Suggestions for babymoon in Portland OR and Seattle?

brod20

Hi Ladies!
My DH and I just booked our babymoon to Portland OR. We live in PA and neither of us have been there before and I was looking for suggestions from any of you who visited or live there! We also plan to drive to Seattle for a day. Any must see things/restaurants/places we should hit up? So far I have voodoo donuts and salt and straw on my food list . Also the Portland art museum. If it helps, we are staying in downtown Portland and we will have a car! Thanks!!

BabyBump2

I mean if you're going to Seattle you should check out the Space Needle. I also recommend the Gum Wall. People always say it's gross (because it is) but it's always something. Plus it's below the fish market. The first ever Starbucks is right there as well. I'm not too sure what you're into. Voodoo Donuts is a must, but expect a long line/wait. If you like books...there's a Powells Books in Portland. It's a HUGE place. There's also a lot of food trucks around there.

brod20

We tend to like the unique/quirky aspects of cities, so something like the gum wall sounds cool! Powells is on our to do list also, forgot to post that one! Thanks!

kailaann1

I'm from Seattle and will say that all of the typical touristy things you hear/read about are actually pretty worthwhile. A fun way to see more of the area is to take a ferry from downtown Seattle to Bainbridge Island. It is a 45 min ferry ride and you can just walk on and walk through the little main street. There are a couple do cute bakeries and cafes that have great food. Also, Kerry Park in the Queen Anne neighborhood has the best views in the whole city. Have fun!

amiralinda

I grew up in Portland, went to school in Seattle, and am back home in Portland now. Multnomah Falls is cool, if you want a pretty drive through the gorge. The Rose Gardens are free and pretty to walk through. Forest Park is up there too and has great pregnancy-friendly trails, including to Pittock Mansion with a great view and a historical museum inside. Departure is a pretty restaurant downtown with a rooftop view! I like walking through some of the quirky streets with fun shops and food carts - SE Hawthorne, N Mississippi, and NE Alberta. The Saturday Market is great on weekends, and there are typically tons of street festivals or other events going on if you look online. Those are just some random ideas - if I think of anything else, I'll add it!

Oh! Seattle. Much more fun to show people around. the Fremont Troll is a must see, as is Gasworks Park. The touristy stuff like space needle and pike place market.... Eh. If you have time, worth seeing once, but the views from some of the parks on the water are to die. Golden Gardens is another favorite of mine.

emililyha

We were just in that area for a wedding last month! I didn't get to see much of Portland but I do know there are several different voodoo donut locations- and some are way more crowded than others. If you really want to go I suggest going to their 2nd location on Davis St.

In Seattle, the hubby and I ate lunch in the space needles rotating restaurant. It's pretty cool AND you can go up to the observatory afterward for as long as you like! We also went to a mariners game- which was awesome.

One thing we discovered is that we needed PLENTY of time driving back and forth from Portland to Seattle. It was quite the trek and we ran into some pretty intense traffic.

amargaret24

Seattle is our favorite place to vacation!!! (I'd suggest staying a night there if you can, you would definitely get more out of your time there). The Mediterranean Inn in Queen Ann is the sweetest, most OKayest hotel ever! I saw Okayest because it isn't fancy but if you are able to request a corner room or a room with a view, you have SWEEPING views of all of Seattle, the entire bay. It's insanely gorgeous. There is also a rooftop patio, each room has a mini-kitchen good for actually cooking/making coffee, and a Safeway grocery store next door.

Queen Ann is also two small walking blocks to the Space Needle museum park area. There is the EMP museum there which is our personal favorite because we are music industry folk. They have an impressive collective of extremely rare guitars, a Jimi Hendrix exhibit, a Nirvana exhibit, and a Star Wars costume exhibit (also Horror Films and Fantasty movie/TV). It's really a good hour or so. If your SO is into craft beer, within a block from the Space Needle and EMP there is a great wood-fired Pizza place with the best pizza we have ever had.

Lots of people will suggest Pikes market and the like, I honeslty got overwhelmed but the amount of tourists and overall just the quantity of people down there, it wasn't as enjoyable as I would have hoped for. ESPECIALLY if there is a cruise ship there for the day. Yikes!

PP who lived and now lives again in Portland got all the great shopping streets. SE Hawthorne has a few really popular restaurants, Pok Pok - thai/korean, a yummy taqueria I forgot the name of. Basically, anything that has a line means it's probably awesome. But - pregnant, and a line? Yikes again! Portland is awesome no matter where you are.

I love the Pacific Northwest!!

Love,

A Concrete Jungle, LA Resident.

