stuff to do in Portland,OR

Angel177

So I'm going to Portland,OR and I'll be there for like 2 days, what is THE stuff to see, where is good to eat, espec for breakfast since I'm arriving early and since I have to be up a 4am I'll be hungry!
And hell if you can recommend any other activity or place to go in OR I'd be grateful.

Doc

I like Powell's books and Voodoo donuts. Ground Kontrol is a cool arcade/bar.

Centipede Damascus

In Portland there is a ton of stuff to see and do. It's one of my favorite places. Let me list a few for you.

The Zoo - the Oregon Zoo is a really awesome place. They're nearly always remodeling some part of it, but the main attractions, like the Polar Bear exhibit, the elephants, and the African area always stay the same. It's a great way to spend a few hours. Also, the Zoo is right next to Portland's Rose Gardens, which are very nice to spend some time in as well.

OMSI - The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. A lot of this is geared toward younger kids, but they have rotating exhibits that are really cool, like when I saw Body Works there and right now they have a Chinese Dinosaur fossil exhibit. They also have a really good planetarium and an IMAX theater.

If you're in over the weekend, I highly recommend visiting the Saturday Market. It's an amazingly large outdoor market with great food, performers, and hundreds of artists peddling their wares.

As far as places to eat, one of my favorite restaurants I have visited in the area is The Montage. It's Southwestern food done expertly at very reasonable prices. Check it out.

World as Myth

my favorite places to get breakfast in portland:

bertie lou's -- only open till two and often really busy, but so good! used to go there a lot when I was dating a dude who lived in sellwood, but I miss it a lot

sewickly's -- real greasy-spoon diner, with HUUUGE omelets. good coffee, better bloody marys (four bucks!), everything is super cheap. this is a great place to eat when you have a hangover.

and then like doc says, there's voodoo doughnut. can't miss that place.

you definitely oughtta go to powell's, just because everyone should see that place. ground kontrol is pretty cool, it's all old arcade games, and the second floor is all pinball (and one lonely ddr machine). I'm going to disagree with centipede, because OMSI kinda blows. it's the worst science museum I've ever been to. the IMAX is awesome though, it is true.

the rose garden (free admission) and the japanese gardens (costs like $8) up in the hilly part of southwest are awesome. bring a camera if you've got one, they're both really picturesque. another cool garden people don't really visit is actually right downtown, in the middle of chinatown, the chinese garden.

if you feel like some aimless adventure, you should wander around downtown and explore, especially the areas surrounding the MAX line, in southwest between 2nd and 10th, it's very pretty. if you have a car or are feeling adventurous enough to jump on a bus, head to hawthorne (starts to get interesting around 17th and stays interested for about 20 blocks) and cruise around. hawthorne has some great stores and restaurants -- if you like chinese food, try fu-jin at like 37th and hawthorne; it's pretty much the best.

naporeon

World as Myth wrote: »

sewickly's -- real greasy-spoon diner, with HUUUGE omelets. good coffee, better bloody marys (four bucks!), everything is super cheap. this is a great place to eat when you have a hangover.

Seconded.

I can attest to the quality of the bloody marys.

Shankusu

I am going to chime in for voodoo donut - a friend of mine went to college there and he could not praise their stuff enough.

Esh

Sewickleys is also known as So Sickleys for a reason. Do not eat there. Instead try Dots maybe? The Cricket Cafe on Fremont is really great as well. There's a slew of great eats on Mississippi as well. If you go to Montage do it late at night to catch the bar crowd. The place turns into a madhouse.

Ground Kontrol is great. Right around the corner is Just B/Compound Gallery (Japanese toys and what not) and Backspace (coffee shop/gallery/computer cafe) is right next to that.

Powells, Voodoo Doughnuts...skip Omsi. It's just a science museum and not even a good one at that. It's kind of out of the way as well.

Northwest 23rd has some cool shops, as does Hawthorne.

If you're looking for bars check out Tube, Clyde Common, Doug Fir (I hate the place, but the design is nice), Shanghai Tunnel, Crow Bar, Moloko Plus, My Father's Place, East End, Slow Bar...

The Chinese Gardens are nice. The Japanese Gardens are amazing.

Everyday Music has an amazing selection if you're looking for records/CDs...