Trip Report – Portland 2026

So, I’m gonna do something a little different this time.

A few weeks ago, right after my birthday, I went on a trip down to Portland, Oregon. I thought I’d write something up about it, which would also give me an excuse to upload a bunch of pictures, probably the easiest way to share them en masse.

I took the train down there, which is half the reason for this trip. I’ve been wanting to take the Amtrak somewhere for ages, eventually I’d like to go all the way down the coast to visit family in San Diego, but this is a good start.

I rode the Coast Starlight, a big ol’ double-decker train. I got some new luggage for this, didn’t want to have to, well, lug my old duffel bag down there. I thought it was way too big, but it ended up being the perfect size, especially with the stuff I brought back.

The experience of riding the train down was uhhh not great, to be honest. It was assigned seating, but only assigned when you got to the tracks to get on. I was just kinda handed a number by the attendant. Ended up being the very front of the last car, crammed in next to someone. Had one of those bars in front of me, and no tray table.

An older guy was seated next to me, I talked to him a little, he was only going down for a day trip. Had a laptop with him, which he used to go on linkedin and attempting to use ChatGPT to ask questions about using google docs offline. Some sort of unemployed tech worker, I take it. Went up to the cafe car to get lunch, but it was packed, had to sit with another guy, who was also only going for a day trip, to pick up luggage.

I was quite uncomfortable in my seat, it was only a little better than an airplane. I was by the window though, that was nice. Mostly read my book, and watched all the woods of southwestern Washington pass by.

Finally arrived in Portland, got off and picked up my luggage. The hotel I was staying at was pretty close to the station, so I walked over. It turned out to be a little far with my luggage, but oh well. Got there just as it was starting to rain.

The hotel was very new, just opened last year apparently. Had a restaurant on the bottom floor in like one big room with the lobby, and a weird little self-checkout minimart thing. You just picked stuff up and scanned it, then paid at a little screen, open 24 hours. Guess that’s their replacement for the minibar, the fridge in my room was empty.

After I got settled in, I walked over to Powell’s Books, since it was just a few blocks away. I had heard that this was a place to visit in Portland, but didn’t really know anything about it. Turns out: it’s simply an enormous bookstore.

Wandered around for a while, found the mystery section, decided to see if they had any of the Su Lin books, and they did! In fact, the very next one I needed to read. Also picked up a couple other things, a 40k novel (The Infinite and the Divine) and another Japanese mystery (The Meiji Guillotine Murders).

I was starving after that, so I went and got some ramen across the street, that really hit the spot. Nice little place. God, it’s always so messy though… I always get the soup all over my shirt when I eat it. Shooting little droplets all over the place, I should figure out the trick. I did finally learn to use chopsticks at least, the instructions on the package at this place finally clicked. I’d been doing it wrong for years.

At the hotel, I just went and got a drink, chatted with the bartender a bit. Got this fancy little cocktail called the Jade Elephant, came in an elephant-shaped glass, very tasty. I don’t usually get cocktails, but what the heck, I was on vacation.

Slept very well at the hotel. I actually brought my little white noise machine, it’s totally portable, but I didn’t need it. Very comfy bed. I was going to watch The Fellowship of the Ring on the TV, but it didn’t have any streaming services and I could not for the life of me get the phonecasting feature working. Kinda annoying!

Next morning I got breakfast at the hotel, just the standard plate, nothin’ fancy. But I did have what were probably the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever eaten in my whole life. I’m not a big fan of eggs, but my god those were good. So light and fluffy.

Was going on a river tour later that morning, so I walked over towards the riverfront, and literally stumbled across Voodoo Doughnut along the way. I figured I had to go check it out, it’s simply what one does in Portland. Got a maple bar and one of their fancy abominations, the Old Dirty Bastard, which was a massive donut with like oreo crumbles and peanut butter on top. That was just okay, but the maple bar was aboslutely perfect. I was impressed.

