8
votes
Recommend me some deep dive YouTube videos / Portland trip recs!
This one's a two parter-
I'm traveling to Portland for the week so I have a bit of a plane ride ahead of me. Recommend me some deep dive hour + YouTube videos I can download for the flight! I tend to drift towards science, technology, psychology, and some hank green esque talking heads about whatever.
Also if you have anything in particular you think I should check out in Portland let me know! Particularly interested in the niche spots. Still a bit tentative stuff but mostly plan to do the Tillamook factory, a tea room, PSU Farmers market, and ten falls hike.
Powell's City of Books is my number 1 recommendation for places people should visit when they go to Portland. It's my favorite place in the city and besides meeting a friend it is the only reason I would personally go in to downtown Portland.
Multnomah Falls is a great hike that isn't too far east of Portland, but I'm not sure how much the forest has recovered since I haven't been there after the wildfire, I assume it's doing well since I can't remember what year that was so it's probably be at least 5+ years.
Voodoo Donuts are a local chain, with alright donuts (in my opinion), several of them with entertaining/proactive names. I personally think Blue Star Donuts are better, but Voodoo is more well known.
Apizza Scholls has some great pizza, I hadn't been before but my friends brought me last time I was in town.
There's also a wide variety of craft beers to try from local breweries if you enjoy beer. McMenamins should have a decent selection not beers and the chain is local to Oregon/Washington.
If you want to try fast food that is local, Burgerville is a chain focuses on local/organic/sustainable. Their food has always been good, but pricier compared to other fast food. I haven't been in at least a decade so can't comment on it in recent years.
I hope to have a great trip! If you have any questions about the place feel free to dm me. I grew up in one of the suburbs, so while I didn't spend a lot of time in Portland proper since I'm not a big fan of the downtown/big cities in general, I can hopefully answer any questions you might have.
Ps. You may want to indicate you are talking about Portland Oregon. I got into a confusing discussion with my coworker about meeting up when we were both in the US only to discover he was going to Portland Maine
Clarification on Powell’s: there is more than one. Usually the general advice as above means this one.. This confused me the first time I went to visit.
And this is how I find out their technical books store closed over a decade ago.
The most amazing bookstore I have ever been in, and I didn't get even to go into the 'special' books room.
When I was a kid, my favorite birthday or Christmas present was getting $20 to spend there, and I'd be able to get a pile of used books. I had a bit of sticker shock when I went there years later and saw how much the prices had gone up since I was a kid, but I was happy to pay more to support them since they're a local business.
As a fun side note, I found out one of my friends knows the family who owns Powell's Books since they go to the same church as them. Felt like one of those small world moments and how you can be only a few connections away from so many people.
I went in 2017 and the prices were not great. I felt like it was sort of a touristy experience as the store is famous and absolutely huge so paying a premium is expected. If I lived in Portland I would probably hesitate to use it as my go-to used bookstore.
Now that I think about it, that was also the last time I went to their downtown location as well. The only solid deals I found were on their selection of very old vintage books, and some of the older/more beat up copies of used books. IIRC, my girlfriend (now wife) and I came out with an okay amount of books for $20 each and had some fun reading.
I wanted to visit it one last time before I moved out of the country, but there was still a visitor limit due to COVID, and I wasn't going to wait 2 hours in line with a baby and pregnant wife to go in, so we visited their Hawthorne branch and I think I only got 1 used book then for ~$4-5.
Definitely an experience I think people would appreciate, I agree with that it is probably more touristy and something to do to say you went and buy something to support the business. Now that I don't live in the US and don't earn USD, I don't think I'd go shopping there when I go back to visit, since I'm guessing prices have only gone up since I was last there.
I was in Portland last April, and Powell's is indeed unbelievably amazing. But I want to also shout out Parallel Worlds, which was my 2nd favorite bookstore of the trip, and would've been far and away my favorite in any other city (maybe not Minneapolis, Moon Palace and Uncle Hugo's are hard to beat). They're entirely SFF + related genres, and if you discount the romantasy picks that they can't not sell, pretty much their entire collection was books I either read and loved, or seemed interesting. It's not huge, but their decisions on what to stock are on point. I would definitely go there if you're looking for speculative fiction!
Awesome thanks! Everyone was on board with powells so that's added to the itinerary and I'll see what else we can slot in there
Japanese Gardens. It's the most authentic japanese gardens in the world outside of Japan and the only place in the world that has four different styles in one place. Prepare to spend just two hours walking around, you will feel absolutely at peace. Absolutely wonderful experience and 100% worth it.
I’m boycotting travel to the US right now and not being able to go back to the Portland Garden is my #1 regret. I love that place so very much. And we have legit Gardens up here in Vancouver! But nothing compares to Portland’s.
Yes OP, you absolutely must visit.
