(See comments below for additional recommendations.)
Portland has the usual city things (Museums, zoo, botanical gardens, etc). If that's your thing please look them up.
The weather should be cool and clear at the time of the show (likely 65 during the day, 48 as a low). It could rain, but unlikely in early October.
A few unique things Portland has to offer:
Other gear shops: We have some good fishing and hunting shops for those interested:
Portland has the usual city things (Museums, zoo, botanical gardens, etc). If that's your thing please look them up.
The weather should be cool and clear at the time of the show (likely 65 during the day, 48 as a low). It could rain, but unlikely in early October.
A few unique things Portland has to offer:
- No sales tax in Oregon!
- Many knife makers in/near Portland (Benchmade, CRKT, Kershaw/ZT, Coast, Leatherman, Murray Carter, and many others). Benchmade has a nice retail store at their factory. Leatherman has a least one retail store - not worth a visit, imo. Murray Carter has retail at his shop. As far as I know the rest don't have retail or a showroom
- If you're into bookstores I strongly suggest visiting Powell's Books
- Marijuana is legal here for those over 21. There are many shops. I don't partake and therefore can't recommend. Check the laws before you light up. I believe you can't smoke in public. Shops should have edibles (not sure what they're called)
- Forest Park: about 8 square miles of forested trails. 15 minutes out of town it can seem like you're in the middle of nowhere
- Food Trucks: Portland has collections of food trucks. Usually dozens of them parked together. Food ranges from adequate to amazingly good. Google it if interested
- Voodoo Donuts: People love this place. They started the "crazy" doughnut craze with things like bacon in or on a doughnut. Novel, but not really worth the lines for me (about 15 min walk from the show)
- Many good restaurants, mostly expensive. Plenty of good food here
- A lot of good local beer and hard cider. Too many to describe. Deschutes Brewary is close to the show is and right off the light rail
- A lot of good coffee. If you're not into coffee, don't bother. If you are, Google it. Crazy number of coffee places
- There are several ways to take a ride up the Willamette river. You'll likely need reservations. This is usually interesting to see
- Fishing:
mostly salmon and steelhead around Portland. They run is terrible right now. If you're interested I suggest a guided fishing trip. You'll need fishing clothes. They provide the fishing gear. Most let you keep the catch, but check first. Of course you'll need a licenseUPDATE: 9/11 @ 9pm I just got a notice that the Columbia river is closed to salmon and steelhead fishing. So I would not expect guided fishing to be an option unless you go to the coast - Check out Waterfront Park or Saturday Market. Right on the Willamette River, which divides the East and West sides of the city (think West Side Story). This is close to Blade Show (~15 minute walk)
- Visit Multnomah Falls. About a 30 minute drive
- A little past Multnomah Falls is Bonneville Dam, which you can also visit (about 40 mins away or 10 mins past the falls)
- Portland has good music and theater. If interested, reply with what you're interested in and I'll try to give some recommendations
Other gear shops: We have some good fishing and hunting shops for those interested:
- Fisherman's Marine is about 10-15 mins away from the show and is a great store. They have some knives. I buy 90% of my fishing stuff here
- Sportmans's Warehouse has a few locations. The closet one is about 15 mins away. Guessing most of you know what this is
- Cabela's is about 30 mins away if traffic isn't bad. I am not a fan of this store.
- Lamiglas is about 30 mins north in Washington. If you really like rods this place is worth a visit. You'll pay sales tax if you don't have an Oregon driver's license. Check their hours before driving there. They usually have some repaired rods that are a bargain (Note that G. Loomis is right across the freeway, but they don't have a store.)
- The Oregon coast is fantastic if you like looking at or walking on the beach. It'll be too cold to go in the water
- Wine tasting - not widely known that Oregon makes amazing, word-class wine. Stick to what western Oregon does well: Pinot Noir. Everything else is generally ok to bad. Hundreds of places to go within 2 hours of the show, many of them within an hour. Domain Serene has a tasting room about 8 mins away from the convention center by car, maybe 30 walking. Or about 2 hours by light rail (joking, sort of.) These guys are in the top 5% (maybe top 2%) of Oregon wine makers. If you like Pinot Noir do yourself a favor and go have a glass
- Drive east to Hood River, which is a cool little town. About an hour away. If it's windy you'll possibly see dozens (sometimes hundreds) of people out windsurfing or kite boarding. Good beer, cider, food, scenery, and biking, hiking, and walks
- Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood is impressive. (If was used for the outside scenes of the hotel in The Shining.) Likely too early for snow, but maybe not. Check the weather before heading up the mountain
- Seattle is a long drive, but possible to visit in one day. It's about 3 hours one way if you miss commuter traffic.
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Plus the final Get Your Geek On burlesque show is at Crush Thursday night.