Our Recruitment Coordinator, Kristen, spent four days exploring Portland, OR. Here are her recommendations for your visit!
Portland is a vibrant city, full of street art, pop up shops, beautiful parks, and food carts. It has a little bit of everything!
When I ventured downtown I made a much needed stop at the infamous Powell’s Bookstore, a Portland staple for nearly 40 years, often referred to as the City of Books. I bought two books, but was tempted to buy many more. The children’s book section is unbeatable. After book shopping, we stopped in at Stumptown Coffee and enjoyed a delicious cortado!
Portland has a number of lovely neighborhoods and local businesses that are great community boosters. Much of my trip was full of exploring these lovely Portland staples, and enjoying the hospitality of the locals!
I spent a great deal of time walking around the Irving neighborhood in Northeast Portland, exploring the green and lush streets, and checking out the beautiful houses and gardens. I also checked out some local cafes, eateries, and small businesses. Some of my favorites were the Grand Central Bakery for coffee, Tasty n Son’s for brunch, and Lark Press for trinkets and a few birthday cards!
Though my adventures took me all over Portland in the four days I was there, my absolute favorite day of activities was visiting the Japanese and International Rose Gardens in the Washington Park neighborhood in the hills of Southwest Portland. The Japanese Gardens offer 5 distinct gardens within the 5.5 acre property. There is the Flat Garden, the Tea Garden, the Strolling Pond Garden, the Natural Garden, and the Sand and Stone Garden. At every turn there is something amazing and beautiful to see, and I took enough photos to make an entire photo album! Below are just a few highlights.
Directly across the street from the Japanese Gardens is the International Rose Garden. This is really an amazing sight, especially in the peak of Spring. The garden has over 10,000 Plantings of nearly 500 varieties of roses! I saw roses of every color, size, and shape. The garden was full of painters and visitors, smelling and admiring the amazing blooms.
My time in Portland was brief, but full of unstructured city exploration (with enough time to smell a few roses), and I barely scratched the surface of what Portland has to offer. To get an insiders scoop, I asked Adventure Nannies’ favorite photographer, Sarah Law for her top 5 local favorites.