TinyDancer51510

The gum wall is worth seeing. There is a chocolate shop that I'm blanking on the name of (near Pike's Place) and they have the BEST caramel apples. The original Starbucks isn't worth the time, IMO. It's tiny, everyone goes there, too crowded. The market is fun to walk through though. It's been a couple of years since we were there so I'm having trouble remembering what all we did.

ad170982

Lurker here... a lot of great Seattle suggestions already, but I wanted to add the "Seattle Underground Tour" to the list. I did it a few years ago with my parents and it was really cool. I keep saying I'm going to take the hubby to do it, but we haven't yet. Also, Volunteer Park offers an amazing view of the city. Enjoy your trip to the PNW...it's such an awesome place! 

apinkpelican

The troll in Seattle is a trip and you have to do Pike Place of course. I enjoyed the rose gardens in Portland.

MamaGooGoo

ad170982 said:

Lurker here... a lot of great Seattle suggestions already, but I wanted to add the "Seattle Underground Tour" to the list. I did it a few years ago with my parents and it was really cool. I keep saying I'm going to take the hubby to do it, but we haven't yet. Also, Volunteer Park offers an amazing view of the city. Enjoy your trip to the PNW...it's such an awesome place! 

I did the underground tour, as well. It was really cool! But for some reason I think it's only a night time tour. So if you're only going to be there for the day then you might not be able to do it. The last time I went to Seattle we did the Duck Tour right next to the Space Needle. You get on a bus that looks like a duck (sounds dumb and kiddish but it wasn't), and then I forget what it's called but the bus floats and becomes a boat. First they drive you around town a bit and then into the bay. The drivers are hilarious and tell you all sorts of stories and tidbits about the city. One of my favorite things we did.

TinyDancer51510

Went on FB and looked at my pictures. The chocolate place is Rocky Mountain and we ate at Pike Pub, which was pretty good. We also went to the botanical gardens. I think we were there in late Oct.

brod20

Thanks!! You guys are super awesome for all the suggestions! I'm making a list right now. @amargaret24 thanks for suggesting the EMP museum, we are huge music fans and love Hendrix and Nirvana so we will def check that out! I'm even more excited to go now!!

amargaret24

badone said:

Thanks!! You guys are super awesome for all the suggestions! I'm making a list right now. @amargaret24 thanks for suggesting the EMP museum, we are huge music fans and love Hendrix and Nirvana so we will def check that out! I'm even more excited to go now!!

Oh you will LOVE this museum then. There is also a "sound lab", yes for children really, but there is a room you can play and record your own 5 minute song. You get a link to an MP3 download. It's literally the best. I am so guilty of it. I tell kids in line to wait there turn, lol. Whose the kid now???

alice2Bcheshire

I've never been to the PNW, but I'm dying to go to Schoolhouse Electric in Portland-- I obsess over their catalogue on the regular.

mg137

I've been living outside Portland for less than a year but I can recommend a lot of restaurants. Not sure what you like, so I'll list some of our favorites from different cuisines and you can see if they're you're style:
Bamboo or Hokusei for sushi
Toro Bravo (Spanish)
Roe
Pok Pok
Andina
Paley's Place

Yes yes yes to salt and straw. They'll literally let you taste every flavor if you want (I've asked if they really do, and got a big smile and "of course!" In response.) But they can have long lines evenings and weekends.

There's always something going on summer weekends. Check out Waterfront Park for events. Weekends also have Saturday Market there both days.

Tons of hiking in the Gorge, Forest Park, etc. I can recommend specific hikes if you're interested and don't mind getting a bit of a workout.

Sovvy

When do you plan on coming to Seattle? The fall can be gorgeous or can be terrible. This year will likely be terrible.

brod20

@je&moeder we will be there in mid September (16th-21). When you say terrible, do you mean rain? Allergies? Just want to be prepared for anything!

Sovvy

Rain, but September is gorgeous! You'll love it here. It's still summer then!! 

kducharme

Sept you should be fine we have been having a very hot summer that they say will continue to the fall! We have always had fun in Portland just walking around downtown and not really having a destination. I love in Seattle and if the weather is nice I definitely recommend just walking along the waterfront and sculpture park it's so pretty! Oh and the great wheel is a little expensive but fun and pretty on a sunny day!

amargaret24

Just to chime in on what some PP's said about weather. I guess since my fiance and I live in LA - we get sick of the sun and heat sometimes. So we went last year in October, it rained the whole time (which I loved), but it would also clear up in the evening for sunset and was so crisp and beautiful. Bring umbrellas but usually the hotels have them. If you're prepared for rain, then it won't suck.

Rakastajatar

I'm in Portland,  a day to the coast is always nice. The weather is typically about 10 or so degree cooler so keep that in mind. 

All these ladies suggestions are great!  Like @kducharme said, we are having a very hot summer. El Nino effect. We have summer through out Sept and the first two weeks of Oct.

I agree with @mg137 with Andina great tapas plates! Plus the Farm Cafe on the NE side of Portland. 

Seattle, Brunch at the needle is delicious! a must! book in advance.