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Quick! What to do in Portland today? And San Francisco on Thursday.
Melkster
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Unnecessary background:
It is currently 11:30 AM in Portland. I shall stay here until 5 pm, whereupon I will drive myself away to southern Oregan, spend the night, and then explore Redwood before heading down to San Francisco to stay for a day and two nights.
So I have just a few hours to do things in Portland. What should I do? Same question for San Francisco, except I'll have a whole day.
Notes: I'm thinking about living here, and getting a cushy web programming job. So I'm more interested in seeing places where I'd actually live. I probably spend a bunch of time in coffee shops (and am in one now!) and any nature areas the city might have to offer. I'm less interested in museums or typical tourist attractions. Unique shops are cool. Bookstores would be cool. Game shops, too, since I love board games.
Anyways, any thoughts?
I'm on a whirlwind trip around the great American west. I've been through the desolate and boring Northwest Texas, through the beautiful Northern New Mexico, the mountainous Colorado and it's colorful Boulder (where I spent a couple days with friends), and then Southern Wyoming, Idaho, and now Oregon.
This is kind of a mental health journey. A few months ago, I realized that I probably was depressed and sought help. I requested and received antidepressant medication and talk therapy, both of which seem to be helping immensely. A couple weeks ago, though, I realized that I needed a vacation. A long one. Something adventurous. So I asked for my entire allotment of vacation time off, as soon as possible, and planned a trip around the west.
Also, I don't plan to stay in Texas forever. It's hot, and I hate the heat. I've lived there for nearly my entire life -- since I was 3, and I'm now 27. Sometime, sometime soon, I'm going to move. Since I'm a programmer, Portland, Boulder, and the San Francisco area have jobs and were on the list of places to move to. So it made since to particularly spend some time in those spots.
This is kind of a mental health journey. A few months ago, I realized that I probably was depressed and sought help. I requested and received antidepressant medication and talk therapy, both of which seem to be helping immensely. A couple weeks ago, though, I realized that I needed a vacation. A long one. Something adventurous. So I asked for my entire allotment of vacation time off, as soon as possible, and planned a trip around the west.
Also, I don't plan to stay in Texas forever. It's hot, and I hate the heat. I've lived there for nearly my entire life -- since I was 3, and I'm now 27. Sometime, sometime soon, I'm going to move. Since I'm a programmer, Portland, Boulder, and the San Francisco area have jobs and were on the list of places to move to. So it made since to particularly spend some time in those spots.
It is currently 11:30 AM in Portland. I shall stay here until 5 pm, whereupon I will drive myself away to southern Oregan, spend the night, and then explore Redwood before heading down to San Francisco to stay for a day and two nights.
So I have just a few hours to do things in Portland. What should I do? Same question for San Francisco, except I'll have a whole day.
Notes: I'm thinking about living here, and getting a cushy web programming job. So I'm more interested in seeing places where I'd actually live. I probably spend a bunch of time in coffee shops (and am in one now!) and any nature areas the city might have to offer. I'm less interested in museums or typical tourist attractions. Unique shops are cool. Bookstores would be cool. Game shops, too, since I love board games.
Anyways, any thoughts?
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And then traipse around the corner to SW 10th and Alder and browse the plethora of food carts in the pod (I highly recommend the chicken rice at Nong's Khao Man Gai)
e: if you don't mind a detour on your way out of town, Mt. Hood Ntl Park is only about a 45 minute drive east on US 26 and it's totally worth it
e: alternately, Hoyt's Arboretum is on the west side not too far from downtown, so that might be closer (but honestly, there's nature all over the dang place in Portland)
http://www.calacademy.org/events/nightlife/
DJ and drinks at a science museum until midnight. The drinks are a little overpriced, I admit, but it's still a lot of fun.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
The Rose Garden/Chinese Gardens are also damn amazing.
Also free, which is the best thing!
This is a good idea, and it's in the middle of Golden Gate Park which is pretty amazing.
Walk up and down Clement Street at some point, find some eats. Check out Land's End and the Sutro Baths ruins.
These things are all basically geographically proximate.
