A Fall Road Trip in Oregon

By Char Reed

If you’ve never visited the Pacific Northwest, I recommend you plan a trip to Oregon as soon as possible. This magnificent state is, I believe, the crowning glory of the Northwest and the jewel in the crown is, definitely, Portland. The Rose City. So, if you have a week for your adventure in Oregon, fly into Portland and spend a few days there before you venture out to the mountains or the ocean. You won’t be sorry you did.

You must come to Portland in the spring, summer or fall but I would suggest summer or fall as your best bet. Spring, although breathtakingly beautiful, can bring with it some intermittent rain showers that might dampen your spirits if you are not a true northwesterner. And, if you do experience some rain while visiting the area, remember that without the rain there wouldn’t be the incredible beauty for you to enjoy.

As for what to see and do in Portland, the list is almost endless. If you stay in one of the many lovely downtown hotels you will be able to walk or take the bus to many areas of interest.  You might start in Chinatown with a visit to the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. Located at 239 NW Everett St., it is a Ming Dynasty style garden open 7 days a week from 10 to 5. I find the peace and serenity at the garden transports me to a place where I am able to think more clearly and plan more creatively. If you are in Portland over the weekend I would suggest a Sunday brunch of Dim Sum at one of the many restaurants in Chinatown offering this culinary adventure. From there you can walk to Saturday Market in Old Town, under the Burnside Bridge. Here, local artists and artisans show their work along side great food booths and street musicians. You may feel as though you have stumbled into a time machine and been whisked back to the 1970’s!

WATERFRONT

As you may, or may not, know, the east and west parts of the City of Portland are divided by the Willamette River. The west side of the river is the actual downtown area but there are several interesting neighborhoods on the east side as well. All along the west side of the river downtown is Waterfront Park. (Also called McCall Park after Tom McCall, Oregon’s controversial early environmentalist governor from 1957 to 1975). This huge park is home to a great many fun events throughout the spring and summer months.

In June there is Rose Festival week starting with the Starlight Parade on the first Saturday night of festival week and ending with The Grand Floral Parade on the second Saturday.  This parade is one of the nation’s top two all-floral parades and has been enjoyed by kids of all ages for over 100 years.  The week in between the two parades is a kaleidoscope of events.  During all these festivities there is a constant carnival in Waterfront Park which includes rides, food, music and non-stop opportunities for people watching.

DINING

Portland has excellent restaurants of all types and sizes. If you love ethnic food, as I do, you will find this city has much to offer. On any given day you can sample the cuisines of Thailand, India, China, Ethiopia, Japan, Italy, France, Mexico and the Middle East. And, many of these restaurants are of world-class quality. Of course, you must also sample local seafood, with salmon and halibut being the hands-down favorites. If steak and potatoes is your cup of tea you will find steak houses such as Ruth’s Chris, Morton’s and El Gaucho. There is also The Ringside, a local favorite since 1944, where they are known for their mouth-watering steaks and terrific onion rings.

For American fare most locals will steer you to Jakes Crawfish. Jakes has wonderful food, lots of local color and a busy, busy bar scene. Walk to Jakes from any of the downtown hotels and spend an evening. You won’t be sorry. You may also want to try the other members of the “Jakes” family: Jakes Grill in the Governor Hotel and McCormick & Schmicks. Yum!

As for the ethnic food, I couldn’t begin to list even my favorites, there are so many. I love Thai food and if you do as well, you will be delighted by the huge number of choices. There are the large, elegant Thai restaurants like Typhoon (always wonderful) to the small neighborhood eateries like PK in the Pearl (my personal favorite). There are also wonderful Indian, Japanese, Italian and Mexican restaurants all over the city for you to enjoy.

SHOPPING

If shopping is your idea of a good time you will greatly enjoy your visit to Portland. The beautiful and vibrant downtown area boasts many wonderful boutique shops and also a stunning mid-town shopping center called Pioneer Place. Here there are a variety of small to medium shops of all kinds as well as large anchor stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Chico’s and Tiffany & Co.

