Not really, but it’s not much of an exaggeration, especially from mid-October until June. But even in the rain, Portland is beautiful and fun and we never run out of things to do.
Fall Is The Perfect Time For Portland (Usually)
Walking the River Loop Trail in the rain
The reward for walking in the rain
The ideal time to visit is in the summer and early fall when the weather is generally near perfect. But that doesn’t always fit in with our traveling schedule. And with family and good friends living in the city, Portland is a place that we frequent at least once a year.
The Spectacular Portland Japanese Garden
Each time we return to Portland, we look forward to visiting some favorite places and discovering new favorites. I’ve always wanted to catch the peak fall colors in the Portland Japanese Garden. We missed it again in mid-October, this time by about a week. Still, it was gorgeous. The garden has recently completed extensive renovations, including building a new cultural center where we happened upon a traditional tea ceremony.
The new entrance to the Japanese Garden
Cultural village in the Portland Japanese Garden
A traditional tea ceremony
A miniature spruce in the bonsai garden
The first fall colors in the Japanese garden
In Portland, you can bet the stone lanterns will be wearing moss-covered caps
The Circle and Gourd Islands in the sea of white gravel symbolize enlightenment and happiness
The Pavilion Gallery hosts various artists throughout the year focused on Japanese art and culture
A show of Japanese Noh theatre masks and costumes
The Lovely Lan Su Chinese Garden
We also visited the Lan Su Chinese Garden with Eric’s sister Peggy. The little jewel box of a garden is an authentic Ming Dynasty style garden, built by artisans from China. It covers an entire city block in the historic Chinatown district. The free tours are excellent, and there are often special events, like the tea tasting the day we were there.
The lovely Lan Su Chinese Garden
The courtyards and pathways are composed of intricate stone mosaics
A traditional tea house overlooks a small lake
The garden is an oasis of tranquility in the midst of downtown Portland
A traditional family altar in one of the garden pavilions
Tea tasting event at the Chinese Garden
The dragonfish roof ornament protects against evil influences
An artist’s sketchbook in the garden
Eric and his sister Peggy in the garden
So Many Delicious Food Options
Good food is never far away in Portland. The biggest problem is choosing between all of the enticing options. A new discovery this trip was the Kasbah Moroccan Cafe, conveniently near the Chinese Garden. Lunch was delicious, and the proprietor took great care in showing us how to correctly pour our tea. Moroccan mint tea is traditionally made with gunpowder green tea, fresh mint, and sugar. We asked for it to be made with half the amount of sweetener, and it was still plenty sweet.
The correct way to serve Moroccan mint tea at the Kasbah Cafe (if you have good aim)
A delicious lunch transported us for the afternoon to Morocco
Fall Abundance At The Farmers’ Market
No visit to Portland is complete for us without a trip to the farmers’ market. The Portland State University farmers’ market is our favorite, and we dragged ourselves and Amanda and Findlay out in the rain to peruse the offerings on a stormy Saturday morning. It was colorful, as always. We invariably find new things that we’ve never seen anywhere else.
Fall colors at the Portland Farmers’ Market
Findlay brought his life’s savings to the market
Fall harvest time, all that rain grows beautiful vegetables
Purple napa cabbage! So pretty!
Sweet Time With Family And Friends
Amanda and Findlay choosing tea at a neighborhood tea shop
A rainy day art project at the tea shop
A cozy evening at Amanda’s fixing dinner together
Enjoying a wonderful evening with friends Tom and Georgina at their beautiful home
Portland is such a great town. And with such a great vibe. And always, unique.
We don’t eat doughnuts, but the Voodoo Doughnut sign makes me want to
Gotta love a city where you can practice archery in your bathrobe in the city park
Cheers to our Pacific Wonderland!
About The RV Park
We stay at Pheasant Ridge RV Resort every time we visit Portland because it’s the most convenient for us for visiting family. It only takes about 15 minutes to drive into the city, and somehow we always seem to be going against the flow of traffic, which works out just right. The park is immaculate and tightly run; sites have concrete pads, grassy lawns, and attractive landscaping. Full hookups, very nice laundry and bathhouse, good Verizon coverage (their wifi is terrible), propane on site. Ask for a site toward the back of the park (it’s the furthest away from the road and quieter).
If you’re interested, here are a couple of previous posts on Portland:
The City of Roses: Portland, Oregon
Enjoying Portland, Even In The Rain
I will admit that it can rain a lot in Stumptown. However, a brief respite usually appears in January and February, yielding clear skies and crisp to moderate temps. It is a great place to live.
