Portland Trip Report and Pics

[MBAustin]

Great pics. People will think Portland is the place to visit for sunny blue skies! Hahaha!

 

[HFWR]

Great pics. People will think Portland is the place to visit for sunny blue skies! Hahaha!

Yep, I picked the "dry" season...

 

[bssc]

Very nice, my Mom was born in Hood River so we did this trek a few years ago. You had much better weather.

 

[Brat]

The next time anyone is planning a trip to Portland let me know. I live 2 blocks from Washington Park.

 

[HFWR]

The next time anyone is planning a trip to Portland let me know. I live 2 blocks from Washington Park.

I hiked around WP/HA/FP for about five hours. Wore my assets out!!

Glad I took my nuvi; I'd have never found the place...

 

[Brat]

When I was a kid I would hike Forest Park from the 29th & Upshur entrance and hike all the way to Germantown Road on the trails.

Once a guy came out from DC and made a big deal about needing to do some trail running. I made reservations for him at a hotel near the park and handed him a map of WP/HA/FP. The next day he was dragging.

 

[HFWR]

Bet those trails are treacherous when wet.

 

[Brat]

There is a reason why athletic footwear companies are big in Portland.

 

[Sun456]

Great pics. Its is on my bucket list to visit the area. Hopefully for an extended time.

 

[NW-Bound]

Just came back from RV'in and found this thread. Yes, the NW has a lot to offer. Imagine what one can do if he has more time, and an RV to stay in each place a bit longer to explore.

Did you go in that "Hung Far Low" restaurant to see what was on the menu? Could be interesting! Just kidding, of course.

Still, I am betting that the owner knew English well enough to have a play on word. Is this a phonetic translation of anything meaningful in Chinese, does anybody know?

PS. Hey, out of curiosity, I did a Web search and it appears that your "Hung Far Low" is a knock-off of the real one that has been a landmark in Portland since 1928.

 

[NW-Bound]

So, I searched on the Web and answered my own question. "Hung Far Low" means "Red Flower Restaurant".

The restaurant sign has been such a landmark in Portland, so that when the new owner of the building wanted to restore the 2,000-lb two-story-tall sign at the cost of $77,000 in 2010, the city chipped in $45,000. I have been to Portland 3 times, and even ate in the downtown Chinatown, but never learned of this landmark until seeing the photo in this thread. Darn!

References:

What's in a Name

Restoration of Portland's Hung Far Low sign done with painstaking detail | OregonLive.com

 

[Brat]

Portlanders LOVE historic signage with a double message!

 

[HFWR]

Just came back from RV'in and found this thread. Yes, the NW has a lot to offer. Imagine what one can do if he has more time, and an RV to stay in each place a bit longer to explore.

Did you go in that "Hung Far Low" restaurant to see what was on the menu? Could be interesting! Just kidding, of course.

Still, I am betting that the owner knew English well enough to have a play on word. Is this a phonetic translation of anything meaningful in Chinese, does anybody know?

PS. Hey, out of curiosity, I did a Web search and it appears that your "Hung Far Low" is a knock-off of the real one that has been a landmark in Portland since 1928.

I did not sample much fancy cuisine while in Portland. After long days driving, hiking, and photographing, I mostly ate at the hotel, convenience and laziness being approximately equal contributors. But had to get a pic of that sign, to go with my pic of a liquor store sign in FL - Triangle Liquors...

 

[NW-Bound]

I am not aware of any fancy local cuisine in Portland. Perhaps some people here know more than I do. I was suggesting that this restaurant might have a dish made with a beef part that goes with its namesake.

Well, most likely not. Besides, I am just a big talker; I still yet have to try Rocky Mountain oysters. I am no Anthony Bourdain.

Whenever I travel to a city that has a Chinatown, I like to have a meal or two there. I am not looking for anything fancy. Simply, the restautants there that serve the locals have better cuisine than the typical Chinese place in every town. The two dishes that I usually have are duck noodle soup and crispy fried noodle. Years ago, in SF, I ate at a little place that had a large wok that one could see as he entered. The wok was sitting on a flame thrower of one million BTU/hr, no, make it a jet engine. The stir-fry that the cook produced from that wok was not something one could do at home.

 

[HFWR]

I am not aware of any fancy local cuisine in Portland.

Not sure, but I do know Portland is known for using locally grown, fresh ingredients.

 

[Brat]

Portland is a great dine out town. Choices range from food carts often owned by a recent culinary school graduate who can't afford a lease to very nice sit down establishments:

Here are two resources: Portland Travel | Food & Wine
2011 Reader's Survey: The Best Restaurants in Portland! -

I think one of the leading national foodie magazines featured Portland recently.

 

[NW-Bound]

Like any big city, Portland certainly has its share of good restaurants. And the bigger the town, the more restaurants it has, the better the selection and the competition too.

What I meant was regional cuisines that were more specific to the locales. But come to think of it, nowadays with international connectivity and the mobility of people, one can by chance find a good restaurant anywhere a good but unknown chef happens to decide to set down root. To have something really different, one may have to go to a different country.

When we were on the coastal Highway 1 recently, I saw many little restaurants or inns along the road, but did not think of looking in Yelp to check them out. Actually, we were without internet most of the time. Only when I got back home that I thought of looking up the Web, and saw some interesting places that I would not mind trying out when I was there.