A whirlwind in the northwest
July 21, 2010 8:24 PM Subscribe
Help us plan the undecided portions of our northwest trip (crater lake to seattle via portland)!
My girlfriend and I have a nice vacation planned in San Francisco, followed by camping in Crater Lake with my parents. We'll be leaving the campground early in the AM Friday morning (7/30), and departing Seattle Sunday morning (8/1). We'd like to cram as much awesomeness from Portland and Seattle as possible while we can!
We'll be leaving crater lake early in the morning, but won't be able to get to Portland till noon at the earliest, and will have to head out by 3 or 4 to make a dinner plan in Seattle. Given the 12-3 window, what's the most fun thing(s) we can do in portland?
Saturday in Seattle, we were thinking about going on a whale watching tour. We also kinda wanted to get a new stamp in the passport (if at all possible), since we'll be so close to Canada. Can you recommend the best tour? That should take most of the early day, but what else should we do afterwards?
My girlfriend and I have a nice vacation planned in San Francisco, followed by camping in Crater Lake with my parents. We'll be leaving the campground early in the AM Friday morning (7/30), and departing Seattle Sunday morning (8/1). We'd like to cram as much awesomeness from Portland and Seattle as possible while we can!
We'll be leaving crater lake early in the morning, but won't be able to get to Portland till noon at the earliest, and will have to head out by 3 or 4 to make a dinner plan in Seattle. Given the 12-3 window, what's the most fun thing(s) we can do in portland?
Saturday in Seattle, we were thinking about going on a whale watching tour. We also kinda wanted to get a new stamp in the passport (if at all possible), since we'll be so close to Canada. Can you recommend the best tour? That should take most of the early day, but what else should we do afterwards?
Best answer: Do you like to read? Go to Powell's. It's absolutely amazing and you will not regret it. Right around Powell's (within walking distance) is Jackpot Records, where all the staff is super knowledgeable. It's a pretty small store, but they have some great stuff. Right around the corner is a coffeehouse I love called Sweet Masterpiece. (You must get the turkey pesto sandwich. It is amazing.)
The Oregon Zoo is in Portland, and pretty great-- and a two minute walk from one of the most beautiful parks I've ever seen, Washington Park. Even if you can only go for half an hour, it's a really good taste of the Pacific Northwest.
Have a great time!
posted by karminai at 8:45 PM on July 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
The Oregon Zoo is in Portland, and pretty great-- and a two minute walk from one of the most beautiful parks I've ever seen, Washington Park. Even if you can only go for half an hour, it's a really good taste of the Pacific Northwest.
Have a great time!
posted by karminai at 8:45 PM on July 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
For Portland, I would say get lunch from one of the many food carts, sit in Pioneer Square and eat it, walk up to Powell's, buy a bunch of books, walk over to Stumptown with your books and have a coffee (I recommend the cold-brew) and jump back in the car to drive to Seattle. That's pretty much exactly what I did in Portland last week.
posted by gingerbeer at 8:45 PM on July 21, 2010
posted by gingerbeer at 8:45 PM on July 21, 2010
These things are within few minutes' walk of each other in Portland: Stumptown Coffee, Voodoo Doughnut, Ground Kontrol (arcade games) and Powell's. As you wander from one to the other you will likely come across a food cart pod, so you can get a bite to eat. We were just in Portland for a visit last week and had a lovely time, as usual.
posted by rtha at 8:45 PM on July 21, 2010
posted by rtha at 8:45 PM on July 21, 2010
How could I forget Voodoo? The lines can get super long though, so try to time it when you see there's a lull.
posted by karminai at 8:48 PM on July 21, 2010
posted by karminai at 8:48 PM on July 21, 2010
When driving in Oregon take the highway along the coast instead of the I5. It is beautiful! A pod followed the shore for about 20 min that I could see from the car! The small towns are cute and the beaches and views are in spoiled. You can always cut back to the i5 when you reach Astoria.
posted by saradarlin at 9:26 PM on July 21, 2010
posted by saradarlin at 9:26 PM on July 21, 2010
If you are fond of trees the Hoyt Arboretum is close to downtown
posted by hortense at 9:46 PM on July 21, 2010
posted by hortense at 9:46 PM on July 21, 2010
Best answer: All of these are sort of between Seattle and Portland...
Twin Peaks locations - In particular Snoqualmie Falls
Northwest Train museum - if you look around town you'll find a siding where they've parked all kinds of crazy geared engines
Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood - AKA the exterior of the hotel from The Shining.
Paradise Inn on Mt Rainier - as far as I know not a haunted movie hotel of any kind.
Roslyn, Washington AKA Cicely, Alaska.
posted by Artw at 11:02 PM on July 21, 2010
Twin Peaks locations - In particular Snoqualmie Falls
Northwest Train museum - if you look around town you'll find a siding where they've parked all kinds of crazy geared engines
Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood - AKA the exterior of the hotel from The Shining.