Ate those at a little park by the water, then made my way down to the boat landing. It was nice, except for the weird way that the lawns were all fenced off, along with the benches. It was quite odd, must be some event they’re getting ready for, I guess.

Walked all the way down to the landing, passing under a few bridges along the way. There was a nice little park down there, read my book for a while on a bench. Had a fountain that was just like… a bunch of misters blasting into the air, at a constant rate. Never seen anything like that.

They seemed very liberal with water in Portland in a weird way. Other fountains were also going full blast and didn’t seem to have any mechanism to recycle water, they were just splashing it all over the place. And there were like those old timey drinking fountains, but they didn’t have a button or anything, they just active all the time. Very odd, to me anyway.

Anyway, I was taking the Portland Spirit river cruise. Got a solo ticket inside, with brunch, paid a little extra for a window seat, ’cause why not. It was mostly old people, going for birthdays or anniversaries or whatever.

It was a very different experience, traveling solo. This was the first time it really sunk in. I didn’t have to worry about what anyone else wanted. I could just sit there and enjoy it at my own pace. Nibble at my brunch (still very fully from breakfast AND the donuts I ate, haha), read my book, watch the scenery go by. It was very nice.

There was like an audio guide thing, but you had to download a whole separate app for it, and fuck that. Didn’t even bother.

The boat went way down south, to Lake Oswego. Got to see lots of fancy-ass houses and whole neighborhoods of houseboats, that was neat. Also a whole submarine, for some reason!?

Went up on the deck, where they were actually playing the audio tour over the speakers. You can pay less to get a ticket that’s outside only, without food. It was still pretty nice out there, though a bit cold. The weather that first day was kinda cloudy on and off, but no rain. Typical spring in the Pacific northwest.

It was a little over three hours, overall. I had no other plans that day, or indeed for the rest of the trip. Another nice thing about this trip, I wanted to just play it by ear.

So I decided to go hop on the light rail and ride it to the end, why not. It turned out I got on the one that goes the airport. It was an interesting way to see the city, honestly. Get a sense for its geography.

The light rail was pretty nice, obviously a little older than the one in Seattle. The stops in downtown Portland were all street-level, sort of intermixed with some streetcars too. But outside of that area, the tracks follow the highway, and all the stops are like down next to it, by overpasses. Doesn’t seem very convenient, but I guess it is the cheapest way to do it. Given how long and how expensive the expansions of our system is going to be, I can’t exactly knock it.

Took it back and stopped at a little park across the river, read my book for a while. This one was more wooded, but also had a sprayground fountain, they really like those, apparently.

After that I hopped on a streetcar and went back to downtown, decided to go see a movie. I’d spotted a theater earlier, pretty close to the hotel, called the Living Room Theater. Got a beer there, then went and saw The Sheep Detectives.

Pretty good movie! I had a good time watchin’ it, made me cry a few times, though I’m easy to get like that, especially in the theater. It didn’t have recliners, but just big, comfy chairs.

Next day, I went out and got breakfast at a little ’40s style diner around the corner, that was great. Got a breakfast sandwich and hashbrowns, delicious.

Decided to right the streetcar down and check out the gondola, at OHSU. It turns out it’s kind of a tourist attraction, but also just a way people get between different parts of campus. You get to the other side and you’re just… in a hospital. Not even anything nearby. Got back on it and rode back down, nothin’ else to do. On the way back, some people came on with one of those organ transport coolers, it was wild. Nice views, though.

Took the streetcar back up, got some lunch at a little deli that was also on the OHSU campus, it’s pretty extensive I guess. Then just kinda rode the light rail around a bit, went over to the other side of the river to the Milwakie district, cute little neighborhood.

Went back to the hotel and rested for a bit. I’ve been playing Earthbound Beginnings/0 on my little Anbernic handheld, it’s pretty fun. Nice to have something to kill time with, y’know. Not as hard as I’d always heard, as long as you take it slow and grind a bit.

Then I walked over and toured the Lan Su Chinese Garden, just a little ways from the hotel. Found it by just lookin’ on google maps, seeing what looked interesting nearby, haha.

