Portland and the Oregon Coast

Hello! It’s great to have you here.

Welcome to 2024, my continuing journey of places I’ve been and my search for new places to visit. This post and those of the next several months will be part of my Goodbye America tour last summer, where I roamed the United States, searching for a place to call home. We finally settled on splitting time between Miami, Florida, and Istanbul, Türkiye. Still, the places I visited, even though not my home, have been so striking in many ways that you might want to visit yourself—places such as the Oregon Coast.

My thoughts on my travels are just that — my thoughts. These aren’t detailed essays on the vast troubles of each city or country or how we might solve the issues of life. You will see that each post is a light-hearted jaunt to somewhere new for me and possibly new for you, too. I’m always open to your comments, particularly if I missed something important.

The photo below looks artificial. It isn’t. I haven’t used AI or any other creation software, and I don’t plan to.

Visiting Portland, Oregon for two weeks, we lived in a suburban neighborhood, the Alberta Arts District, experiencing a relaxed version of the city. My son needed a travel break, and I headed for the coast alone.

I left for the coast on a solo day trip to see what I could find. My first dramatic scene was Mt. Hood, with plenty of snow, even though this was taken in July. I took Highway 30 up from Portland, following the Columbia River all the way to Astoria.

When I reached the coast, I was awestruck. Every inch of the Oregon coastline has vistas like the one below. Even in mid-summer, the beaches were, for the most part, uninhabited. Some towns along the way were where the tourists congregated, but only a few. I needed a sweater this time of year to walk the beach, even mid-day. Most of my day was spent standing on an overlook, taking in the fabulous scenery.

Since I’m from the Deep South, I am interested in the different vegetation types across the U.S. The trees, in particular, are different, larger, evergreen, and definitely not the usual variety of pine or oak I am familiar with. Following Highway 101 south after Astoria, I spent the entire day looking at nature and soaking in the Pacific Ocean.

Around every bend was another spectacular view. It never got old. My return trip must be from the ocean as I want to see these dramatic vistas from the water.

I stopped at Sunset Beach but was uncomfortable with all the cars on the beach. While I know Daytona, Florida, has vehicles on the beaches for part of the year, I firmly believe that the beach is for kids, pets, and fun, not racing vehicles. But I’m sure those from Oregon have a different experience and expectations.

Gearhart seemed to be a small town that was more upscale, and their signage gave a clear indication that tourists like me needed to move on. I also stopped at Seaside, Cannon Beach, and many small towns down to Tillamook, where I decided to turn back toward Portland on Highway 6 and see the Tillamook State Forest.

At some point during the day, I saw a father teaching his son how to fish in the surf and watched them from a distance for a half hour. Even though I saw no fish, they enjoyed being together even though the weather in that area was foggy and wet.

While in Portland, we stayed in a container Airbnb rented by an exceptionally nice couple just starting the short-term rental business. I had been considering building a container “tiny house” on a tract of land in northern Virginia for some time. When I have an idea about something like this, even though I may or may not follow through eventually, I still enjoy the exploration along the way.

Our time there was during the first heat wave of our new climate reality, and the city was unprepared, including our landlords, yet they worked with us for the entire two weeks to make us comfortable. Anyone interested in a container should know that insulation is a critical part of the build-out for heat and cold. I’m not sure you can put enough insulation to be enough for either type of severe weather.

After talking with the landlord and doing additional research, I learned that other methods might suit better than a container for a tiny place in the woods.

The container apartment was near the Common Ground Wellness Cooperative, a true sanctuary for tired travelers who wanted peace for two weeks. The soaking pool with mandatory quiet hours was the best part. The management considered the bathhouse “a space for healing and relaxation.”

We ate lunch at McMenamins Kennedy School, a renovated school now a hotel. The building houses several bars, a soaking pool, a brewery, a restaurant, and fifty-six rooms, a really unusual place and a local landmark.

My walks in the neighborhood were mostly down Alberta Street, with plenty of shops, small cafes, and restaurants. My favorite coffee stop was Just Bob, a “unicorn cafe” in an old Rexall Drugs building. Just Bob is one of those places that every community wants to have, with great coffee, good food, and most of all a good community vibe.

Oregon has beautiful places, even in the city. The Portland Japanese Garden is one of the prettiest gardens I’ve visited.

While the photos on the Garden’s website are nice, they do not convey the sounds of the water features, the scattered sounds of the birds throughout the gardens, and the overall feeling of peace. We had tea service in the Umami Cafe, a glass house on stilts that overlooks part of the gardens.

And then, when you turn the corner, there is Mt. Hood…

The negatives? I was surprised at the amount of traffic for a town this size, but the greater Portland area consists of 2.5 million people, so I should have expected it. My only true disappointment was the constant use of weed everywhere. It was difficult to go anywhere without walking through clouds of smoke. I’m certainly not anti-weed, but it became overwhelming. Our most concerning moment was watching a police officer sitting on a bench outside an upscale grocery store smoking weed. The officer watched as two homeless men fought it out in the parking lot—and did nothing.

The positives? The transit from the airport is excellent, and the bus system is good. I missed my stop on the way home one day, and the bus driver was very concerned I might get lost, even though the next stop was only three blocks further on. The weather, ordinarily, is a positive feature, but given the past two years’ fires and heat, the city will need to plan for the continued change.

The neighborhood where we stayed was extremely quiet, and even the one Saturday evening when everyone was outside in their adjoining yards and having fun, you felt you were more in a community enjoying life than in a noisy city. Walking and exploring Northwest Portland’s Alphabet District was relaxing, and students' contribution to the overall vibe by Portland State gave the downtown area the needed energy. We visited one of the few Prana physical stores that day, making us both happy.

Yes, you should visit Portland and most definitely visit the coast.

Next time, I want to see Tillamook Lighthouse from the water.