Our Trip to The Pacific North West – Part I – Oregon

Ever since we’ve been married, every September (with the exception of two years when our kids were just born) Victor and I go away for a long(ish) trip. Ever year till 2020 that is – COVID threw a wrench in our plans – like it did with so many other things for everyone else.

In 2021 we were more than ready for our vacation but we realized that our Plan A (English Country side) and Plan B (Hawaii) were a bit too risky with ever changing quarantine and testing requirements. So literally a month before were were scheduled to fly to Hawaii, I cancelled that trip and we planned and booked a very last minute trip to the Pacific North West. I knew absolutely nothing about Oregon and Washington but heard great things about these states so we thought it would be fun. And honestly, as long as we had to get on a plane and NOT make our own beds for over a week, I was down for anything:)

Let me tell you something – Pacific North West did not disappoint! We love active vacations and this trip was definitely active! We had 11 days/10 nights and that was just enough to see what this beautiful region of the country has to offer.

We ate and drank our way though Oregon, saw amazing sunrises and sunsets over Pacific ocean and vineyards of Willamette Valley, drove through amazing scenery, did cool hikes, saw snow capped mountains and stayed at quaint hotels – and that all before we got to Washington!

In case you are planning your own trip through Pacific North West and are inspired by ours, here is our itinerary for Oregon (a separate post for the Washington portion of the trip is coming shortly):

2 Nights in Portland
1 Night in Cannon Beach (an extra night here would be nice)
2 nights at Willamette Valley (Oregon Wine Country)
1 Night at Hood River

PRACTICAL INFO

Portland

Hotel

We stayed at Canopy by Hilton in the Pearl District. The hotel was nice and modern with cool views – the location (although it was pretty convenient and walkable everywhere) was OK – the concierge told us it’s fine to go in one direction but to stay away from going in the opposite direction.

Restaurants

Prior to our arrival I only made one dinner reservation for Portland – at one of its highest rated (according to trip advisor) restaurants – Paley’s Palace… And considering that I made a reservation for dinner a couple of weeks in advance and the only time available was for 5 PM I would say this place is pretty popular. We did enjoy it – the location was nice, the space was interesting (a house converted to a restaurant) and the food was really good. And considering that it was a first night of our long awaited trip – the dinner was super fun!

I really really really wanted to try food cart food but apparently a lot of food cart ‘pods’ are closed on a Sunday. Good thing we spoke to a concierge at our hotel who recommended us to check out Hawthorn Asylum . This was is AWESOME!!! Really cool vibe, tons of places to sit and eat and lots of carts to choose from! I had a bit of an analysis paralysis – there were so many great options but in the end I decided on japanese fusion from Rollin’ Fresh (sushi taco and a fried avocado – YUM!) and Victor chose some asian cart, which was equally good.

Pine State Biscuits – I’ve heard a lot about this place so of course we had to check it out. We got there before 9 AM on a Sunday morning and were able to get a table but literally 15-20 min later the place was packed. They have pancakes (which is what Victor got) and biscuits (which is what I got). We also got hash browns with mushrooms to share ( I can be a bit of a glutton) – all was delish!

And on our last morning in Portland I got a breakfast sandwich from Fried Egg I am in Love – definitely recommend!

Things To Do

Portland is a pretty small city and we did find find there were that many tourist attractions. We did love Powell Books – Portland’s equivalent to Strands Books, only larger. We spent a good amount of time there – definitely worth checking it out.

We are a bit weird because we love to just walk around and explore and that’s what we did – we walked all over Portland (and had fun doing it)! From our hotel we walked through Pearl District, checked out cool houses with amazing views in Nob Hill and Kings Hill, went to Japanese Garden, smelled the roses in the Rose Test Garden and then walked downtown to burn all those calories with donuts from Voodoo donuts.

Cannon Beach

Since I was booking for less then a month away, there were not that many hotel options to choose from. I searched all over the internet for review an finally settled on The Waves hotel. We stayed at Argonauta – Upper Lighthouse – it is NOTHING fancy but it was clean and the location cannot be beat – third house from the beach and right in town!

Restaurants

For dinner we went to Pelican Brewing – there was a long wait for a table but luckily there were tables at the bar, where they serve full menu so that’s where we ended up having our dinner. I don’t remember what we got, only remember that it was delish!

If you are at Cannon beach you GOTTA check out Insomnia Coffee Company – it was literally across the street from our hotel room so we stopped there for a quick breakfast. I don’t drink coffee but Victor said it was really good. What I can vouch for is their baked goods – they were TO DIE FOR! It was so good that I was googling where their other locations were because I wanted to get more of these baked goods!

Things To Do

The beach is definitely the top attraction in the area and for a good reason – it is absolutely stunning! It may look familiar – Goonies was shot there! We were lucky because tide was very low at sunset AND sunrise and we were able to walk on the ocean floor pretty far in. And seeing sun setting over the ocean is a pretty cool thing for us East Coasters!

We also went for a drive through Ecola State park for an amazing lookout point – definitely worth a visit!

Willamette Valley

After we left Cannon beach we took a nice long leasurely drive down Oregon Coast before heading back inland to the wine country. Willammette Valley is very pretty – rolling hills, vineyards and such – a great place to spend a few days.

Hotel

After extensive research I chose Youngberg Hill – it checked all the boxes – a nice B&B located on a vineyard! We stayed at Martini Suite, which was beautiful – with a lovely terrace and 270 degree view of the vineyard!

Restaurants

One of the top rated restaurants in the area is Bistro Maison and after we had our dinner there I can see why. The decor is a bit dated and old fashion-y but the food was SO GOOD! The portions were huge and I was sad to leave half of the food behind because we were so full!

We checked out Red Fox for a quick lunch – and I would definitely recommend it – freshly made salad and sandwiches and delish baked goods!

For our last dinner in Willamette Valley we went to Joel Palmer House for a multi course mushroom extravaganza. This was definitely the fanciest place of the trip so far and it was pretty great. It was not the best meal ever ,even though my husband got a glass of 1880 (yes, 140 year old) Madeira, but we did enjoy it.

Both Joel Palmer and Bistro Maison book up way in advance so you definitely need reservations.

Things To Do

There is only so much wine-tasting you can do (I personally prefer cheese tasting to wine tasting) so we did explore the area a bit. We went to the Evergreen Aviation and Space museum where we saw Spruce Goose – the museum got a YAY from Victor and a NAY from me.

We also drove to check out Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary. It was interesting but definitely not on top of my To Visit places.

Mount Hood/Hood River

On the way to Hood River we stopped by Mount Hood for a quick hike and view of snow capped mountains (and a quick peak at the lodge that was used in the Shining) and then off to Hood River we went.

I love staying at small boutique hotels but could not find anything like that with great reviews so Best Western it was. It was surprisingly nice – large modern room with floor to ceiling windows and river views.

We went to 3 Rivers Grill for dinner – nice out door terrace with river views.