Portland Places to Go

Nude beaches in Portland? Yes, indeed.

You might not associate the Portland area with nude beaches, but there are two clothing-optional beaches in the Portland metro area. The summer sunbathing season might be short, and Oregonian skin might be abnormally pale, but that doesn’t stop us from baring it all on those beaches. To strip off (legally) in public, you’ll need to get yourself to one of these two nude beaches in Portland.

Collins Beach - This sandy beach on Sauvie Island, north of downtown Portland, runs along the Columbia River and is partly clothing optional. It’s a very popular beach with all age groups, and it’s not unusual for the beaches to be packed during the heat of summer. In addition to the stretches of sandy beach, there are also volleyball courts toward the south end of the beach. Not everyone goes without a swimsuit. Collins Beach is regularly patrolled by the Columbia County Sheriff’s department. For directions to Collins Beach, scroll down on this page.

Date: March 17th, 2008 | No Comments

Second Sunday Sustainability Fair

In a city overflowing with creativity and community, it should come as no surprise that there is yet another reason for Portlanders to get together and celebrate our quirky resourcefulness.

Every second Sunday inside Hip Drip Café, a new coffee shop on SE 16th and Sandy, you’ll find the Sustainability Fair — a monthly gathering of ecoconscious artists and entrepreneurs. At today’s premier fair, acoustic music from gypsy jazz trio Swing Papillon keeps the mood lively and distinguished.

Booths feature arts and crafts handmade with recycled, reused, and renewable resources. Sound like a chore? Ha! This is Portland. We’re going to recycle, and we’re going to look good doing it.

Date: February 11th, 2008 | 1 comment

Oaks Amusement Park

When you think of Portland, chances are good that you don’t automatically think of amusement parks. Portland does, however, have its own little amusement park on the east side of the Willamette River, and Oaks Park has been serving up family fun since 1905.

Oaks Amusement Park covers 44 acres, so it’s small by most amusement park standards, and it’s one of the oldest in the United States. The park includes many of the kinds of rides you’d expect in an amusement park, like a roller coaster, bumper cars and ferris wheel, as well as a big wooden roller skating rink that’s open year-round. At the center of the roller rink is a big pipe organ, adding to the nostalgic feel, although the organist is not at the keys all the time. Outside the roller skating rink, the park operates on weekends only during the spring and into the early autumn, and almost daily during the summer.

Date: January 21st, 2008 | No Comments

Portland International Rose Test Garden

Portland is known as the Rose City for a reason - the climate is ideal for cultivating roses. As if to prove this, the city is home to the International Rose Test Garden which is part of Washington Park. It’s the “oldest continuously operating public rose test garden in the United States” (so says Wikipedia), and has been in operation since 1917. All told, the garden features more than 6,800 rose bushes representing nearly 560 varieties of roses.

Within the International Rose Test Garden are several smaller gardens, including the Shakespeare Garden and the Miniature Rose Test Garden. The Shakespeare Garden, built in 1945, was originally intended to contain only those trees, flowers and other plants which appear in Shakespeare’s plays, but now contains roses named after the characters in his plays as well. The Miniature Rose Test Garden was added in 1975 and is a testing ground for varieties of miniature roses. It’s one of only six such gardens in the United States.

Date: December 24th, 2007 | No Comments

Powell’s Books

If you never visit Portland without an empty suitcase in which to carry books home, know that you’re not alone. Powell’s Books is such a popular stop on many trips to Portland that some people will save their book-buying lists for months anticipating the shopping adventure. The main store, Powell’s City of Books, is the largest independent new and used bookshop on earth. It’s so big, in fact, that the store map is not just handy, it’s a necessity.

Powell’s can be intimidating to the newcomer, and confusing as well. Unlike most new/used booksellers, Powell’s actually shelves both new and used books together. This means that if you find that the book you want is in stock, you won’t necessarily be guaranteed that it’s a new copy. If you find a used copy, however, you’re likely to score a great deal on a book that’s been at least given a once-over to make sure it’s not damaged. Powell’s buys used books every day, so the stock is always changing. True book lovers can - and often do - spend entire days wandering the store’s shelves.

Date: October 8th, 2007 | No Comments