Thingsaroundpdx

Food

Tao of Tea - Fee required to enter the garden the tea house is in ... for a full flight of tea plan on 2-3 hours.

Batter Up - Tastiest Waffles in the world. This is John and Terri's favourite food truck!

Pepper Box Cafe In Portland you can not find good Mexican food .. but you can find good New Mexican food.

Salt & Straw - Everyone's going to tell you tales about donuts, but the actually delicious weird Portland food is ice cream!

Entertainment

Darcelle XV Showplace - Darcelle XV & Company have been entertaining audiences in all walks of life for over 37 years with Las Vegas-style cabaret revues of Glitz, Glamour and Comedy. Stop by when you are in Portland and you will be glad that you did!

Outdoors

Columbia gorge & Multnomah falls - Beautiful scenic area with many short hikes, as well as scenic viewpoints and waterfalls visible directly from the road. Terri particularly likes the super short walk to Latourell falls

Seaside, OR and Cannon Beach, OR are a couple of nearby beaches if you'd like to see the coast. They're about 1.5h from Hillsboro. The water is very chilly, but the beach sand is warm. Great places to relax and fly a kite.

Forest Park is a huge natural area in Portland filled with trails (not unlike Ottawa's greenbelt, for the Canadians!). The trails are mostly free, but there is a charge for parking and for the lovely Japanese garden. Perhaps the most popular garden is the International Rose Test Garden, which is free and on a clear day, you can get a nice view of Mount Hood.

Shopping

Powell's - Portland's giant independent bookstore has a few locations, but if you want the full experience check out the city-block-o-books downtown. And don't forget, no sales tax in Oregon!