If we were to live in a big city, I think it would be Portland! We have the same January-February burst of spring-like weather in Ashland, and it’s delightful. Still, I’d rather be in the Southwest in the winter. :-)
Yes indeed, it is amazing the numerous beautiful gardens in Portland, both public and private! And thank you for bringing another one to my attention…I did not know about the Chinese garden!
Here are a couple of tiny gems for you: Leach Botanical Garden and Elk Rock Garden at Bishops Close.
Thanks for the great suggestions, Lisa. We’ll check them out on our next visit to Portland. We also hiked the trails at Mt. Tabor and the Arboretum in Washington Park and enjoyed both. Not sure if you’ve explored those but I think you would like them!
You make Portland sound so wonderful. Maybe one day we’ll find this, also:) I think we need to stay in the park you use. Might give us better access to the city so we, too, can enjoy it. I love the gardens. Now all I have to do is convince John it would be fun!! Your photos are spectacular even with the drizzly weather. Spectacular rainbow…wow!!
Pam, we wouldn’t enjoy Portland near as much if we were in a noisy RV park in the middle of the chaos and traffic. But we’ve always had great visits to Portland and would go back even if we didn’t have family there. I’m so glad you enjoyed the photos. :-))
Many years ago, on our first foray to the west coast, we stopped in Portland. We remarked to our waitress how beautiful and green it was and she replied drolly, “that’s because it rains 8 days a week”, We’ve since realized she was right!
Beautiful gardens, I love the dragonfish on the roof, the restaurants, the tea, the purple Napa, Findley, but not the dunkel sky.
Haha, yeah, 8 rainy days a week sounds about right in the fall and winter! You taught me a new word, Sue. I had to look up “dunkel” to discover it means dark. There were some days of dark and dreary skies, for sure—and then the sun would come out and everything was bright and beautiful!
You almost make me want to go back for a day or two… almost! xoxo
Kim, I can understand why it would be difficult to leave your sweet beach home to return to the city. But it sure is a fun place to explore for a few days, as you know!
Your Portland is so much more wonderful than our visit to chaos and traffic last year. I’m sure we’ll return and we’ll just have to do another “copy Laurel and Eric” day so we can enjoy some of the beauty of the city! The gardens are stunning and all the traditions delightful. I’m sure having family there makes a big difference as well. Looks like you had another fabulous visit!
Jodee, it’s always interesting to me how different travel experiences can be. We love Portland, but I know your experience and Pam and John’s wasn’t the best. Honestly, I think a lot has to do with where we stay. It’s just far enough out of the intensity of the city to feel reasonably calm, but for whatever reason, it’s an easy drive in with no insane traffic. I hope I’m not jinxing our good luck…
So lovely to see Portland through your eyes!
We love Portland and always have a great time exploring. There’s so much to do, I don’t think we’ll ever run out of new adventures. If you have any suggestions, let us know! :-)
Yay, Portland! Fun to see this, and a good reminder to check out the Japanese and Chinese gardens. Love you both!
Yay Portland, and yay that you and Fin are there! You will love both of the gardens. We miss you two and can’t wait to see you for more adventures, this time in St. Augustine! xoxo
We loved our visit to Portland. We have wonderful full-time friends that are from that area. They just happen to be in Portland when we were there. They took us to the Farmer’s Market. Oh my gosh, what fun we had. I bought several very unique Christmas gifts.
They wanted us to taste the pastries at Voodoo Doughnut Shop, but the line was way too long for Paul’s patience. hehe
The International Rose Test Garden was my highlight. While adoring one of the 1,000’s of roses, I looked up and there was Mt. Hood in all it’s glory. Magnificent!
Your photos are so lovely. We didn’t make time to visit the tea gardens. Boy is that our loss. We were right by the Portland Japanese Garden.Thanks so much for sharing so much about both gardens.
What fun spending so much wonderful family time with Amanda and Findlay. Did Findlay find anything at the Market that he couldn’t live without? lol
Marsha, it sounds like you had a great visit to Portland with your own personal tour guides! We had so much fun with family and friends—it always makes our visit so much richer. Findlay got to hold onto his savings because we were there, haha! We spoil him every chance we get. :-) I’m so glad you enjoyed the photos.
Not the IKEA trip but we’ve enjoyed the Japanese and Chinese gardens for years…love to you both and catch up ketchup! Expecting Florida soon and that will brighten up our cloudy foggy socked in and missing the eclipse blood blue moon!
