If you’re in Portland in the summertime there is so much to experience in the way of nature and public parks- i would suggest getting out of the city and into the gorge (Multnomah Falls is a classic, Mt. Hood, and Rooster Rock State Park for the beautiful views and nude bathing are all within 90 minutes of the city). Within the city: Forest Park, Pittock Mansion and Council Crest are some of my favorite viewpoints!
As for food, you can skip Voodoo Doughnuts- my favorite place in all of portland is Pip’s Donuts and Chai, but Salt & Straw and Mcmenamins are other native Portland staples. Unfortunately I did not really grow up going out to eat very often and I have not yet had a chance to explore the nightlife, but I have heard Holocene is fun. Enjoy the city!!
May 6, 2025
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@CORDUROY true!! the guys at the eastside one have given me free donuts at 5:00 in the morning. don‘t love the fent lean armed guards vibes at the downtown one but i love that area by powells
May 6, 2025
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I run through Laurelhurst Park almost every day. I adore this park. They even have a leash-off section in it, so bet your ass dogs adore it, too. I haven't traveled the world very much so I felt hesitant to over state how wonderful it is. I was talking to a buddy who is quite well-traveled and he was like, "Dude, it's a world class park. You're not wrong. Laurelhurst is amazing."
So, I will sing its praise. If you're ever in Portland, make sure you check out the neighborhoods on the East side. Laurelhurst is right next to Kerns, Belmont, and Hawthorne — which are all wonderful locations. Plus, Laurelhurst Theater is my home theater, so maybe you'll see me there. $9 tickets. $10 pitcher of Rainier. Cheap soda. Hard to beat.
It's cool to love where you live. I love where I live.
Nov 24, 2024
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im from seatown! all depends on what you’re looking for, but as someone said earlier it’s a city that’s got a lot of charm vis a vis it’s independent shops/bars/etc. i’d suggest just walking around Cap Hill, Fremont, or Ballard to get a feel for some different neighborhoods
nightlife is imo pretty sad compared to any other city in the US…bUt! the brewery scene is unmatched in the country. there are a ton of breweries across the whole city, but id recommend Fremont Brewing if you want a slightly busier place, or any of the ones over in the Ballard Brewery District - you can basically walk between a handful of them and grab some streetfood in between beers.
for just regular bars, La Dive on Cap Hill and Bar Miriam on QA are also great spots - both are a little on the upscale side. Otherworld Wine is a new-ish place on Cap Hill and they usually have a killer DJ on weekends
also if you can - get out into nature! whether it’s Puget Sound or the Cascades, Seattles got it all. WA has the greatest range of different types of nature within the country so it’s worth getting out of the city if you can
Apr 3, 2024
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food:
- un bien in ballard, make caribbean sandwiches (#1 sandwich in washington, #2 in the states) if you do nothing else eat here
- teriyaki, spots are a dime a dozen and are all pretty similar but it started here and is pretty delicious. j kenji lopez alt has been running around seattle eating at all of them recording shorts
- bangrak market, sit-down thai in belltown. good eats good ambience good music
(honorable mentions: pink door near pike place market if you like italian / seafood, dick’s drive in if you’re sloshed and need something to soak up booze for cheap - dick’s is a seattle institution)
parks: weather’s already nice as hell so going to a park with a joint is a go to if you don’t wanna spend any money but wanna kill some time. my top two:
- gasworks. retired gas plant turned into public art display on lake union. best park in seattle imo
- cal anderson. it’s on the hill so it’s usually active, has a skate park if you wanna watch people do tricks, lot of people bring their dogs off leash, sometimes there’s volleyball or live music, just a real happening spot where a lot of people congregate in when it’s warm
(honorable mentions: green lake park, kerry park, volunteer park, jefferson park)
clubs: seattle nightlife is a toss-up sometimes (i tend to prefer events to venues personally) but kremwerk is reliable. i don’t drink so i don’t have a lot for you by way of bars but i’ve heard great things about comet tavern, still liquor largely depends on the night but can be cool, six arms is inoffensive, and sugar hill has a second floor bar where they spin a lot of music from the bay area
indie: by far seattle’s bread and butter is just cool small businesses. a lot of ’em close earlier but my personal favorites:
- bookstores: left bank books in pike place, elliot bay books on the hill
- record stores: al’s records and games, neptune records in the udistrict. jive time in fremont, empire records in columbia city
- vintage: late night market on the hill, fremont vintage mall in fremont (for volume; prices are gonna be out the ass bc both places are curators. still fun to pop in and look around)
- coffee: station on beacon hill, coffeeholic in columbia city, espresso vivace, overcast coffee on the hill, armistice in roosevelt
- barcades: jupiter bar in belltown, raygun lounge on the hill. a lot grungier / hometown feeling than say, a dave and busters or something comparable
(a lot of these recs are in / accessible from the city center so they’re predominantly white neighborhoods - if you’ve got time to venture farther out i feel like columbia city is def worth the trip - show some love to geraldine’s, island soul, emma’s bbq.)
(also, do tourist-y stuff - skip the space needle and go to columbia center instead, it’s cheaper and taller. pike place is dope and has a lot of really old businesses like holy cow records, golden age collectibles which was the first comic book store in the states, and the gum wall)
Apr 2, 2024
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This month I realized, after 10 years of religiously wearing and collecting gold jewelry, that I actually like silver better. Mildly devastated but excited for this new chapter in my life.
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