
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Oh, since you will be there, you should go to the Brassy Butterfly to try out their powder coated 38mm poles!!!! And voodoo donuts is sooo yummy!
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i second those japanese gardens. so beautiful.
also- there was a super cool bar/arcade with old school arcade games. unfortunately, i cannot remember the name of the place… corby, do you know the place? -
Are you thinking Ground Kontrol? I know that is a bar/arcade, but I haven't been to it.
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O yeah, also wanted to mention Saphyre, if your husband is into beer but you aren't there during the Brewers Fest, there are a ton of breweries to hit up: Deschutes, Widmer & Bridgeport, to name some of the larger ones, but there are many many smaller breweries throughout the city. http://www.portlandbeer.org/breweries/ I think that site even has a map to them all.
And I just looked it up because I thought it was in June, but the Portland International Beer Fest is July 19-21st in the Pearl District. http://www.portland-beerfest.com/
And if you are looking to pole, I agree with AerialGypsy, hit up Brassy Butterfly! I used to train there with Chalese!
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ugh, links are weird.
http://www.portlandbeer.org/breweries/
http://www.portland-beerfest.com/
maybe those will work?
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We have free days in Portland the 15th-17th. We'll actually be in Salem the 18th-21st for the BMW rally and then headed to Crater Lake the 22nd-23rd. We'll still be there a few days after that, but we're winging it! Keep 'em coming!!!
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This is my favorite guide book for Portland. It breaks it down by neighborhood and what you're looking for and also lists the weird stuff you can do in Portland, like, the velvet Elvis museum or the naked bike ride. I would also recommend the zoo! 🙂
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Pdxguide.org it's called the zinester's guide to Portland. Sorry the link was being weird
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Crater Lake is gorgeous! 🙂 There are some nice things around Salem. The Oregon Garden is in Silverton, which is a pretty drive. And there is wine country around Salem and Silverton as well. Are you headed through Bend on the trip from Salem to Crater Lake? Or Eugene?
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Not sure yet, Corby. We will be on motorcycles, so we try to get on the most fun, bendy roads possible!! Thanks, Squeak!
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Ooooooo!!! Then you should def travel up and down hwy 101=] So scenic and pretty.
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