With $85 of unused travel credit for Alaska Airlines and 4 days to spare in February, we decided to finally make a trip to Portland Oregon happen. It had been on our list of places in the United States we must visit, so why not cross it off our list now? Portland offers visitors many things to see, great places to eat at, hike through and plenty of beautiful places to visit. If you had not considered visiting before, we suggest you do if you are into any of the things previously mentioned. Since this was a quick getaway, this is only a quick getaway guide version to Portland. We do recommend coming for more than 3 nights to really get to see and experience more. If you are trying to stay away from the cold visit after March through October.
Pss: for those curious minds, the travel credit was for a voluntary bump off a flight we took a year ago.
Getting There
Portland Oregon is just a smooth 2 hour flight from Los Angeles. You can catch fares for as low as $100, keep an eye on our Twitter page for price dips. From east coast cities the flight ranges from 4.5-6 hours. Since one of us came from New York, we had a 6 hour flight into Portland but a short 4.5 hour into Newark NJ.
Where To Stay
There are many areas in Portland you can decide to stay in. For our quick getaway we decided to stay in Downtown Portland. Being that it was such a short trip, we opted not to rent a car, with this in mind we made sure to stay somewhere central.
The Hyatt House Hotel was perfectly located in the east side of the Willamette River near Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The staff is great, they have free breakfast in the mornings, an onsite bar, restaurant and an indoor pool. We booked their room with 1 King Bed which was very spacious and comfortable.
Food Trucks/Pods
Portland is known for their food truck/pod scene. There are SO MANY delicious food trucks and “pods” to select from. If you don’t know where to start head to SW Alder & SW 9th street or to Pine Street Market and walk through all of your options. Some suggestions: Tidbit Food Farm, Matts BBQ, & The French Toast Connection. Let us know what other good ones you come across.
Restaurants
Tasty N Alder-we came for Brunch and Drinks
During Brunch, the dishes are served family style.
Screen Door-our visit was for Brunch
Note: the wait can go from 30mins to 1 hour. It was WORTH it!
Lowcountry Breakfast Shrimp Grits: Four jumbo wild caught Gulf shrimp sauteed with bacon, garlic & tomato served over cheddar grits, with two eggs any way & buttermilk biscuit
Psst: People in Portland are very friendly and easy going!
Also worth checking out and not pictured: Masu Sushi, Pine States Biscuits, Fire Mountain, Voodoo Doughnuts, Jorge’s Tequila Factory and Jack Knife. If you are a coffee lover: Hubber’s Cafe, Spella Caffee and Upstream Coffee.
Maclean Park and Forest Park
Bring shoes you don’t mind getting dirty
Pssst: If you are scoping out outdoor wedding spaces, Portland offers so many beautiful places
Tom McCall Waterfront Park
We had one whole day of nonstop rain and half days with rain. Therefore the following places were on our itinerary but we didn’t get to visit:
Multnomah Falls
Picture: TravelPortland
What are some of your favorite places in Portland? If you have not been, are you planning a visit? Comment below.
Safe Travels!
There’s definitely a lot to do here and it looks like you made good use of your time. The different meals you enjoyed look delicious. For a fun and unique breakfast experience we recommend Slappy Cakes where you can make your own creative pancakes at your table! (Great for kids of all ages!) For more suggestions please checkout our year-round activities page at http://www.whatsupthisweekend.com.
Great website. Thank you for the suggestions