Out of town

Portland 4th of July Weekend Amusements 2016

June 30, 2016 by Dave Leave a Comment

Monday – Portland Area 4th of July FIREWORKS!

Waterfront Blues Festival – Largest fireworks display in Oregon to fill horizon with color and effects
Oaks Park Fireworks Spectacular – Portland’s best fireworks at dusk
Fort Vancouver Fireworks Spectacular

Blues, beers, and fireworks.

Ongoing

Pedalpalooza 2016 – final weekend!

Pedalpalooza is 3+ weeks of bikey fun. With 280 different events, most organized by individuals, bikers of all persuasions are likely to find many events of interest. Nearly all events are free.

Friday-Sunday

Portland Craft Beer Festival

The Portland Craft Beer Festival (PCBF) is an annual opportunity for patrons of legal-drinking age to sample a substantial representation of beers originating from every brewery in Portland. What makes the PCBF unique is the fact that only beers brewed within the city limits of Portland will be featured at the PCBF – this is different from the other beer festivals that occur in the city. Aside from beer, there will be selections of Portland’s crafted ciders and wines, as well as locally based food vendors.

Portland Weekend Amusements (5-7 February 2016)

February 3, 2016 by Dave Leave a Comment

Sausage, seafood and wine, Chinese food and culture – and a parade! Plenty to do beside watching football this weekend.

Friday-Saturday

Portland Seafood & Wine Festival

Come join us and sip some of Oregon’s best wines while indulging in all the fresh coastal seafood and culinary delights at the 11th Annual Portland Seafood & Wine Festival! What luck that this Portland Tradition falls right in the middle of Dungeness Crab season. We encourage you to bring the whole family! With face painters, balloon artists and so much more your everyone is sure to look forward to coming every year!

Wurstfest (in Mt. Angel)

The Best of the WURST a celebration of German Sausage

Celebrate Mount Angel’s German heritage at Wurstfest, where you will find the best handcrafted German sausages as well as local and German beers. Enjoy other great food, live German music, dancing, games and demonstrations.

Special events include Senior Day for 65 and over, with special give-aways on Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

So dust off your lederhosen, starch up your Bavarian dirndl, and join the happy folk of Mt. Angel for a fun-filled, two-day celebration of the Wurst.

Saturday

年宵會 Chinese New Year Cultural Fair

Chinese New Year Cultural Fair will be celebrating the Year of Monkey with you on Feb. 6, at Oregon Convention Center Hall B.

This year with the sponsorship from ACHIEF Fund and the Oregon Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, and the local Chinese Restaurants, and Food supply Companies, we will be able to give out 1,000 FREE NEW YEAR LUNCH to our audience. Free lunch will be given at around 1pm after our Grand Opening at 12pm. You have to present the WHOLE ticket to get the lunch.

Sunday

Dragon Dance and Parade

Kick off the Chinese New Year with a fabulous mile-long parade through Portland! The Dragon Dance will begin at 11am on the corner of NW Davis & 4th Ave., continuing through Chinatown, down 3rd Ave., and up SW Jefferson. The celebration continues at OHS when the parade arrives around noon, where we will host tea, sweet treats, and special performances by local Lion Dance teams!

Friend of the Library Spring Used Book Sale 2015

April 15, 2015 by Dave 1 Comment

The 42nd annual (by my count) Friend of the Library Spring Used Book Sale takes place April 17-19, 2015 at the Gresham Station Shopping Center (1271 NW Civic Center Dr., Gresham, Oregon 97030).

20,000 Donated Books and Materials – Well Sorted

• Gently Used Books
Children’s books, pocket-sized paperbacks start at $0.50
Hardcover books and soft cover books start at $2.00

• Audiovisual Materials
DVDs, CDs, Audiobooks on tape and CD

• Sheet music, Pamphlets, and Maps

Categories

Art, Biography, Children’s, Classics, Cooking, Crafts, Gardening, History, Hobbies, Home Repair, Horror, Literature, Math, Mystery, Old Books, Popular Fiction, Reference, Romance, Science, Sports, Travel, Westerns

The Collector’s Corner is open Friday for members only from 6 PM to 9 PM. Non-members can join Friends of the Library at the door or online. Basic memberships are only $10, family memberships $15.