I've heard this, we have plans to see the Chinese gardens but I'm pushing for a switch to this one, seems much grander.
The test rose garden is right next door, also a nice wander (from spring to late fall).
Best Indian food - Bollywood Theater, NE Portland on Alberta. The Kathi Roll is to die for.
Best Thai food - Eem, NE Portland on Willams.
Burgerville is a good local fast food option, as mentioned in another comment, but for good drive-in food I think Mike's Drive-In is a bit tastier.
Best pizza, my personal favorite has always been American Dream, it's east side on Glisan but I'm more familiar with the Corvallis versions.
Mississippi has a high density of quality eats, All walkable. Reminds me of a college town strip.
OMSI is a great science museum with rotating exhibits and a submarine tour (the only sub used in Hunt for Red October filming, the emergency breach scene).
I'll fill in more as I think of it.
I didn't know American Dream Pizza had a location in Portland, otherwise I would have recommended it. When I lived in Corvallis ADP was a great option for a pint and slice for lunch or as a casual place to meet some friends.
I remember guys in my fraternity getting to know the bar tender there over the years, and it was one of the few places I'd frequent with them when they'd start their bar crawls since it was close to where we lived and wasn't too expensive. Usually it was my only stop of the night before heading home since I've never been a big bar guy considering I was on a budget and it was so much cheaper to not pay bar prices to drink.
I've heard it is their original location, but I could be wrong.
Pine State Biscuits is one of my favorite places to eat in Portland.
Yes, also a great selection.
Just a heads up- the Trail of Ten Falls at Silver Falls State Park is partially closed due to storm damage. You can still see several of the falls but you won't be able to do the whole thing. Still worth it, in my opinion. Wahkeena -Multnomah Falls loop is another excellent hike in the Gorge for waterfalls that should be doable this time of year.
The Wahkeena-Multnomah loop is a bit more effort than Ten Falls, IIRC. The forest still shows heavy signs of the fires, but it mostly missed the immediate Multnomah Falls area, and it's still well worth a visit. It tends to be a bit more crowded than Silver Falls SP, though.
This is very good to know, we'll nix that one then and slot in something else thanks!
don’t go out of your way, but McMenamins Kennedy School is worth stopping in on for a drink and a looksee if you’re in the area. think they still have the movies there, too.
it could use an update, but Chuck Palahniuk wrote Fugitives and Thieves. Find it at Powells and give it a quick flip through.
Portland is a somewhat legendary pizza city. If you’re into that, you can’t go wrong.
The best part about portland is that the downtown area is fine, but the other neighborhoods have a lot of character and almost everywhere has great walkability once you get there.
Fun city. That chain of bars has some really unique buildings.
I don't think I see any video recommendations for your flight yet. Here are a couple:
I have no idea what to expect for any of these and I love that (excluding gastronauts- I'm already a big dropout fan)
for youtube -- I think everybody should watch Vookum's Road to $100k --- he's going around the Diamond District in NY flipping watches. He starts with $5k and goes up. You learn a lot about watches and everybody involved is far more interesting than they have any business being.
He might be slow releasing videos for a week or so since he was at the Super Bowl and then is going to the NBA All Star game -- but otherwise he was grinding almost daily.
If you haven't seen modern clowning before (think Eric Andre, Nathan Fielder, Kristen Wiig) there's a lot of it in Portland. Kickstand is one place to see shows like that.
Also check out Synth Library Portland, they have open houses and short classes.
Love it, will check thank you
Portland-related stuffs
—
Annie’s Donuts are in my opinion the best traditional-style donuts in town. The family that runs it is so sweet and fun to talk to. I know Voodoo and Blue Star are the Portland donut destination but I think Annie’s is slept on…
If you enjoy cider, there’s a cider bar called The Place on the east side just south of Ladds Addition. It’s tiny, quiet, and intimate and the guy who runs it is a delight. There’s a juice bar next door that his brother own’s that’s pretty good too, though a little pricey, called Portland Juice Co.
If you want a fried chicken sandwich or corn dogs (vegan versions available) and a beer, there’s a little bar called Hungry Tiger in central eastside. But also a few blocks away is a beautiful dive bar called Sandy Hut.
It’s been a few years since I lived there and I’m blanking on some restaurants but Portland has an excellent food scene so keep an eye out for food trucks.
I always gotta recommend technology connections. What do you want a deep dive on? Dishwashers? Air conditioners? Really cool toasters? Fully mechanical pinball machines? Typewriters with a working undo function? Lightbulbs where the filament flings itself around super fast? Or one of my favorites: a yearly series about Christmas lights and how led lights are worse than old incandescent Christmas lights?
Yes, all of those are real videos (or many real videos). If you want the links to any of these, let me know.
Yes! Basically the quintessential answer! I already have the one on carburetors downloaded I'll probably get more