Help! I need to plan a quick romantic trip to Portland. Any ideas?

[cheapie]

I'll be in Portland in a couple weeks. I'd like to fly my wife out to spend sat/sun night w/me and need some cool/romantic ideas. It's our anniversary and I want to surprise her w/something super cool. A B&B would be pretty sweet. She would be arriving 11am on saturday. I only need lodging for Sat the 13th because we'll be taking the red-eye home Monday morning.

[ufcrusher]

Oregon or Maine? There are Portlands in both.

[cheapie]

oops. OR.

[revil]

well, this is the best season to be in oregon! I used to live there, but i have no ideas for romantic things. you could try the water front. there are a lot of awesome romantic bars in the area too. Try a McMenamins (http://www.mcmenamins.com) bar, they are awesome. I recommend the Kennedy School. You might be able to get a room there too.

[cheapie]

i think we might do a dinner cruise on the hood river.

[revil]

that would be cool too.

[faither]

The Governor Hotel is very nice -- stayed there a few times for business. It's old but beautifully maintained. They have a great bar, too.

[Airencracken]

If you're there around sept 20th there is an arcade fire show I'm hoping to go to...

[IrishSS]

If ya have access to a rental car, take her up to Timberline Lodge for the day/night. Very nice up there, and particulalry quiet seeing as its non-ski season. Beautiful views from even lodge altitude. Or you could take the SnoCat up to the Palmer field and take a look around from up there. Another nice place is the Japanese Gardens. Most things should be in bloom right now.

Revil is right tho, this is the best time to be out there. Weather should be absolutely beautifull. Talked to my dad last night, he said it's been 75 and perfect there for about 10 days.

[revil]

Revil is right tho, this is the best time to be out there. Weather should be absolutely beautifull. Talked to my dad last night, he said it's been 75 and perfect there for about 10 days.
many people move there because they visit this time of the season. then they leave after a year because they didn't realize it rains the rest of the year.

[ufcrusher]

For true beauty drive south to Crater lake. Its a bit of a drive from there but well worth it if you have the time.

[Freelance Superhero]

i didn't do many "romantic" things in portland, so i have little to offer. but i do love the city.

for one thing, portland is the city of roses, after all; they have really beautiful rose gardens (though i'm not what the blooming situation is at this time of year).

they do have pretty fun bars, and like revil said, the Kennedy School is a pretty nifty place to go (not a bad date atmosphere either); it's basically an old elementary school that got turned into a restaurant/bar/lounge/hotel/movie theater type thingie. the courtyard is nice.

and as for scenery, if you can't make it out to crater lake (or don't want to make the drive), you can take a short drive east to Multnomah Falls. i had some friends who were actually visiting portland this past weekend and i recommended they go check out Multnomah Falls, and they had an absolute blast. it's a beautiful drive, and if you want to get out and hike, there are some nice trails as well.

god i wish i could have gone with my friends... i miss portland... :neartears

[surfer]

I'm going there next week! I was planning on checking out the pubs. Here is an events calendar of some cool stuff.
http://www.pova.org/event_calendar/

[revil]

ohh!!!! the beer week is good! and same with the brewers festival! not so romantic though. and i forgot about farmers market, it's a really interesting place to walk around.

[zenbooty]

Portland is a major center for hand-blown glass. Perhaps you can visit or take a tour or something. Women find men busting their nuts and sweating up a storm to make (or buy) pretty trinkets for them romantic.

[cheapie]

hmmm...cool idea. mebbe we'll do that and then go on the dinner cruise.

unless crater lake isn't too far away. does anyone know how far that is from portland? we have a 1 am flight on sunday morning so i need to be back at the airport 11pm on sat.

[Airencracken]

Crater lake is pretty far...

[IrishSS]

At least 3 hours, but Im think its much closer to 4+. It's definitely a drive. All the other suggestions are good tho... I forgot about the farmers market too. Multnomah Falls is a very nice place as well, and if you're fortunate, you could watch some wind-surfing up along the Gorge depending on the winds.

[MrGreg]

I don't know where you live, but if you are land locked you could check out the coast. A 2 hour drive would put you in Cannon Beach or Arch Cape. There are plenty of quiet little B&Bs there.

[Kevster]

Don't go to Seaside right now - they had a ton of anchovies die off the coast and they're washing up on shore and stinking up everything. It might be better in a week or two though.

