Portland, Oregon (Sightseeing)

Portland may surprise visitors with it's options of places to visit and experience. Although Portland is a large city, the easy-going nature of it's residents has resulted in a a small-town vibe that it very focused on it's uniquely hip neighborhoods. Portland is an extremely easy city to get around by public transportation due to it's comprehensive light rail and bus system. A car is definitely not necessary for a visit and it actually not recommended due to the cost of parking.

Below, I have described the different places we saw on our three day visit over Memorial Day weekend. Be forewarned that this blog post is very photo-heavy!

International Rose Test Garden: This 4.5 acre park is located within the much larger Washington Park and has no entrance fee. The garden is one of 24 sites nationwide that tests new rose varieties and today displays over 550 different varieties.

Since our visit occurred at the end of May I was hopeful that we would be able to see some roses, especially considering the annual Portland Rose Festival took place over the course of our visit. Unfortunately, this was not the case. In fact, there were so few roses in bloom (we probably saw less than ten rose buds and flowers) that the local newspaper even made fun of the "no rose" rose festival. No roses aside, the Rose Test Garden is still a beautiful place to stroll, no matter what the season is.

International Rose Test Garden

The many rows of rose-less rosebushes.

International Rose Test Garden

International Rose Test Garden

International Rose Test Garden

International Rose Test Garden

International Rose Test Garden

Two rosebuds at the International Rose Test Garden.

International Rose Test Garden

International Rose Test Garden

International Rose Test Garden

International Rose Test Garden

International Rose Test Garden

One of the few roses in bloom at the International Rose Test Garden.

Beautiful rosebud at International Rose Test Garden.

International Rose Test Garden.

Artwork at the International Rose Test Garden.

International Rose Test Garden.

International Rose Test Garden

Portland Japanese Garden: This immaculate five acre garden is also located within Washington Park and is known as being one of the most authentic Japanese gardens outside of Japan. There are five different types of garden styles within the park; the Flat Garden, the Natural Garden, the Sand and Stone Garden, the Tea Garden, and the Strolling Pond Garden.

The entrance fee is $9.50 per adult which seems fairly steep but is definitely worth the cost as one could theoretically spend hours exploring the gardens. We had a blast exploring the many different nooks and crannies of this park and photographing the countless beautiful scenes.

Entrance to the Japanese Garden.

Entrance to the Japanese Garden.

Shyawn buying our tickets to the park.

Statue at the Japanese Garden.

Portland Japanese Garden.

Portland Japanese Garden.

Portland Japanese Garden.

Portland Japanese Garden.

A display of bonsai at the Japanese Garden.

The Flat Garden.

The Flat Garden.

I loved these stones at the Japanese Garden.

The Flat Garden.

View of the Sand and Stone Garden.

Japanese Garden.

Japanese Garden.

The Strolling Pond Garden.

The Strolling Pond Garden.

The Strolling Pond Garden.

The Strolling Pond Garden.

The Tea Garden.

The Tea Garden.

The Strolling Pond Garden.

The Strolling Pond Garden.

Beautiful waterfall in the Strolling Pond Garden.

The Natural Garden.

The Natural Garden.

Portland Farmer's Market: This market is held on Saturdays at Portland State University from March through December. I am an avid fan of farmer's markets, and this one was rated one of the best so it was quickly added to our list. It took us quite a while to go through the entire market; it's likely the largest farmer's market either one of us had ever been to. There were a ton of vendors and I was incredibly excited when I saw that Draper Girls Country Farm had a stand. The previous summer Shyawn and I had spent a weekend in Hood River, Oregon and had stopped at their farm to pick cherries. While there, we purchased some cherry cider which, to this day, is my favorite drink ever! Luckily, they had their ciders available to purchase so I was able to snag a container of the yummy juice!

Portland Farmer's Market

Portland Farmer's Market

Onions for sale at the Portland Farmer's Market.

Beautiful bread at the Portland Farmer's Market.

Salad bowls for sale at the Portland Farmer's Market.

Portland Farmer's Market

Portland Farmer's Market

Fruit-flavored sodas from Hot Lips; these are great!

Since we hadn't eaten breakfast prior to arriving at the market, we both bought some food to eat (along with eating a lot of samples along the way). Shyawn opted for a breakfast burrito and I had an Italian sausage sandwich. Both were okay, but nothing we would order again in the future.

Shyawn patiently waiting in line to order his burrito.

Then he was nice enough to order my sandwich as well!

Italian sausages cooking on the grill.

My Italian sausage sandwich.



