My top 5 list for Portland & environs – for me, for visitors, for everyone — with a little visual eye candy to illustrate and inspire.
Photo credit: K. Gilpatrick
1. McMenamin’s Edgefield – indescribably unique lodging, restaurants, live music concerts, gardens, golf, a spa and decadent soaking pools just outside of town in a lovely place called Troutdale. There’s something happening around every corner, and great acts headlining for outdoor shows in the summer. If you’re looking for an alternative to Portland’s incredible list of parks and outdoor spaces, from Laurelhurst to Sellwood, check out Edgefield.
2. Sauvie Island – with it’s farms and winding roads, it’s sweet beaches for family fun or casting a line into Sturgeon Lake, or just a good old-fashioned drive out for seasonal fun, it’s the perfect place to go for pumpkins, for produce, for the most gorgeous u-pick bouquets. Maybe just sit and enjoy a really stellar gyros — or take a minute to slow down and get a breath of fresh air and enjoy a simpler pace for an afternoon. Sauvie Island is the ultimate weekend activity for families every season of the year.
3. East Bank Esplanade – A perfect place to walk with friends and relax along the shores of the gorgeous Willamette, with it’s incredible views of all the bridges — even cross a pedestrian bridge if you’d like, breathing the fresh lovely air on foot, bicycle, scooter, unicycle, hoverboard — really anything goes. From here you can ponder which neighborhoods you like the best, what feels like home to you, watch the boats on the water, see as far as you can see. OMSI is here, and you can stop in and explore, or just keep walking and enjoying the trails, and urban hiking goodness that we have all around us.
4. Central Eastside: Design District shops await you, with more development buzzing, and cherished treasures like Cargo, with it’s vendors from around the world, and Urbanite with it’s vintage and new finds– City Liquidators with just about everything, all with the backdrop of train cars and tea makers, industrial chic and skateboarders. A stroll through Portland’s Central Eastside has something for everyone – with great restaurants, bars; coffee of course. It’s busy with warehouses and trade, and treasures like Pratt & Larson tile where you can take a tour, if you schedule in advance, to see how their gorgeous artisan tile is made, all of this making Portland truly a place where you can really #lovewhereyoulive.
5. Portland’s Art & Music scene – the community, the vibrant, lovely people that make this place what it is. I might just love this the most. The fantastic venues, from Mississippi to the Revolution Hall — the bands, the variety, the talent. Galleries galore throughout the city and wonders like the Ford Gallery with it’s history and vibrant artist community. All of this action and talent here in the Portland area surrounded by forests and mountains and coast, to recharge your creative spirit – we definitely have our own thing going on here: happy and humming and open to all.
