could you spend 2 nights in portland?

[jennlin]

h and i have some hotel credits we need to use--expires in april.. we don't really feel like flying somewhere, although we can if the price is right...but either way, for now, we're thinking 2 nights in portland. we've spent two nights there before--but that's because we had an event (we did the color run there)..but other than that..never stayed more than one night..and we usually run out of things to do when we do actually stay as opposed to driving home.

would you have 2 days worth of sight seeing to do? we'd be a family of 4 at the time.

[jennlin]

i think @ksta visit often, or could at least give some advice?

[picksthemusic]

Kennedy School, Voodoo Doughnuts, ghost tour... Just the ones that pop into my head.

[Deleted]

A 2-night stay might be nice, especially if you can have it over a weekend, since you could drive down after work on Friday, have all day Saturday, and then Sunday morning and leave just after lunch.

You will have newborn and BJL (who won't have a long attention span) so that would negate out a few of the things I'd suggest, but things that would still be appropriate and that I find fun:
- The Classical Chinese Garden (it's GORGEOUS)
- Japanese Garden (next to the Rose Garden)
- OMSI
- Portland Zoo (I haven't been in ages)
- Saturday Market (bigger than most of our Farmer's Markets)
- Rhododendron Garden will be in prime bloom Mar-April www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/finder/index.cfm?&propertyid=27&action=ViewPark
- And of course, sales tax free shopping

Things I found but haven't done that look fun:
- www.familydaysout.com/attractions-usa/mudeye-puppet-company/
- www.familydaysout.com/attractions-usa/macaw-landing-wildlife-refuge/

Additional things (but not appropriate for this trip due to children's ages or time of year)
- Rose Garden
- Historical Walking Tour of Portland - we did this and loved it. It was billed as exploring the seamy history, "Shanghai tunnels" and whatnot, but our guide scoffed at all that. However, we're nerds so we enjoyed the architectural information, history of the city, etc
- Portland Culinary Workshop - great school taught by former Culinary Institute Chefs, classes for the average person

[Deleted]

I'll ask my housemate when I get home since she's from Portland.

[Deleted]

Definitely OMSI and the Portland children's museum. Two nights would be perfect.

[Deleted]

Also we were just there last weekend and only stayed 1 night and it was definitely not enough. I didn't have E though. When ex and I did a day trip it wasn't enough there was way more we could have done.

[jennlin]

Oct 17, 2013 11:56:24 GMT -5 picksthemusic said:

Kennedy School, Voodoo Doughnuts, ghost tour... Just the ones that pop into my head.

been to these places.. and i'm terrified of ghosts..so i should really scratch that one, too!

Oct 17, 2013 12:08:54 GMT -5 spunbutterfly said:

Zoo, Rose Gardens.

Food Truck Pods.

Sunday Market (avoid Voodoo, esp. with a kid, tourist trap and insane lines).

Salt and Straw (for ice cream, but I don't know if they have dairy free flavors).

(yes, they have dairy free, or did when i was there last. had 2 choices)
(IK says rose garden won't be good for that time of year)

Oct 17, 2013 12:38:36 GMT -5 @ksta said:

You will have newborn and BJL (who won't have a long attention span) so that would negate out a few of the things I'd suggest, but things that would still be appropriate and that I find fun:
- The Classical Chinese Garden (it's GORGEOUS)
- Japanese Garden (next to the Rose Garden)
- OMSI
- Portland Zoo (I haven't been in ages)
- Saturday Market (bigger than most of our Farmer's Markets)
- Rhododendron Garden will be in prime bloom Mar-April www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/finder/index.cfm?&propertyid=27&action=ViewPark
- And of course, sales tax free shopping

Things I found but haven't done that look fun:
- www.familydaysout.com/attractions-usa/mudeye-puppet-company/
- www.familydaysout.com/attractions-usa/macaw-landing-wildlife-refuge/n

(so is it saturday or sunday market...or both? i could look this up..but just pointing out conflicts )

Oct 17, 2013 23:34:56 GMT -5 @sourpatch20 said:

Definitely OMSI and the Portland children's museum. Two nights would be perfect.

i'll need to do some googling, but what is OMSI? @sourpatch20, is the children's museum better than the ones here? i've only been to the everett one here, but i hear everett is 10x's better than seattle.

i don't have a lot of shopping to do, since i buy most of my stuff online because it's cheaper! minimal stuff in stores on an as needed basis.

the zoo was mentioned twice... is it better than woodland?

i've been to kennedy and voodoo (which voodoo is way overhyped, i think).

i'm excited to look into the chinese and japanese gardens.....

[Deleted]

OMSI is the Oregon museum of science and industry. Ty have a kids room upstairs where they can build stuff, water tables, an activity room to do art. E was entertained for a good 3 hours in that place.

I haven't been to any of the children's museums up here so I really can't compare them. But it's right next to the zoo and admission was reasonable.

