Blog, Oregon, Portland Travel, Tigard, Tualatin

By Jeff McRitchie

Image Credit: Travel Portland

Portland, Oregon is one of the most popular cities in the Pacific Northwest due to its wondrous natural surroundings, relaxed atmosphere, and the sheer variety of things to do. Here are five great places to visit if you happen to find yourself in Portland…

Washington Park. Portland is famous for its beautiful rose gardens which can be found in Washington Park. The Park is nestled in the city’s West Hills and you can see the roses in bloom in late spring/early summer. (June is when the city’s annual Rose Festival is held.)

The garden offers some of the best views of the city’s skyline and on a sunny day, you can see Mt. Hood as well. Washington Park is also home to some other attractions including the Hoyt Arboretum (a great place to hike), the Japanese Garden, and the Oregon Zoo which has an impressive exhibit called Steller Cove which features sea otters and sea lions.

Powell’s. No visit to Portland is complete without a trip to Powell’s City of Books. This is one of the biggest bookstores in the world (if not THE biggest) and it has an incredible selection to say the least. The store reportedly stocks over 1 million titles and offers used books right alongside the new ones. The store features a great reading series and carries a wonderful section of gift items including t-shirts, messenger bags, bookmarks, and journals. Even if you’re not a bookworm, Powell’s is worth checking out if only to say you’ve been there.

The Northwest District. One of the most popular areas in Portland is its Northwest District which can be found along NW 21st and 23rd Avenues. This is a neighborhood filled with vintage homes and apartments, great restaurants, boutiques, and even Cinema 21, the city’s premier art house theater. You can find virtually any type of cuisine in this neighborhood (Thai, Italian, kosher, vegan) and if you’re not in the mood for food, there are plenty of coffee shops you can visit instead. The neighborhood is very walkable (a good thing since parking is hard to find) and it’s served by TriMet buses and the Portland Streetcar which can take you downtown and to Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

Sauvie Island. Sauvie Island is to the northwest of downtown Portland, right in the middle of the Columbia River. This island is home to a wildlife preserve, numerous farms, and several beaches that are packed during warm summer days. Sauvie Island is perfect for biking and it can also be a pleasant place to take a Sunday drive. Chances are good you’ll see a variety of birds among other critters and in the summer, the fields are dotted with colorful flowers. Sauvie Island is a beautiful place and definitely one of the city’s best attractions.

The Portland Art Museum. Finally, the Portland Art Museum is a great place to visit, especially for art aficionados. In addition to their stunning collection of Native America and Asian art, the Museum has a wonderful modern art exhibit that includes 19th century and Pop Art masterpieces. The Museum often holds special events and exhibitions so depending on when you go, you might be able to view work from the Impressionists or the riches from a famous European family. There’s always something interesting to see at the Museum, so check it out.

Those are just a few of the great places you can visit in Portland, Oregon. They’re all enjoyable and there’s something for everybody. Have fun in the City of Roses!

About the Author: Jeff McRitchie is the Vice-President of Marketing for MyBinding.com. He regularly writes articles, reviews, and blog posts on topics related to bookbinding, laminating, paper shredding, and office equipment. More than 2,500 of his articles have been published in thousands of locations on the Internet. If you’re looking for information about binding machines his articles are a great place to start.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Bridges and Boundaries: Jewish & African Americans Playing Jazz

The 2011 Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Portland Jazz Festival presented by US Bank will be held Friday, February 18 through Sunday, February 27 at venues throughout Portland. The week-long festival will include jazz education and outreach along with a series of concerts all supporting the 2011 theme: Bridges and Boundaries: Jewish & African Americans Playing Jazz.