In Portland: I went to Grendel's coffee shop, which was lovely. Then Guardian Games, whereupon I purchased A Few Acres of Snow, which I couldn't find in my Austin board game stores. Then had a Big Ass Sandwich, which lived up to its name. Then drove over to Powell's bookstore which was humongous.
Sadly, I didn't have time to explore Mt. Hood.* I did however see it looming in the distance while driving to Portland from the Idaho border to the east. It's massive!
I really enjoyed Portland, I have to say. Every single person I had a conversation with was pleasant and friendly. And the surrounding nature was just beautiful. I could totally see myself living there someday. Someday soon, even.
Anyways, on to the SF bay area tomorrow. Looks like I'll have to make some tough decisions about what to do.
* I wanted to, but realized that I'd probably be getting into Crescent City, CA pretty late. I'm glad I didn't delay. I ended up driving 80 miles through a windy, twisty two lane highway (US 199) late last night. It was a white-knuckle experience, esp considering that I was tired. Not falling asleep, but definitely not at my most alert. Yikes.
There are a lot of great places to eat on Clement. I am predisposed to Giorgio's Pizza and Tom Kiang Chinese & Dim Sum. But the most unique, San Francisco experience there is arguably http://www.qrestaurant.com/
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Honestly, there are a lot of different places you might end up getting a job, and a lot of different places you might end up living.
San Francisco is great if you can afford it and if you end up getting a job either in San Francisco, or for a company that is close to public transit outside of San Francisco, or one of the companies like Google who runs their own corporate commuter shuttles through San Francisco.
But I work in San Jose. I know tech people who work in Santa Cruz, Marin, and Oakland - as well as SF. It used to be that SF was the cool place to live and if you lived anywhere else, die-hard SFists would look down on you.
That's not so much the case any more. Rising rents are driving a lot of 20 and 30 somethings out of town - and they're taking a lot of the counterculture, arts, and nightlife with them.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Damn, that's a shame. Portland felt alive, with alot of folks my age around. It really excited me. I think I'm going to have to return someday, to visit again.
I might be in the mood for a gay bar, perhaps, just to see what it's like compared to Austin. Or any other gay things. Are there gay coffee shops in SF? Or other such things? Just curious, I really have no idea.
I think I misspoke.
I don't mean that the arts and counterculture are leaving San Francisco. I don't think they'll ever really leave San Francisco.
I mean that it is spreading out more to surrounding towns, especially Oakland.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
The Castro is the quintessential gay district. I've never been anywhere like it. I mean, there are gay meccas in other towns... Capitol Hill, Chelsea, etc. But nothing quite so in-your-face and concentrated as the few blocks of Castro street between Market and 18th.
And, yes, there are gay coffee shops. The standout is arguably Cafe Flore, which has been a centerpiece of the Castro for decades.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
I was told that the mission was a neat place to walk around in, and given directions for some nearby cool things to see. I'm glad I saw it though.
(Turns out it was total annihilation.)
For food, go to Nopalito and get Carnitas. Seriously. So good.
Wasn't able to work up the courage to ask him anything else, sadly. But I'll take what I can get. :P
I require that you tell me the name of this board game/rpg shop immediately.
Gamescape, basically at page & divisadero.
Thanks all for the advice.
I wish I could stay longer, but alas I must depart in the morning. To Vegas!
San Francisco is a weird place. Unless you are from the area, block to block is really diverse. For instance the only reason to hang out at 16th and Mission is if you're really into Heroin. But you walk up 16th a little bit and you've got some of the best places to eat and drink the City has to offer. Lots of parts of the City are like that, pockets of unexpected squalor. 16th and Mission is definitely the worst though and I lived in the Bayview right outside Hunter's Point for a while.
Totally agree with this.
Even the weather can suddenly change from one block to the next. (No, really, it's a thing - they're called "microclimates" and they can occur in any hilly coastal city.)
And, yeah, the Mission is great for food and bars and nightlife. (And it's getting an Alamo Drafthouse of it's very own! I am excited.) But it's also got a lot of homeless people and junkies.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.