[jennlin]

Oct 18, 2013 10:53:53 GMT -5 spunbutterfly said:

It's probably Saturday market. I could've sworn we went on Sunday, but eh. It's pretty much like a bigger version of the Ballard Farmer's Market or San Francisco's Ferry Terminal, which is to say, nothing special, but it's something interesting to go see.

And is there a reason why you're not doing food trucks (again)? I mean, each pod is pretty different and it's an attraction all on its own. Is it just not wanting to repeat any experiences?

It feels like you've made up your mind about not being able to fill two days and have done enough of everything in short visits there that you don't seem to want to repeat anything. Having gone with a 6 month old baby back in April, it wasn't as much fun as when we were single, though the Columbia Gorge Outlets are incredibly family friendly. I love their changing bathrooms and wish everyone had them.

Might as well go to Vancouver if that's an option. Or let the perks go.

food trucks--no, not really. just figured we've been to a few of them..and really you can only eat out of 2-3 tops, so it doesn't do us a whole lot..doesn't fill a lot of time.

yeah, we really don't think we have two days worth..which is why i want to know more about the zoo (if it's worth it compared to woodland). i'll need to look into the gardens..haven't done that yet.

every time we go to portland, we feel like there's nothing special, which is why i want to look into the other places-we just don't really want to fly again (we are flying in december, january, and february as a family of 4) and want to use our free nights stay. our other option we're thinking of is san diego (also for the zoo!)...but that requires us to not only fly, but rent a car, bring 2 car seats..etc.

vancouver unfortunately isn't an option..we would've much rather do that for the food!--even though we never stay there either..and one night is usually more than enough for us there, too.

[jennlin]

Oct 18, 2013 11:22:26 GMT -5 spunbutterfly said:

The thing about both Portland and Vancouver is it's mostly about the food I feel, but it gets exponentially harder to do that with a family. But I could definitely fill 2.5 days worth of good eating in either place.

Does it have to be two nights in a row? Can you do one night in Leavenworth (or Portland) and one night in Seattle when you get back to continue the whole thread of: not having to clean my own house and feel a little more decadent?

it can be two separate nights. i like portland food--i don't love it. i feel like you can get a lot of the same stuff here. vancouver on the other hand...i could eat for days..but you can only physically eat so much. h and i always find it difficult to fill the time in between to digest..we usually aren't digested by the time the next meal starts...because we've filled up on snacks between as well. it's bad. i love food in vancouver.

and leavenworth? lulz. 2 hours is more than enough there.

[shevacc]

I think the Oregon zoo is better than Woodland park, but regardless it's very different. Their major attractions focus on different animals and I absolutely love the new Americas exhibit when you first enter the park with a mountain goat, bears, a bald eagle, salmon, and some kind of wild cats. G had a blast there with her cousin and again there with some other friends and their kids. If you're members of the Woodland Park Zoo, I think it's half off admission? For a few extra $$ there's also a train that goes around Washington Park which was fun. There's also a children's museum right near the zoo that I haven't been to but have heard good things about. You can easily take the light rail there from downtown if moving your car from hotel parking is a pain (or if your kids hate cars with a passion like G sometimes does).

Before kids, we easily spent several hours exploring the Japanese Garden and the Rose Garden. The Japanese Garden was huge and lovely. I don't think I've seen one that big and well done before. The Rose Garden is fun to walk through when they're blooming. If you're already at Washington Park for the zoo and Japanese Garden, I'd stop by the Rose Garden just to see it and check if anything's in bloom (it's free).

Personally, I could spend an entire (expensive) day at Washington Park going to the zoo in the morning, then the Japanese Garden in the afternoon. If it were cold/rainy I'd consider going to the Children's museum instead of the zoo but still do the Japanese Garden.

The other day you're there I'm sure you could find stuff to do downtown. Downtown Portland, Saturday Market is ok (and not just on Saturdays) but I'm not a big flea market/craft fair person. I didn't see produce being sold when I was there but we found another random farmer's market that was fun/tasty. I did like walking around looking at the bridges, wandering through the Pearl District, looking at the fountains and random sculptures. The Chinese Garden is downtown with a tea house -- I did that once over 10 years ago and don't remember much about it. I like stopping by Powell's Books and have been many times. We usually go to some sort of Pub downtown for DH to have some microbrewed beer.

My BIL/SIL live in Hillsboro so we visit Portland fairly regularly.

[Deleted]

I've only been to the Japanese garden once, but a standout to me was that they said the flat zen rock garden is the only one outside of Japan with the "official" rocks? (I think, that's what I remember anyway.) That afterwards, Japan decided they were a heritage resource and no longer allowed their transportation.

Saturday market is the day I know of, if it is also on Sunday then Sunday is smaller.

I remember ADORING OMSI as a kid, it was always a special treat the few times we went. Its been quite a while though so I don't know how it compares to the Pacific Science Center at this point, other than it will by nature have different things it focuses on.