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Portland, Oregon: Explored in Three Days

Welcome to our blog! Before we get into our weekend in Portland, if you’re new here, check us out!

Now that you’ve learned more about us (or not), let’s tell you about our 3 days in Portland, Oregon.

Day 1

Downtown Portland

After picking up the rental car and having arrived several hours earlier than we could check in to our AirBnB, we decided to head downtown and get something to eat. Doing a quick Yelp search, brought us to Pine Street Market. As it was just about 11 AM, they were just opening. There were a few choices and we decided to go with Pleasure Burger.

Pleasure Burger Downtown Portland
This guy watching over the grill at Pleasure Burger in Downtown Portland

Wow! What can we say about Pleasure Burger. It was one of the best burger’s we’ve ever had. If you’re in the Portland area, we highly recommend you check them out! Also check out their Instagram @pleasureburger.

After eating lunch, we decided to walk around and head towards the Chinatown area. We almost went into the Lan Su Chinese Garden, while wandering around, but the time on the parking meter was almost out so we decided to skip it. But it looked beautiful so do check it out if you’re in Portland.

Washington Park, Portland

From downtown Portland, we decided to take a drive to Washington Park and check out the Japanese Garden instead. The parking was about $2 and admission into the Japanese Garden was around $19 per adult. You can check out the hours and admission prices here.

Portland Japanese Garden
Waterfall at the Japanese Garden

Once done walking around the Japanese Garden and Washington Park, we went to check in to our Airbnb (this is the one we stayed at and highly recommend). Then came dinner. Another quick Yelp search, took us to Screen Door East Side. I’m drooling as I write this. It is a Cajun/creole style restaurant and we recommend making reservations if you can. The food was phenomenal!! We shared the fried chicken dinner which included mash potatoes and another side. We got coleslaw and then an extra side of collard greens.

Screen Door East Side
*Drool*

Day 2

Silver Falls State Park

The next day, we decided to drive to Silver Falls State Park, a recommendation from the Lyft driver at the airport. Had we not made an unnecessary drive to what we thought would be the car rental place, we would never have found out about this place.

This was no doubt, hands down, the best part of the trip. It is about an hour and a half drive from Portland, but absolutely worth it! I mean, look at this picture!

South Falls Silver Falls State Park
So magical!

Silver Falls State Park, known for the Trail of the Ten Falls hike, is a 7.2 (moderate) mile loop past (you guessed it!) 10 waterfalls. Not being prepared for that long of a hike, we skipped it.

So instead, we did the loop around South Falls to Lower South Falls. That was about, maybe, a 3 mile loop. Everything looked like a fairy tale; so green, lush, and covered in moss!

Silver Falls State Park Map
This is the map of the 7.2 mile loop of the 10 falls.

South Falls and Lower South Falls require you to walk behind them in order to continue on the trail. So be warned, you can get pretty wet from the spray. From Silver Falls State Park, we drove back to Portland and picked up a pizza from Apizza Scholls. Delicious! We enjoyed the Apizza Amore.

Day 3

Multnomah Falls Area

Monday, we got up early to head out to Multnomah Falls. This is probably THE most popular and photographed waterfall in the Portland area. There is a large parking lot in the center of the highway and the falls are a short walk.

Multnomah Falls
Multnomah Falls Columbia River Gorge near Portland

If you’re at Multnomah Falls, take a short drive over to Wahkeena Falls. These falls are right off the parking area and from there you can hike about 1 mile to Fairy Falls. This hike can be a bit steep at times.

Fairy Falls Portland
Fairy Falls looks like a dream!

Forest Park, Portland

If you have time after long days of hiking and exploring, make sure to head over to Forest Park. Forest Park is 5,200 acres of forest right in the urban center of Portland. There are 80 trails within Forest Park and multiple trailheads.

The most well known sites within Forest Park are Pittock Mansion and the Stone House (aka the Witch’s Castle). We did not go to Pittock Mansion but we made it to the Witch’s Castle, which is a rundown stone building within the middle of the forest trail.

Forest Park Portland
Sean at the Witch’s Castle in Forest Park Portland

So that’s the trip. Thank you for joining us on this recap. We’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment, what are some of your favorite places in Portland, Oregon?

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