TRAVEL: Quiet Visit to Portland; a 4-5 day stay

A friend in San Francisco told me he was visiting Portland, OR again in a couple of weeks, to “check out the neighborhoods again”. His past visits haven’t quite shown him the quiet, staid and ordinary side of PDX. Here’s what I recommend for a laid back easy going 4-5 day stay:

————– to stay —————– not the usual suspects

Jupiter NEXT – conveniently located hip new clean ‘on trend’ as they say
Boutique Style Apartment – Laurelhurst location, for longer stay
McMenamins Kennedy School Hotel – very PDX old school casual
Heart of Woodstock – quaint, neighborhood feel, Reed College environs
Evermore Guesthouse – neighborhood feel, near Mt. Tabor

————— to see —————– outdoor beauty & comfortable living

This is not a site-seeing visit so most of what’s-to-see are the neighborhoods themselves, the side streets and special little places. However, now In bloom this is a must – International Rose Test Garden

Then there’s Mt. Tabor Park if for nothing else than the views. “The first day in Portland, we took in Mt Tabor Park. It was the perfect starter experience. There are great views of the City and east to navigate to the top once you park. Enter off 60th St. Google can sometimes take you dog park where there is no drive access.” says Edvard from Shreveport, Louisiana

A hop skip and a jump from the first two accommodation recommendations, visit the Laurelhurst neighborhood – an afternoon walk/ride around, a great variety of houses/lots on an old tree lined neighborhood. Then eat at Stammtisch (German). Skip Laurelhurst Park and stay north of Burnside. Don’t ask why, just stay north.

————— to eat —————— get around with ease & eat well

If you like quality food done simply & cleanly, classics, the basics well executed here are my current suggestions. All these places give you an opportunity to discover the true vibe of middle to upper middle class portland – families, artsy types, small businesses, pockets of calm and quiet (vs. west side canned commercialism for out of towners).

I’m a big fan of electric bikes! I had one for a week in Palm Springs and it was perfect. East side PDX is pretty much flat and if you stay off main roads an electric bike is a great way to get around. The accommodations I recommend will all likely have ways you can store one overnight in their garage or such. I do not recommend riding one on west side or any high traffic street. There’s no rush this visit so use all side streets and avoid unseemly things as well as traffic etc. GPS / map is your friend.

Work up an appetite or burn off some calories before or after a ride around the neighborhood. These are the spots to hit:

Ranch Southeast – pizza, then ride/walk around Ladd’s Addition residential neighborhood

Pine State Biscuits Division – only go on a weekday. get extra biscuits to take home

La Moule – Belgian, excellent menu. For that one $$$ dinner

Coquine – walk around Mt. Tabor and the Montavilla neighborhoods to work up appetite for French-inspired food sourced from local farms served in a casual setting

If you are visiting Portland, Oregon any time oin the near future give some of these a try and let’s me know how you liked them. If you live in PDX where would you recommend for a third time visitor who wants to get to know the city simply and without extraordinary effort and a hectic schedule? Share in the comments.