[MrGreg]

:stupid: Seaside has always been a touristy crap-fest. ;)

[Kevster]

I didn't say go to Seaside. Seaside has always been a touristy crap-fest. ;)

I wasn't replying to your suggestions, I was just stating that in the off chance that Cheapie and Mrs. Cheapie might think that was a place to go see.

And I agree, it's too touristy for me too.

[surfer]

How was the trip? I had a great time. The best find was the steak at Paddy's Bar & Grill. Wish they had one in San Diego. It was cooked to perfection and topped with this awesome secret sauce that had mushrooms in it. They once some a steak a bit like this on the specials menu at Karl Strauss.

[cheapie]

i'm here now. what a cool city. i think i've found my new future home. my wife comes in on friday. she still has no idea i'm flying her in.

[MrGreg]

Just to be fair, the weather isn't always as nice as it is right now... but it has been perfect lately.

[cheapie]

it is amazing right now. mid 70's. sunny. low humidity. absolutely perfect.

[revil]

it is amazing right now. mid 70's. sunny. low humidity. absolutely perfect.
yeah, come fall, it'll be raining until summer.

[ufcrusher]

Yep my wife fled the Oregon weather and refuses to ever move back there.

The only place that I have ever been where they think Rain with a possibility of showers is a normal forecast! The stopped me in my tracks dumbfounded. How can you have showers if its already raining? 3 years after hearing it, I still dont get it.

[revil]

you obviously don't know all the intricacies of the rain.

[cheapie]

what a great time. i'll post pics later.

[cheapie]

i let my wife know that she was flying out to meet me for the weekend in portland on friday morning. she was pretty excited. she flew in fri night. actuall, her plane was delayed and she got in 1:30 am sat morning. we had a great breadfast at the embassy suites we were staying at and drove up the columbia river gorge. stopped at some falls. they were cool but we have been to yosemite and glacier recently so ...

http://www.littleboyinc.com/uploader/uploads/anniv_1.jpg

we ate lunch at the columbia gorge hotel near where the hood river meets the columbia river. awesome view and food. very cute little romantic place.

http://www.littleboyinc.com/uploader/uploads/anniv_2.jpg

http://www.littleboyinc.com/uploader/uploads/anniv_3.jpg

http://www.littleboyinc.com/uploader/uploads/anniv_4.jpg

http://www.littleboyinc.com/uploader/uploads/anniv_5.jpg

[cheapie]

we then drove up the road to mount hood. the sky was perfectly clear and offered a tremendous view.

http://www.littleboyinc.com/uploader/uploads/anniv_6.jpg


http://www.littleboyinc.com/uploader/uploads/anniv_7.jpg

http://www.littleboyinc.com/uploader/uploads/anniv_8.jpg

we took the chairlift up the mountain and walked around a little bit. i would have liked to walk back down but since my achilles are hurt from the WAM ride, we rode the lift down instead.

http://www.littleboyinc.com/uploader/uploads/anniv_9.jpg

http://www.littleboyinc.com/uploader/uploads/anniv_10.jpg

http://www.littleboyinc.com/uploader/uploads/anniv_11.jpg

we finished the date with dinner at salty's on the river in portland. it was one of the best days we've ever had. it was well worth the time and money we spent!

[revil]

aw... you missed out on the concrete luge.

[IrishSS]

aw... you missed out on the concrete luge.

Thats's good times right there... sliding your way down Hood in a plastic sled.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Hood Cheapie... it's always quite nice this time of the year. Go to the lodge at all?

[cheapie]

oh yeah. spent a lot of time looking around it. i stayed there in december w/a co-worker. seperate rooms.

btw, when i was there before, i had NO idea that the mountain kept going up behind the lodge. it was pea soup outside and you couldn't see 10 feet up the mtn. it was absolutely stunning realizing what was outside the windows behind teh fog.

[surfer]

That was an awesome date! I wanna go again next year. I miss the food at Paddy's.

[cheapie]

you wanna go on our date next year? :spock:

[revil]

you wanna go on our date next year? :spock:
can we?

[zenbooty]

we then drove up the road to mount hood. the sky was perfectly clear and offered a tremendous view.
Hah! I climbed that ****er some years ago with a buddy of mine on our way back from Vancouver. Damn, it gets tiring near the top. got pictures of it, but no scanner, I'm afraid.

[surfer]

you wanna go on our date next year? :spock:


I was hoping go to Paddy's and eat more steaks on the company expense account. :-)