A Day Trip to Portland Oregon

Last updated on 25 March 2024

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We spent the day in Portland Oregon

And while I had heard lots of crazy things about Portland Oregon, I don’t think it was as crazy as I was expecting. Granted, I was only in the city a few times, my hosts living out of the downtown area, but to me it was like Wellington but more extreme.

Most of my time around the city was in the suburbs, staying with family and adventuring around the outskirts of the city. But the first Saturday I was there we headed down to the riverfront for the weekend market.

The Portland market happens the majority of weekends throughout the year, on both Saturdays and Sundays. It stretches over two sides of a major road and has everything from hand-crafted items to photography and paintings, to food trucks and hot nut stands. It was everything a good market should be and more.

I bought a beautiful handmade messenger bag at one of the stalls and enjoyed listening to a didgeridoo and guitar-playing busker. No kidding. He played the didgeridoo and the guitar at the same time. *shrugs* Keeping Portland weird. Check.

From the market, we journeyed to heaven aka Powell’s Books. If this is the first you’re hearing of Powell’s, then firstly, shame on you, and secondly, it’s the world’s largest independent book store and it takes up an entire city block and is a magical place of wonders. Read more about my Powell’s extravaganza!

The second time I was in Portland Oregon, I was with my friend, and we were just passing through the *cough* bookstore again *cough* to sell some of her books. I actually bought more in the second trip than I did in the first, but I could have easily stayed in there for days. Literally days.

Wandering the streets of Portland wasn’t as crazy as I had expected. People I had talked to always said it’s an odd place, and while I didn’t see a lot of the city, the little I did see did remind me of Wellington. The people, the fashion, the shops, the general feel to the place.

Portland is weird, but it’s not over the top cray-cray.

Have you been to Portland Oregon? What did you do?