Paradise Inn on Mt Rainier - as far as I know not a haunted movie hotel of any kind.
Roslyn, Washington AKA Cicely, Alaska.
posted by Artw at 11:02 PM on July 21, 2010
Granville Island in Vancouver is fun. I don't know about a specific tour, though.
I can 2nd Powell's, Snoqualmie Falls, & Roslyn as all worth any trouble to see/experience.
posted by batmonkey at 11:28 PM on July 21, 2010
I can 2nd Powell's, Snoqualmie Falls, & Roslyn as all worth any trouble to see/experience.
posted by batmonkey at 11:28 PM on July 21, 2010
While I agree with saradarlin that Hwy. 101 along the Oregon Coast is far more beautiful than I-5, if you go that route you'll be left with approximately six minutes to sightsee in Portland. So, yeah -- I'd recommend taking I-5, parking somewhere in downtown (SW) Portland between Pioneer Square and Powell's (there are garages). Find a food cart for lunch, then wander on foot to check out some combination of Powell's, Reading Frenzy, Voodoo Donuts, Jackpot Records, Ground Kontrol, Blue Sky Gallery (photography), the Contemporary Craft Museum (it's free), and such, all of which are fairly close to one another.
Then -- giving yourself at least 3.5 hours to get to your dinner date in Seattle -- get back in your car and navigate west on Burnside St. through downtown toward I-405 (the avenue numbers will get bigger) -- turn right directly after NW 14th Ave. toward 405, go over the lovely Fremont Bridge, and follow the signs for I-5 North. Have fun!
posted by lisa g at 12:06 AM on July 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Then -- giving yourself at least 3.5 hours to get to your dinner date in Seattle -- get back in your car and navigate west on Burnside St. through downtown toward I-405 (the avenue numbers will get bigger) -- turn right directly after NW 14th Ave. toward 405, go over the lovely Fremont Bridge, and follow the signs for I-5 North. Have fun!
posted by lisa g at 12:06 AM on July 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Two red flags based on your itinerary and travel days: your Portland-Seattle drive time and your jaunt over the Canadian border.
Portland-Seattle:
If I'm in Portland on a Friday and want to be back in Seattle by 7-8pm, I leave by 2 at the very latest. Around 2:30-3pm, the Fremont Bridge (hwy30/I-405), 84, and I-5 grind to a halt--and I mean a dead stop. You'll face a hellish nightmare getting out of the city and through Vancouver WA. Once you get through Vancouver, traffic will clear up for a couple of hours, but you'll then face the 4-7ish rush hour trifecta in Olympia, Tacoma and Seattle. These are the typical conditions sans summertime construction delays: be sure to check the Oregon DOT and Washington State DOT sites for other possible issues along your route.
Visiting Canada:
If you want to visit Canada on Saturday, you're looking at a full day trip, 7am - late evening (i.e. you'll see Seattle only by early morning light and, on your return, the nighttime skyline). Crossing the border by car at the Peace Arch (I-5) in July on a Saturday is a very bad idea--plus, there's not much to see between the border and Vancouver, which really requires an overnight stay. Best to book a day trip to Victoria BC on the Clipper. You'll depart at either 7:30 or 8:30am, arrive around 11am, and depart for Seattle at 5:30 or 7:30pm (getting back to Seattle around 9-11pm). You'll have a blast if you decide to go. Just be sure to pack your passport--you'll need it to cross the border. Oh, and book your trip now--seats sell out in the summer months.
If you decide to stick around Seattle for the day, you can Ride the Duck if you're up for some campy fun, take the Underground Tour, rent a kayak and tour Lake Union, or attend the Torchlight Parade (7/31, 7-pm), one of the major events during our annual Seafair festival. Or, if you want to get a taste of the San Juan Islands, hop the ferry over to Whidbey Island and drive up to Coupeville. You can rent kayaks, attend the farmer's market, have lunch, check out the shops, and be back by late afternoon. For an even faster trip, hop on the Bainbridge Island ferry (Pier 52, downtown Seattle). It's a 30 minute crossing + a 5 minute drive to Winslow (restaurants, shops). You can do the round trip in ~3 hours. The view of the Seattle skyline is fantastic, especially in the evening. Have fun!
posted by prinado at 12:06 AM on July 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
Portland-Seattle:
If I'm in Portland on a Friday and want to be back in Seattle by 7-8pm, I leave by 2 at the very latest. Around 2:30-3pm, the Fremont Bridge (hwy30/I-405), 84, and I-5 grind to a halt--and I mean a dead stop. You'll face a hellish nightmare getting out of the city and through Vancouver WA. Once you get through Vancouver, traffic will clear up for a couple of hours, but you'll then face the 4-7ish rush hour trifecta in Olympia, Tacoma and Seattle. These are the typical conditions sans summertime construction delays: be sure to check the Oregon DOT and Washington State DOT sites for other possible issues along your route.
