When I have folks visiting from out of town, I always take them out to the Columbia River Gorge (it’s, well, gorgeous). To get there and have the best views, you take highway 84 west for a while, and then take the “Scenic Highway” exit at ->CORBETT<-, not the Scenic Highway exit at Troutdale, which comes first, but that earlier part of the highway just ain’t all that scenic. Take the Corbet exit, turn left at the top of the big uphill switchbacks, and follow the Scenic Highway signs until you start having big fern covered cliffs on your right, and you’re there. There are waterfalls every few miles – my favorites are Latourell Falls, Shepherds Dell, and of course, Mutnomah Falls (the biggest & tallest, but also the most touristed out – it’s the only one that’s accessible from highway 84). If you don’t mind a long day, you can visit the Gorge early in the day, then take 84 out to Hood River, go up the highway behind Mt Hood (OR 34? – great place to but fresh-picked fruit, btw), connect up with Highway 26 westbound on the mountain, and finish off the day with dinner at Timberline Lodge.
If you like to hike (and can handle a coupla sets of very uphill switchbacks), I recommend the trail that starts at Lower Horsetail Falls (the easternmost falls on the Scenic Highway) and goes up to Triple Falls – the trail goes thru this cave-y cliffy thing where you’re behind Upper Horsetail Falls, crosses Oneonta Gorge (very pretty) on a bridge, and eventually takes you, as promised, to Triple Falls. Takes maybe 2.5 hours round trip, a decent workout with great visuals.
In town, I also definitely recommend Powell’s and Saturday Market (both downtown). If you decide to visit Artichoke Music, also check out the rest of Hawthorne District (the street it’s on), which has lots of interesting stuff (sorta hippie-ish). Other interesting neighborhoods are the Pearl District (lots galleries), “Northwest” (meaning NW 21st and 23rd Avenues, upscale boutiques), and NE Fremont (more of the grungy hipster scene). Any of these areas are also good for sitting in a cafe and absorbing the local scene.
If you want microbrews, I recommend the Bridgeport Brewpub up in the Pearl District, or the Widmer one over in Northeast industrial area. I strongly dis-recommend Rock Bottom downtown unless you like really bland beer & frat-boy types. And while the McMenamin’s pubs have amusing atmosphere, their beer is too sweet and inoffensively hopped. If you want to try lots of interesting beers, go to the bar part of Higgins’ downtown.
For Irish stuff, Biddy McGraw’s on NE Glisan (around 60th) has live Celtic music most nights and is very pub-like. Kells downtown is more genteel, but also has live music of some sort most nights. I think County Cork up on NE Fremont has music sometimes, but I haven’t been there since it moved.
Oh, and I also second the suggestion to go berry picking. If you don’t want to drive all the way out to Sauvie Island, a surprising number of empty lots and railway embankments around town are infested with most excellently edible blackberries. And they’re free…
Noel