Soft Core Touristy Things
	I kind of think of all of Portland's stuff as Soft Core Touristy, beyond the Zoo and OMSI. I don't know if that's because I grew up here, because it's a smaller city, or what. The Rose Gardens Fort Vancouver Japanese Gardens Powell's Portland Rose Gardens No, not the sports arena. The first time I heard about the Theatre of the Clouds in the Rose Garden, I couldn't figure out how playing music outdoors in December was even possible in Portland. Then I realized that the Rose Garden there referred to the sports arena. Here, I mean the actual gardens full of roses. It's lovely in the summer, and it smells nice. It's an extensive park with great flowers, other activities, and views of Portland. One of my first dates with my husband was to this park, so I might be biased. Fort Vancouver Okay, true, this isn't in Portland. But you could practically spit on Portland from here, so I figured it's close enough. The Fort is a reconstruction of the Hudson's Bay Trading Company's fort located here in the early to mid 1800's. There are ongoing archaeological digs, and volunteers in costume manning the various stations such as the bakery, blacksmith, trading post, and fur processing. Check for special events that happen occasionally. The "Fort by Candlelight" is a great tour, and the "Christmas at Fort Vancouver" is fun if you get there in time for the Christmas dinner re-enactment. Avoid the Fort like the plague at the Fourth of July if you don't like crowds, otherwise it's kind of a fun place to be then. The Japanese Gardens Make a day of it and hit the Zoo as well as the Japanese Gardens and the Rose Gardens...they're all relatively close to one another. I've never actually been to these. Powell's City of Books This is Nerd Mecca. It may not be a literal city of books, but it is a literal city BLOCK of books. It's huge. It's multistoried. It's got new and used books on everything, plus a lot of trinkets and bits and bobs that nerdly bookish people would like. There are bathrooms, and a small cafe where yes, you can take the books! There is a rare books room if you like dusty old tomes. There are rare editions of books in various genres locked away from chocolatey fingers. And there is a parking garage upstairs, but I do not recommend it unless you drive a tiny, beat-up car. It's a very very small garage, and I wouldn't take anything bigger than a Mazda 323 up there. They have a surface lot as well, which is much better. Usually parking isn't too hard to find anyway. Home / Cookbook / Photo Gallery / Completely Unnecessary Wedding Site / Things To Do When You're Bored in Seattle / Things To Do When You're Bored in Portland / Known Accomplices / Top Fives / Links / Plus-Sized Costuming