Yes indeed, it is time for me to catch up!! I fall so far behind…but that just means we’re having a good time, right? We just arrived in Florida and it’s in the 60’s and sunny. Miss you, dear Diana!
I am so torn about all of this. I LOVE lush green gardens in cities full of farmers markets and fantastic restaurants, but I HATE gray skies and drizzle…. This “blue skies and 70 degrees” stuff in the desert southwest is growing on us real quick, so I think we may just have to just plan to see Portland during the six months that are not rainy…. (which is absurd, by the way. six months of rain?? Wow!) Anyway, whenever we DO go, I am pretty sure we’re gonna love it.What a beautiful and unique city. Gorgeous photos as always!
I know you’ll love Portland, Laura. We enjoy it anytime we’re there, but it definitely shines in summer and fall when the weather is perfect. There’s no place better than the PNW from June through September, but then get ready for rain/gray/drizzle/and fog. That’s why there are so many great coffee shops. :-)
The watercoloring looked like so much fun. Also the vegetables looked so good
Christine, that watercolor journal was lovely. I keep hoping that perhaps one of these days I’ll start a watercolor travel journal…but photography and the blog seem to prevail.
The tea sounds interesting. I enjoyed living in downtown Portland but in an apartment 7th floor above the noise. Your pictures tell a nice story.
Thanks, Debbie. I enjoy telling stories with photos as well as words—something for everyone. :-) I think living in the middle of Portland could be fun for awhile. So nice to walk everywhere.
We really need to get back to Portland and spend more time. I love your photos of the gardens and the tea tasting event. I’ve been cooking lots of ethnic foods lately. That Moroccan dish looks fabulous. Seeing Findlay’s life savings reminded me of my youngest brother, always wanting to bring his piggy-bank to the store to help pay for groceries.
That’s such a sweet story about your brother, LuAnn. Findlay likes to buy us little presents. And he likes even more for us to buy him presents. :-) I’d love to exchange recipes with you! I have a couple of Moroccan-inspired recipes that I think you would like.
It’s been years since I have been to the Japanese Garden. We have yet to stay at Pheasant Ridge. We usually stay at Champoeg State Park when we are up in that neck of the woods. Away from the hustle and bustle to keep our sanity. Lol.
Brenda, we really like Champoeg SP, too—but it’s about twice as far from Portland as Pheasant Ridge. Since we drive into the city every day while we’re there, it’s more convenient for us. But I was just telling Eric that I want to go back to Champoeg, maybe for half of our next stay near Portland.
Boy you are intrepid. Walking in the rain. I don’t mind as long as it’s warm enough and not muddy. And what a reward. Gorgeous rainbow. The two oriental gardens are both wonderful. How lucky to happen on the tea ceremony AND the tea tasting. Are there large Japanese and Chinese populations in Portland? I guess with a “Chinatown” there would have to be. Very interesting picture of the tranquil garden with a high rise building as a backdrop. What a contrast. I love the tradition of a family altar to remember the honored dead. We had one at the farm on the top of an antique school desk that sat in our hallway. Would love to have known what all those dishes were in the Moroccan restaurant. I recognize maybe chick peas and chicken?? LOVE Findlay’s “life savings”. LOL at Bathrobe archery. You really Don’t EVER eat donuts. Oh my!
Sherry, we really and truly don’t ever eat fried foods. Not that it’s done us any good, haha! Maybe we should start!! Glad you noticed the bathrobe archery—it was hilarious! There’s always something interesting happening in Portland. :-))
We both really enjoy visiting different Japanese gardens. (There is a good one at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, the last one we saw). This one in Portland looks well worth the visit.
I was waiting for the food…and bam Moroccan couscous. Yum! Great combo and lovely heartwarming happy family shots! The best. Food markets are so great. We did visit the one in Portland on a short visit there a few years back. Really good one!
Peta
Peta, thanks for the tip on the Chicago Botanic Gardens. We’re planning to visit Chicago in the spring and will put it on our list. I’m sure you would enjoy both the Japanese and Chinese gardens in Portland. We always have a good time in Portland, and family time makes it even sweeter. :-)
Laurel, your writing is such a pleasure to read, not a single word wasted. You have a wonderful eye for photography also, your compositions are so uncluttered. I spent a lot of time in Portland when I was living in neighboring Seattle. It’s one of my favorite cities except for one thing: traffic. Ugh. We’ll be back in Portland this spring again.
Thank you so much, Steven! That means a lot, coming from such an outstanding photographer and writer. Somehow, in all of our years of visiting Portland, we’ve managed to escape the traffic woes. I hope our good luck continues since we’ll be returning every year!