Stuff 2 Do ... in Portland

by Ken Van Vechten

More than a Name

Jake’s Famous Crawfish has been around since the 1890s. It’s been owned for some time now by two guys whose last names should be familiar to fish fans around the nation, Bill McCormick and Doug Schmick, yet in any guise of ownership, Jake’s is one of the Rose City’s four or five must-try eateries. During a visit this summer, nearly three dozen types of fresh seafood graced the menu. It’s not so much what you have — OK, we had ling cod from the waters of British Columbia, Alaskan king salmon (Kuinhagak River for the really retentive types) and rockfish that a day or two before might’ve been swimming off Bandon Dunes — just that you have anything from Jake’s. www.JakesFamousCrawfish.com

Simply Stated: Drink Beer

Portland is a craft-beer-mad city. The local tourism board puts the number at 23 breweries within the municipal boundary and another 11 across the larger metro area, and nearly the whole lot is in the guise of a brewpub or an outlet that dispenses the host microbrew even if brewed elsewhere. Theories abound as to the root cause of Portlanders’ love for beer … good beer, not Pabst or Bud or Coors. The weather gets a good portion of the credit. We chalk it up to the general joie de vivre of the land’s residents. The Oregon Brewers Guild’s website is a good place to start — www.oregonbeer.org — and check out the visitor bureau’s beer media kit (that’s right, we’re not kidding) at www.pova.org/media/microbrew

Columbia River Gorge-ous

One of America’s most spectacular urban-accessible scenic drives begins and ends in Portland. The route out and back through the Columbia River Gorge brings together a stunning blend of history, both natural and manmade, from the sheer scenic audacity of the gorge itself to the built audacity of Bonneville Lock and Dam. Allow enough time to detour on to the old road — the landmark-designated Columbia River Highway — and stop at Crown Point Overlook and the double-drop cascade of Multnomah Falls, the second-highest perpetual falls in the country.