Among this year’s headliners:

• SFJAZZ Collective, in the world premiere of new repertoire paying homage to African American pop icon Stevie Wonder;
• NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston, performing solo piano in support of his new release, The Storyteller, and autobiography, African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston;
• celebrated clarinetist Don Byron and his new project dedicated to the great Jewish entertainer, Mickey Katz – a reunion of the groundbreaking and virtuosic klezmer ensemble that recorded Byron’s eponymous Nonesuch album and spearheaded the klezmer revival in the 1990s;
• a special performance by The 3 Cohens, featuring siblings, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, saxophonist/clarinetist Anat Cohen, and pianist Yuval Cohen;
• famed African American violinist Regina Carter will return to Portland, presenting her newest project, Reverse Thread, which traces the musical history of African cultures, including tribes of Ugandan Jews;
• saxophonist Joshua Redman – son of African American saxophonist Dewey Redman and Jewish American dancer Renee Shedroff – leading his new project, James Farm, that includes both African American and Jewish American musicians;
• and the Portland Jazz Festival’s new Artistic & Community Ambassador, bassist Esperanza Spalding (who will lead her new Chamber Music Society in an exclusive Portland area engagement).

How to Purchase Tickets:

Portland Jazz Festival Box Office
Hours of Operation: 11am – 5pm, Monday-Thursday
Order by Phone: 503 228-5299
In Person:133 SW 2nd Avenue, Ste 420 Portland, OR 97204
Email: info@pdxjazz.com

PCPA Main Box Office
1111 SW Broadway
Open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday
Walk up sales only
Handling charges will apply.

You may purchase tickets online, over the phone, or in person with Ticketmaster. Additional handling and convenience charges will apply.

Visit  pdxjazz.org for the complete concert schedule:

What is PDX Jazz?
PDX Jazz is Portland’s jazz organization, producing the annual Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Portland Jazz Festival presented by U.S. Bank. PDX Jazz offers an array of distinguished programs throughout the year in a variety of indoor and outdoor settings boasting internationally recognized artists while supporting regional fan favorites from the Northwest, often times presented in newly configured formats.

PDX Jazz in partnership with Oregon Music News recently initiated a monthly jazz series at PDX Jazz @ Tony Starlight’s, an intimate music venue, located in northeast Portland.

The 2011 Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Portland Jazz Festival presented by US Bank will feature a series of headline concerts, jazz education and outreach, Gospel and Klezmer Brunches, and panel discussions based around this year’s theme, Bridges and Boundaries: Jewish & African Americans Playing Jazz.

We love it! Our friends at Visit Washington County Oregon have done it again! They came out with another amazing video that highlights the beauty and diverse range of activities for travelers in our area. Appropriately titled “Come Play Our Way”; the video demonstrates that Washington County (that includes Tigard), Oregon is easy to get to and a great place to unwind  with golf, wine, tax-free shopping and more.  Watch it and see what you think!  We especially love the Bridgeport Village shots by the way!

Image Credit: Travel Portland

USA Today recently announced the results of a study commissioned by the National Business Travel Association that identified the best and worst “tax” cities for travelers in the U.S….and topping the list for Best Tax City? PORTLAND, OREGON!

The study looked at 50 U.S. cities with the most air passengers and calculated that travelers pay not only local sales taxes on goods and services when they go to a U.S. city, but up to 144% more each day they rent a car, stay at a hotel and dine.

Everyone knows this is the place to come for tax free shopping and enjoyment and we are proud to provide a great value to travelers- especially during tough economic times.

The study found that travelers in the worst tax cities pay up to $101 in sales, hotel, rental car and other extra taxes aimed at them on an average three-day domestic trip- but in Portland, Oregon a traveler pays the least amount of taxes — an average of $52.49.

Be sure to read USA Today’s Article Chicago is worst tax city for travelers; best: Portland, Ore. for more information.

What can we say? Portland, Oregon encompasses everything one would want to find in a city: entertainment, great food & drink, and beauty.  One of our favorite Portland, Oregon attractions that seems to have it all is the Portland Japanese Garden. Want to know why?  Just check out this Travel Channel video:

It’s said that the heart of a Japanese garden is harmony with Nature… Hosted by The Travel Channel, this relaxing walk through the Portland Japanese Garden with Head Gardener Michael Kondo covers five distinct garden styles. With bubbling streams, waterfalls, koi fish, raked sands, moss beds, and flowers in bloom–glimpse inside “a beautiful manicured garden in the heart of the metropolis.” Produced by Black Diamond Television, UK.

The Portland Japanese Garden is approximately 14 miles from the hotel and will take you approximately 20 minutes to arrive.  Click here for Driving Directions.