Visiting Canada:
If you want to visit Canada on Saturday, you're looking at a full day trip, 7am - late evening (i.e. you'll see Seattle only by early morning light and, on your return, the nighttime skyline). Crossing the border by car at the Peace Arch (I-5) in July on a Saturday is a very bad idea--plus, there's not much to see between the border and Vancouver, which really requires an overnight stay. Best to book a day trip to Victoria BC on the Clipper. You'll depart at either 7:30 or 8:30am, arrive around 11am, and depart for Seattle at 5:30 or 7:30pm (getting back to Seattle around 9-11pm). You'll have a blast if you decide to go. Just be sure to pack your passport--you'll need it to cross the border. Oh, and book your trip now--seats sell out in the summer months.
If you decide to stick around Seattle for the day, you can Ride the Duck if you're up for some campy fun, take the Underground Tour, rent a kayak and tour Lake Union, or attend the Torchlight Parade (7/31, 7-pm), one of the major events during our annual Seafair festival. Or, if you want to get a taste of the San Juan Islands, hop the ferry over to Whidbey Island and drive up to Coupeville. You can rent kayaks, attend the farmer's market, have lunch, check out the shops, and be back by late afternoon. For an even faster trip, hop on the Bainbridge Island ferry (Pier 52, downtown Seattle). It's a 30 minute crossing + a 5 minute drive to Winslow (restaurants, shops). You can do the round trip in ~3 hours. The view of the Seattle skyline is fantastic, especially in the evening. Have fun!
posted by prinado at 12:06 AM on July 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
Oh, I had misread your question and thought you'd be in Portland on Saturday afternoon, not Friday. Yeah -- you'll need to factor in more travel time to deal with Friday afternoon rush hour (i.e., 3-6 p.m. in Portland ... and I'm sure prinado's correct that Seattle is worse.)
Powell's is still worth an hour or so of your time, though, if you do make the Portland trip.
posted by lisa g at 12:14 AM on July 22, 2010
Powell's is still worth an hour or so of your time, though, if you do make the Portland trip.
posted by lisa g at 12:14 AM on July 22, 2010
Note that if you are an American citizen, you won't get a stamp on your passport when you cross the Canadian border, unless you ask and the border agent is obliging.
posted by zxcv at 7:32 AM on July 22, 2010
posted by zxcv at 7:32 AM on July 22, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for all the great responses!
For anyone who wanders into this thread, we ended up rescheduling our dinner in seattle, not due to traffic, but because of the complete awesomeness of Powell's. We spent 4 hours wandering in there, got 6 books, and didn't even get to the technical bookstore down the street. We also hit up Voodoo, which was cool, and I was ultimately defeated by the TexAss donut.
In seattle, we did the very amusing Seattle Underground tour. We took the Bainbridge ferry and got dinner in Winslow (we walked, 10 minutes tops). We also hit up Twin Peaks; if you are stopping by there, the damn good coffee and cherry pie diner is now called Twede's.
It was a great trip, thanks for all the great ideas!
posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated at 9:09 AM on August 2, 2010
For anyone who wanders into this thread, we ended up rescheduling our dinner in seattle, not due to traffic, but because of the complete awesomeness of Powell's. We spent 4 hours wandering in there, got 6 books, and didn't even get to the technical bookstore down the street. We also hit up Voodoo, which was cool, and I was ultimately defeated by the TexAss donut.
In seattle, we did the very amusing Seattle Underground tour. We took the Bainbridge ferry and got dinner in Winslow (we walked, 10 minutes tops). We also hit up Twin Peaks; if you are stopping by there, the damn good coffee and cherry pie diner is now called Twede's.
It was a great trip, thanks for all the great ideas!
posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated at 9:09 AM on August 2, 2010
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Some ideas for getting to Canada:
You could take the Victoria Clipper out of downtown Seattle and speed up to Victoria, BC. Get a stamp on your passport, have tea at the Empress, and come back the next day. Avoid all that driving--you'll get a nice view of the Sound on the way up and back. I think Argosy cruises does it, they definitely offer Clipper/hotel packages. Google 'em up, see what you think.
If you do drive to the Canadian border, make sure that part of your trip up or back is via Chuckanut Drive, from Bellingham/Fairhaven south. So much prettier than I-5. Fairhaven is a cute historic neighborhood in B'ham...Bow and Edison have surprisingly cool foodie culture, for being nothing little towns out in the valley....
Have fun on your trip!
posted by Sublimity at 8:41 PM on July 21, 2010