The list keeps growing. The picks stay opinionated.
4 picks from Portland.
An hour south of Portland, the valley that makes the Pinot Noir Oregon is known for. Small-production wineries you visit by appointment, a farm-to-table dinner scene that predates the term, and a restored farmhouse hotel where the breakfast eggs come from the property. Two nights gets you four wineries, one long lunch, and the version of wine country that hasn't been Napa'd yet.
A Victorian-era fishing town at the mouth of the Columbia, 90 minutes from Portland. Cannery Row buildings that became breweries, a riverwalk that goes somewhere, and a hotel in a converted 1920s mill where you can see the ships from the bathtub. Two nights gets you past the Goonies house and into the version of Astoria that earns the drive.
An hour east of Portland on I-84, where the Columbia Gorge turns into a wind tunnel and the town that grew up around it knows exactly what it is. Kiteboarding if you're into it, wine tasting if you're not, a hotel with a rooftop bar where you watch both happen at once.
Haystack Rock at low tide, clam chowder that justifies the drive, and a hotel where the fireplace faces the ocean. Two nights gets you past the photo-op and into the version of the Oregon coast where dinner is at 6pm and the fog is the point.