Then you must treat yourself to the shopping experience on the very trendy NW 23rd Street. Here you can walk for blocks and enjoy stores that specialize in everything from French linens to clothes to eclectic art. All interspersed with coffee houses and restaurants.  To get to NW 23rd you can hop a trolley car which does a continuous loop from Portland State University in the southwest part of the city to Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in northwest. A stroll down NW 23rd is truly a feast for the eyes and ears, but it can be brutal on the wallet because you will find many, many treasures to buy.  And, lest I forget a most important fact…….there is no sales tax in Oregon!

THE PEARL DISTRICT

When in Portland you will hear people refer to “The Pearl”. This is an area from W Burnside on the South, NW Broadway on the East, the Burlington Northern Railroad tracts to the North and Interstate 405 freeway on the West. The Pearl District was, until a few years ago, an industrial area consisting of large warehouses, loading docks, light manufacturing companies and distributors. In short, a very utilitarian but unglamorous part of town. But, my how that has changed! Local lore has it that the name came into being about ten years ago when a gallery owner likened the area to an oyster….rough and crusty on the outside but containing a beautiful pearl on the inside. The Pearl is now the most trendy and expensive area of the city. The warehouses are now very lofty lofts, the distributors have given way to toney restaurants and art galleries and you automatically have a certain amount of cache if you can say you live in “The Pearl”.

If you happen to be in town the first week of any month, do make it a point to attend “1st Thursday” in the Pearl District. You are probably familiar with the concept. On the first Thursday of every month all the art galleries stay open late, serve wine & hors d oeuvres and you stroll through the streets and enjoy the sights and sounds of the city. Its great fun and you will see wonderful art, jewelry, photography and pottery. 

After you work up an appetite enjoying all the galleries, I suggest you have a late dinner at one of the many, many great restaurants in the Pearl. After our last foray through 1st Thursday we had a lovely supper at Oba! Located on NW 12th, this Latin eatery boasts a wonderful ambience and a spicy and unusual menu. This unique restaurant has won great accolades from many publications including being called “the place to eat in Portland” by The New York Times. What fun!

CULTURE

In addition to everything I’ve covered to this point, we must not leave this little treatise without mentioning the cultural scene in Portland. It is considerable and very lively.  Portland has a fine symphony, opera and ballet companies and a huge collection of bands of all types. There are the usual rock bands and alternative rock bands as well as lots of jazz and blues. As a matter of fact, I think Portland may have the best blues bands on the planet. That may be a rather enthusiastic statement, but if you give some of them a listen I think you will agree.

AFTER PORTLAND

So, I hope I have planted a seed that will grow into a trip to Portland. I promise you will love it. Then you should venture two hours to the west and experience Oregon’s beach towns. The most popular for people from Portland are the Cannon Beach and Seaside areas on the northern Oregon coast. These are great little walking towns and have wonderful shops and restaurants in addition to the magnificent ocean views and sandy beaches.

Again, I must add a personal preference where the beach is concerned. I think the most beautiful part of the Oregon coast is the central coastal area. From Lincoln City to Waldport the coastline views are breathtaking. Drive slowly down Hwy. 101 (actually, slowly is the only way you can drive) and take in Haystack Rock, Cape Perpetua and the Devil’s Punchbowl. If you are fond of gambling you may want to spend some time at Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City. But, don’t stay there. You must go to the little community of Depoe Bay, about 10 miles south of Lincoln City. You will stop at the seawall in this tiny fishing town and watch the waves crash against the rocks. Then explore the harbor, which is billed as the smallest working harbor in the world. If you are lucky enough to be able to watch some fishing boats go in and out of  the mouth of this very treacherous harbor you will be impressed by the captain’s skill.

I suggest that, after Depoe Bay, you may want to continue about 15 miles down the road to Newport. This is a bustling town, larger than most coastal communities, and home to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. The aquarium is a “must see” and contains only sea life indigenous to that part of the Pacific Ocean. That means you won’t find the brightly colored tropical fish seen in other aquariums but you won’t be disappointed in the least.           

From Newport you may continue down the coast on Hwy. 101, or cut through the Coast Range back to the Willamette Valley. If you do make this trip in the fall, you will be wowed by the beautiful colors everywhere.  Although many of Oregon’s trees are evergreens, we also have a whole array of deciduous trees that turn beautiful colors of yellow, red, orange and sienna. You can then go north on Interstate 5 and back to Portland. Have a wonderful visit!