It was very nice. A little pricey to get in, but worth it. I lucked out, there was a guided tour starting up right when I got there, so I sort of followed along. It was so quiet that I could wander around a bit and still hear what the guy was saying. It was built in 1999, designed to be a replica of like a scholar’s house in 16th century China. Had a HUGE pond and a bunch of little courtyards and rooms around it, with some cool, elaborate windows out to the street in the walls.

I took… a lot of pictures… there was so much scenic… scenery….

After that I was beat. Got like 15k steps that day, it was a lotta walking, and I did not really get in shape for this trip, haha.

Rested for a while, then went and got dinner at the Deschuttes Brewery, also very close to the hotel. I didn’t even realize how centrally located it was when I booked that place, it was quite convenient.

Got some fancy-ass beers, and some pretty mediocre katsu for dinner.

It was kind of surreal being in a place with no teriyaki. Theoretically, I know it’s only really a Seattle area thing, but still. They’re so ubiquitous around here, I forget that they don’t exist everywhere.

Next morning, I went out and got breakfast at a nicer place, Cheryl’s on 12th, which was a bit further away, but totally worth it. They had espresso, so I got a nice latte, and I had what was probably the most delicious food of the whole trip: the Frittwich. It was a breakfast sandwich served inside an apple fritter. Completely ridiculous, but god damn it was good. Came with some hash browns that had like… corn flakes or something in them? I dunno, they were also pretty good.

Went back to Powell’s again, got some souvenirs, including a glass with the Portland street map on it, and some more books, ’cause why not. I now have an absolutely disgusting “to read” pile, it’s like three feet tall, haha. Oh well, good problem to have.

Got everything packed up and headed on out to the train. Got a lyft this time, it wasn’t super far, but my luggage was a bit heavier.

Portland has a much nicer, older train station than Tacoma, turns out. The one in Tacoma has an older section, called Freighthouse Square, that’s kind of a rundown food court. The main Amtrak terminal is very plain, though. Not a major hub, after all.

The train I’d booked actually got canceled, it was delayed by some trouble on the tracks outside of Redding, and I got the option to rebook, so I did. Got on the Amtrak Cascade this time, and I upgraded to business class, which meant I got to hang out in the fancy lounge while I waited, that was nice.

This turned out to be a stroke of luck! I really enjoyed the trip back a LOT more. Business Class has a different layout, and there are single seats along one side, and they have more leg room.

In the future, if I need to go a long distance, it’s definitely worth paying for a private room. But if I’m going a short distance, I’ll take the Cascade, it was much more pleasant overall. Less crowded in the dining car too, I got a burger and sat there for a while.

Crossed over the Columbia again, and a few hours later I was back in Tacoma. Took the streetcar and I was back home!

Overall, it was a nice trip. Felt very different from any trip I’ve taken before, since I was the one in charge this time, so to speak. Made me realize how much I’m still living my life in the shadow of my parents… responding to how they did things, instead of blazing my own path through things. Much to think about, on that.

Portland itself was… interesting. I noticed a few big differences. The streets felt a lot more wide open than in Seattle, it’s not as built up, at least the part I was in. The public transit seemed very nice, the streetcars go in a big loop, across the river and up north and south from downtown. The light rail goes way out to the suburbs.

One odd thing was that it has a lot of like… inaccessible storefronts. Just like three or four steps up off the sidewalk, no ramps or alternate entrances. Another thing I take for granted up here, I guess, that’d never fly. You gotta have something, y’know?

The vibes were generally a little more laid back. Had a bit of the feeling from when I used to work at the market, getting annoyed at people moving slowly and indecisively on the sidewalk. I don’t really think of myself as a big city person, but I suppose I am, in that way. People were friendly though. Lots of graffiti and unhoused folks around, just like up here, really.

Traveling solo, as a non-driver, is definitely going to be… challenging, and perhaps somewhat limit the places I can go. But I still want to do it!