It's the beer
by Shaft28
A must on your 21 and up visit to Portland is the beer. Portland being the 2nd in the world in microbrew beers, you just can't pass it up.
Downtown has more than a fair share of brew houses and pub that carry the locals.
My favorite is Bridgeport Brewery.
Great spot to order a slice of pizza and have a beer. Just be sure to try whatever they have on "Cask Conditioned" tap.
What is Cask Conditioned? It is a beer brewing process that basically leaves out the carbonation - and is hand pumped into your glass/pitcher. Gives the beer an extremely smooth body. Just the best, no matter the flavor.
When you get here, just ask for something local. The first time I had a cask cond. amber beer, I swear a little tear of joy formed in my eye...
Portland Rose Festival
by Shaft28
Every June Oregonians from all over the state (and a good number of Washitonians) gather for the Portland Rose Festival.
While it is a month long festival, the main run of it is the first two weeks of June.
Festivities include:
Several parades
a Run
"Fun Center" aka Waterfron Villiage aka rides and junk food
Coronation of the Rose Queen
Tons of music - bands to symphony
Art festival
Rose Cup Races
Dragon Boat races
Fleet Week
and I sure more. It is a fun time to be in oregon, the weather is beautiful and everyone is here on the weekend.
Beside that the festival is good clean family fun. Not to be missed if you are in town.
http://www.rosefestival.org/ Especially fun to be here during the Fleet Week weekend to see the girls from around the state lobbying for a man.
Yes, occassionally the local news will have a baby count 9 months from now to see if it spiked up... Not kidding.
Power Poles as Community Bulletin Boards
by glabah
For decades, Portland power poles have been used as community bulletin boards. Want to find employment? See a band scedule for the local bar? Get concert tickets? Find out what else is going on? In some places, all you need to do is look at a power pole.
Notices sometimes get stacked over an inch deep, and sometimes little care is taken about what notices are piled on top of what. There is a basic "street rules" type of ethics about covering over other people's posters: when it is acceptable and when it is not acceptable to cover over other events. However, I am a native born Portlander and I have never been able to figure out what those rules are.
Posting these notices, by the way, is against city and county code. People do this anyway, however.
However, due to the laws, some parts of Portland have clean power poles now, but certain areas of southeast Portland are still holdouts of the tradition.
Umbrellas
by IncogNeat-0
Update: January 2008
Leave them at home.
It rains tourists here. Worse, they bring umbrellas. Open umbrellas help create the watery kind of rain. The more open umbrellas, the wetter it gets. Local folk have learned better then to temp fate. We don't use them. An open umbrella is a bad omen, a sure sign of bad weather in the offing; three or four open at the same time may be enough to induce rain squalls. A score or more all open at the same time may help create a downpour or even a small hurricane.
Columbia River Gorge
by Hopkid
It's hardly off the beaten path because U.S. Interstate 84 runs right through it and it's just a few miles east of Portland proper. A visit to Portland without experiencing this beautiful landscape would be a tragedy! It is simply wonderful as the Columbia River separates majestic cliffs on both the Oregon and Washington sides of the river. There are also many waterfalls, mostly on the Oregon side which can be easily accessed via the Historic Columbia River Highway (U.S. Highway 30) which runs just south and parallel to I-84. You can access the western end of the highway by taking the exit for Troutdale (Exit 17) and following the signs for the Historic Columbia River Highway.
Be sure to stop at the Vista House, built in 1918 and 11 miles from the Troutdale entrance to the highway. There they have maps of the highway with the various attractions located. They also have hiking trail maps for those who want to explore more than just what's near the main road. If nothing else you must stop at Multnomah Falls, the second highest waterfall in the U.S. and recognizable from many TV commercials and print ads.
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Thompson's elk fountain on Main Street
Enjoying a $3 pint during happy hour!
Platform Level, Portland Union Station is Very Low
SW 3rd