Saturday and Sunday the sale is open to the general public. Hours Saturday are 9 AM to 6 PM, Sunday 10 AM to 4 PM. Sunday is 50% discount day!

Collector’s Corner, open Friday and Saturday, features special books and ephemera.

Proceeds of the sale directly support the Multnomah County Library system.

Enchanted Forest Opening Day (20 March 2015)

March 18, 2015 by Dave Leave a Comment

The happiest place just south of Salem off I-5 opens for the 2015 season on Friday, March 20.

The Enchanted Forest (8462 Enchanted Way SE, Turner, OR 97392) is a gem of an amusement park. The Storybook Trail was created by Roger Tofte and opened in 1971. Countless children and parents every year since then have been entertained and amused. It’s still run by Roger Tofte and his family.

My several childhood pilgrimages to the Enchanted Forest left me with fond but vague memories of fanciful colorful concrete characters and delightfully goofy architecture. So to refresh my memory in 2010 I dragged my lovely wife Heather down I-5 from Portland for her birthday – we had a magical day. After the visit Heather declared:

If you live in Oregon and you haven’t been to Enchanted Forest, you need to go. If you haven’t been in a long time, go back. And if you have kids, Enchanted Forest will rock their world. You’d be a total ass not to bring your kids here as soon as possible.

The park opens Friday at 10 AM, and rides open at 10:30. Make sure to check the park schedule on the website; closing time varies and the park isn’t open seven days a week until mid-May. Ticket prices vary with age and ride options. There are food vendors but the Enchanted Forest welcomes picnics (no BBQs or alcohol though).

Protips:

The Enchanted Forest really is in a forest – on hot summer days it’s delightfully cool.

Young kids don’t know they’re not at Disneyland – save thousands of dollars on your next vacation!

Portland Weekend Amusements (November 2-4, 2012)

November 1, 2012 by Dave Leave a Comment

Sausage, food carts, coffee, and the first holiday bazaar of the season!

Friday

The Row Grand Opening

The Row, Portland’s newest food cart pod, is taking shape quickly this week with Big-Ass Sandwiches, Koi Fusion and Potato Champion moving in on Monday. Tuesday, after some scrubbing and maintenance, Big-Ass Sandwiches announced they are ready to open Wednesday. On Friday, the entire crew of carts which also includes Pyro Pizza and Whiffies will celebrate their grand opening from 5-11pm. Hopworks will be onsite with beer. [more]

Saturday-Sunday

Coffee Fair

The 2012 Coffee Fair takes place Saturday and Sunday, November 3 and 4, 2012 at the World Forestry Center (4033 SW Canyon Road).

“Fuel your caffeine addiction with Coffee Fair, a special event dedicated to espresso, lattes, and the plain ol’ Cup O’ Joe. Smell, taste, and learn about specialty coffees from knowledgeable local roasters.” [more]

Saturday

Verboort Sausage and Kraut Dinner

The 78th Annual Verboort Sausage & Kraut Dinner, Oregon’s longest running community sausage feed, takes place Saturday, November 3, 2012 in the unincorporated Washington County community of Verboort on the grounds of the Visitation Church. [more]

Dennis 7 Dees Holiday Bazaar

The 4th annual Dennis 7 Dees Holiday Bazaar takes place Saturday, November 3rd, 2012 at the SE Powell Garden Center
(6025 SE Powell).

“Enjoy live music in the straw bale lounge, sip on wine and hot cocoa for the kids and taste the flavors of local food carts. Shop from over 40 local artists for hand crafted good for the home and garden. This year’s holiday bazaar is bigger and better than ever!” [more]

And for even more weekend events and activities, check out the Dave Knows Calendar, and visit Around the Sun, Blogging Portland on the Cheap, and Oregon Events at OregonLive.com.