Thoughts from The Grand Hotel at Bridgeport General Manager Josh Sanders….

An interesting article came out just this week in the New York Times that addresses a question that many of us in the travel industry get all the time!!   With the emergence of new technologies- is it better to plan your vacation or business trip online or by printed guidebooks?

I myself am an online planner kind of person…. I want access to the most current up to the second news and reviews on a particular establishment. I never leave to go to a restaurant before I check out reviews and see if I can find an online coupon.

But there is something to be said for checking out a trusted travel book from the Library or ordering a copy to keep. The article mentions Frommers Guides which has always been a beloved travel book for me- and the book often can serve as a souvenier- to remember your trip.

This article suggests there is value in utilizing both. So I encourage those of you who are strictly online people to also check out a guide book…or one of Portland’s many travel magazines to take with you on your journey. And those who only use guide books- you may be missing out on some very interesting information and deals when you ignore online travel sites like Yahoo Travel or TripAdvisor (one of our favorite sources!).

Read exerts from the article and let us know what you think! Tell us what tools do you use to plan your trips?

From: Travel Sites or Guidebooks: Why Not Dip Into Both?

By JOE SHARKEY
Published: February 15, 2010

WHERE do you turn when you’re looking for reliable, practical travel information? A printed guide with a well-established brand and a $19.95 price tag? An online review site with millions of opinions, mostly anonymous? Or an online site that hires reporters who visit hotels and post hundreds of photos?

The answer is all of the above, because none alone is enough, and each has unique virtues.

Most travelers I know use the sprawling TripAdvisor.com sites, which claim 30 million reviews and posts from everyday readers in all areas of travel, including hotels. But they don’t use them exclusively. The same person who may browse through 75 reader reviews of a particular hotel may then also click over to a competing site, IgoUgo.com, which is less expansive but offers user-generated travel blogs, reviews and forums, some copiously illustrated.

Of course, the online sites offer immediacy, a distinct advantage over traditional printed guidebooks, which contain hotel, restaurant and other service information that is usually at least a year old but which are written and edited to professional standards…….

In surveys, TripAdvisor found disdain for information in printed travel guidebooks, and not a lot of faith in the established travel media, he said. “When we asked the question, ‘Would you prefer the opinion of one professional travel writer or 100 ordinary travelers,’ almost without exception, everybody said they preferred the 100 ordinary travelers,” he said.

Is there a future for the general travel guidebooks, whether it’s the hearty veterans like Frommer’s or Fodor’s, or the younger guides like Lonely Planet?

Of course, said Jason Clampet, the senior online editor at Frommers.com. The Web site has carried the content of the print Frommer’s guides for about eight years, he said, along with unique online features. “We haven’t seen any cannibalization of our print product,” he said. Whether online or offline, readers “turn to both user-generated and professional content when making decisions.”

That is what Susan Toby Evans, an anthropology professor at Pennsylvania State University, said she does when traveling or planning a trip. The Web is the best source of hotel, restaurant and other timely, practical information, but she said she usually packed a DK travel guide. “They deliver insights about the landscape/cityscape and main features in a format that no e-reader could match,” she said in an e-mail message.

Mr. Seidman at Oyster said he had been thinking about the virtues of print guidebooks, and weighing them against the disadvantages, including that many were cumbersome to carry.

He said he figured a focused, custom-made guide with the features Ms. Evans likes in print should run about 50 pages. “Why couldn’t you just collate the information specific for any trip and put it in a PDF?” he asked.

I recently came across this fantastic video highlighting Portland, Oregon from Travel Portland and had to share on our blog.  This fast paced video demonstrates the diverse activities in this area- from the hustle and bustle of downtown Portland to the serene natural surroundings in areas like the Oregon Coast, Columbia Gorge and more.  TravelPortland.com is a great resource for visitors to plan their trips to Oregon with a wealth of information on events, attractions and other tips.

If you have not visited Portland before, this piece shows you what you are missing and will likely entice you to check it out!  Portland and the surrounding area is actually a great place to visit AND live (a rare combination!)  Enjoy!

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