Tom McCall Waterfront Park: This pleasant 30 acre park runs along the banks of the Willamette River in downtown Portland. It's a great place to come and relax during a busy day of sightseeing. My favorite part of the park were the fountains, called the Salmon Street Springs. They were so fun to photograph especially with the city buildings as a backdrop.

We passed numerous joggers and cyclists during our leisurely walk and it seemed to be quite a popular place for residents to hang out.

Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

Hawthorne Bridge viewed from Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

A little girl riding her bike through Salmon Street Springs.

Salmon Street Springs.

Ferris wheel viewed from the walking path at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

La Su Chinese Garden: Visiting this amazing garden was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. The Lan Su Chinese Garden was built in 2000 over one city block using 500 tons of rock that were shipped over from China and plant species that are indigenous to China. Aside from gardens and foliage, the park has several beautiful structures that are commonly found in Chinese gardens. The visitor guide indicated that this garden is one of the most authentic Chinese gardens outside of China.

We both were blown away by the beauty and serenity of the park. Although it was actually quite crowded, it was still very peaceful and relaxing. We were lucky to be there when the sun was out so I was able to obtain a lot of gorgeous reflection shots of the structures in the pond. Shyawn immensely enjoyed the dozens of bonsai plants that were spread throughout the park.

Entrance to Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Beautiful flower at Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Bonsai at Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Gorgeous Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Shyawn and I at Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Shyawn at Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Window detail at Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Bonsai plant at Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Powell's Books: This massive bookstore is the largest independent bookstore in the world. It covers an entire city block and sells both new and used books in 1.6 acres of retail space. We were slightly rushed during our visit, so I made a beeline to the travel section. I have never in my life seen so many travel books together; it was truly mesmerizing and I could have spent hours just in that section alone. Powell's is an institution in Portland so even if you aren't a fan of books, you should still try to pay a visit.

One of the entrances to Powell's Books.

Main entrance to Powell's Books.

Powell's Books

Directory at Powell's Books.

Powell's Books

Books, books, and more books!

Pittock Mansion: I am a sucker for beautiful old houses so when I read about the historic Pittock Mansion I knew we would be making a stop during our time in Portland. This 22 room estate is located on 46 acres in the West Hills of Portland and was completed in 1914 by The Oregonian publisher Henry Pittock and his wife Georgiana. Different members of the family lived in the home up until the late 1950's when it was put on the market. Sadly, in 1962 a harsh storm caused massive damage to the home which nearly resulted in the owners demolishing the property. However, the residents of Portland banded together and raised $75,000 in three months to help the city of Portland purchase the home. It was later restored and eventually opened to the public for tours in 1965 and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Pittock Mansion.

Beautiful details inside Pittock Mansion.

Staircase at Pittock Mansion.

Library at Pittock Mansion.

Pittock Mansion.

Intricate details at Pittock Mansion.

Pittock Mansion

Dining room in Pittock Mansion.

Kitchen in Pittock Mansion.

Pantry in the kitchen of Pittock Mansion.

The staircase at Pittock Mansion.

One of the bedrooms at Pittock Mansion.

Backside view of Pittock Mansion.

Beautiful view of Portland from Pittock Mansion.

Wine tasting in the Willamette Valley: Visiting the Willamette Valley AVA (American Vitacultural Area) makes a great day trip from Portland. The area is home to the majority of Oregon's wineries, which is somewhere in the 200 plus realm. We were short on time so we ended up visiting just one winery called Shafer Family Vineyards which is located in the city of Forest Grove. They specialize in sparkling wines and a few rieslings including an ice wine.

Shafer Family Vineyards.

Main building of Shafer Family Vineyards.

Having experienced wine tasting in Napa Valley and Sonoma County, I was quite surprised by the simplistic nature of Shafer Family Vineyards. There wasn't a fancy showroom or even a beautiful building (as you can see above). The owners of this winery were solely concerned about making the best wine possible. We shared a tasting sample (about $5) and sampled six wines.

During our visit we also ventured to the back of their building where Miki's Christmas Shop is held. I thought this was rather odd and peculiar but apparently this winery is well-known for not only selling wine but also Christmas decorations!

The tasting room was rather crowded on the day we visited.

The selection of wines that were being sampled.

Christmas trees and decorations....at a winery?

So many Christmas decorations for sale at Shafer Family Vineyards.

Shafer Family Vineyards.

Shafer Family Vineyards.

Shafer Family Vineyards.

The beautiful view from Shafer Family Vineyards.

Shafer Family Vineyards.

Shafer Family Vineyards.

Shafer Family Vineyards.

A great resource for planning a trip to the Willamette Valley wineries is Willamette Wines. They have a list of companies that offer all day or afternoon tours of several wineries in the area, which we will probably do on our next trip so we don't have to worry about drinking and driving!