A Big City With A Small Town Soul ~ Portland Oregon

Portlandia is a sculpture by Raymond Kaskey located above the entrance of the Portland Building in downtown Portland, Oregon. It is the second-largest copper repoussé statue in the United States, after the Statue of Liberty.

"In the city of, roses, Streets lined with red brick, and green branches ……. City parks, wild berries, and old bridges, A rolling river bringing goods from the sea
A mountain hooded in snow silently watching over me” -'City of Roses' by Esperanza Spalding

The weather was special ordered for my trip at a balmy 100+ degrees during the days I was there. The third or fourth heatwave this year I was told every where I went. The streetcars were free so people could be spared a heat stroke, Pioneer Courthouse square was deserted but that might have also been because of the scare of the delta virus; regardless I had a fabulous time exploring the city adapting my itinerary and mode of travel to stay as cool as possible.

What is the one thing that one should do in Portland; I asked a local. Unsurprisingly this is a difficult choice since the city and local area has so much to offer. It’s a foodie paradise from food trucks to dozens of talented chefs and new restaurants springing up all the time. An outdoor haven with it’s gorges, waterfalls, rivers, parks and trails. Coffee like no other, breweries, wineries, and distilleries to add a nice touch to the food scene or explore on it’s own. Art, architecture, history, a little bit of something to appeal to everyone.

At a minimum came the answer, see at least one garden and one brewery. Well I fulfilled one of the two though I over achieved on the one garden. I did hit quite a few of the other things the city has to offer plus I made my way both to the coast as well as to Mount Hood. Let me share my incredible few days exploring the Pacific Northwest as most locals refer to themselves.

Even if you are not an outdoor person you need to stop in at the Portland Rose garden where over 10000 roses of 650 varieties grow. It’s a breathtaking sight when you walk in to see what appears to be a carpet of roses everywhere you look. As an added bonus the garden is free to the public and is open through out the daylight hours. I wish I had planned better and had more time to spend here. I could have just blissfully sat and had my fill of the sight and smell of these beautiful flowers.

I did also make the time to visit the Japanese garden, Chinese garden and The Grotto, each offering something unique or being of special interest to me. Since it would be too much to include all the gardens here, I promise to share more about the gardens as well as the small slice of the food scene that I tasted in a separate post.

With temperatures expected to reach a 108 degrees, I decided to escape the city and spend a day at the coast. What a wonderful choice since despite warnings of fog and gloom we were treated to a beautiful sunshiny day with moderate temperatures.

Our first stop was at the Ecola State Park where Lewis and Clark first came to trade for whale blubber from a beached whale. Fortunately we were not treated to such a gruesome sight instead we got beautiful views of canon beach and the abandoned Tillamook Rock Lighthouse. Thanks to the volcanic activity in the region, these igneous rocks that you see, rise from the water to paint a dramatic picture of the Pacific Ocean meeting the Oregon Coast with what appears to be an army of rocks.

The most famous and most photographed of these rocks is Haystack Rock which we got to stop at as we drove on from Ecola Park and headed to the town of Canon Beach. Here we got to dip out toes in the cold water, admire the rock close up and eat lunch. We had an interesting discussion of the beach front properties and how these were once not regarded very highly but are now much sought after with soaring prices.

We resumed our coastal drive along the 101 highway, yes the same 101 that I live right next to but this part of it is a scenic coastal drive along the Oregon coast. Some photo stops at scenic overlooks and another beach spot to give folks more sun and sand time before we headed back to town.

For a change of scene and an itinerary near and dear to my heart the next day we once again headed out of the city but this time along the Columbia River towards Mount Hood. While we did not get a huge respite from the heat we did get to enjoy a very scenic and satisfying day.

First stop the Multinomah Falls which at 620 Ft is the tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon and comes down in the middle of two basalt cliffs. A native American Legend has it that a young maiden princess, daughter of the chief sacrificed herself at this spot to save her people from the plague. When her father asked for proof that her spirit had been welcomed by the gods this waterfall began to come down the cliff and legend has it that it has constantly run since that day. We passed by the Bridal Veil falls, the horsetail and pony tail and some other really small falls that we could barely see and I definitely don’t recall the names of.

Ever since I read “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed and how she was convinced that her life would change once she reached the Bridge Of Gods, I’ve wanted to visit here. This is the lowest point of the Pacific Crest Trail that passes through Oregon. We saw two hikers making their way to the bridge to cross over but did not get an opportunity to converse if they were just hiking locally or if they were doing the Pacific Crest Trail.

Wine tasting along the Columbia River Gorge under a wine arbor of Pinot grapes. We ate lunch here as well as tasted a flight of 5 wines of which I actually liked 3. Oregon is an up and coming wine region, starting to gain fame for it’s Pinot Noir. Thanks to the climate and rich soil this region is abundant in fruit and we got to stop at a fruit stand and try cherries, donut peaches, plums and all manner of fruit. I did not manage to visit the Willamette Valley on this trip but I did get to taste other local wines at restaurants in town.

Our final stop for the day at the top of Mount Hood and Timberline Lodge which provides access to a plethora of hiking trails along Mount Head as well as a year round ski area. This year thanks to the heat there is very little snow here and when we got there the lodge was pretty deserted with the ski lifts not operating though there were some brave souls snow boarding on the patches of snow that were left.

Portland Downtown did not live up to the eclectic and vibrant vibe that I had expected partly due to the heat and partially due to fears of the delta virus. When I went to Portland Courthouse Square it was deserted, the food carts were all shuttered and just a few hardy souls lurked here outside the Starbucks. I did go across the street and go up to the bar at the Nines Hotel but the bar was full (definitely no worries of Delta there) and the roof top terraces closed due to the heat so instead I walked through some of streets around the area, ate at a bar top in a highly recommended restaurant, made some new friends and called it a day.

I did visit Voodoo donuts but did not actually get a donut due to the long line, I also did the Portland Spirit boat trip on the Willamette River to try to stay out of the heat and visited Powell Books. Oh and I did get to ride a Portland Streetcar. I will share some of the iconic restaurants that I got to eat at such as the Tin Shed featured on food network, Higgins, Q Restaurant. Since I was flying out on Saturday I looked in on the Saturday market but time was fleeting and my flight was calling so I did not actually spend too much time browsing, tasting or buying.

While I did not get a chance to visit the South Waterfront, Mississippi Avenue, Hawthorne and some of the other eclectic neighborhoods that were recommended I did get to walk NW 23 and appreciate the color and life in the neighborhood.

As Dean Devlin so rightly said; “Portland has all the accoutrements of a big city, but the heart and soul of it is a small town, that creates an intimacy in a large environment.” I certainly hope my travels bring me back this way again someday in the near future.