<p>Hood is closer to Portland than Mount Seattle Seahawks ( Rainier) is to Seattle but they don’t have much of a visitor center.
<a href=“http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/01/31/3022186/legislature-renames-mount-rainier.html”>http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/01/31/3022186/legislature-renames-mount-rainier.html</a>
Its probably Multnomah falls you’re thinking of?
Are you interested in a baseball game?
You might also want a CityPass
<a href=“CityPASS® - See 5 Top Things to Do in Seattle and Save 47%”>http://www.citypass.com/seattle</a></p>
<p>Both are great. Portland is my hometown, though, so I am prejudiced. Seconding Powell’s books. Multnomah Falls if you like the outdoors. Portland is bisected by a river so there are lots of bridges and riverfront events. All cities have their own culture magazines these days…grab one and browse those “great restaurants” or “great neighborhood” articles. Depending on seasons…the Rose Garden, music in the park, etc. </p>
<p>Downtown Portland is an easy one day walking thing to see sights. Of course I am biased, but there is a lot of stuff to do and see in Seattle most of which has been detailed above.</p>
<p>Be aware that the train takes a whole day to get from Seattle to Portland, basically. And 12 hr to get from Portland to Oakland and it is really really often LATE. So don’t take the train if you have a tight schedule. Train from SF to Portland goes mostly at night, sad you miss great scenery. So for the train issue, I’d stick with Portland because of your time constraints. </p>
<p>I love both Portland and Seattle, but gotta plug SF, too!! Just stay there! LOL</p>
<p>Thanks eveyrbody, we are definitely taking all these suggestions into consideration.
@esobay, DD lives in SF, I have been, and will be back!; this trip is meant for her to get away, too.</p>
<p>Its 3-4 hrs to drive to Pdx from Seattle, it can be faster or slower to take the train.
Just dont take a train originating from San Diego.
Coast Starlight is slower but has the observation car, Cascades is faster.</p>
<p>The two cities are fairly different in what they offer. Museums are definitely better in Seattle but the restaurants are way better in Portland.</p>
<p>The restaurants are better cause the grocery stores are sad & / or way more expensive than they need to.
I havent made it to the farmers markets though.
Id also recommend the Wing Luke museum & the Klondike museum.( Pioneer Square/ International District)
& MOHAI. ( Lake Union)</p>
<p>If you want to meet Seattlites, stop by after you go to the zoo, & you can take the pup around. Greenlake.</p>
<p>Here’s what we did for Seattle before a cruise… I have a few good friends in Portland but we did not make it there.</p>
<ul>
<li>Needle - good</li>
<li>EMP music etc museum - good if you are into music, yawn otherwise</li>
<li>Aquarium - meh</li>
<li>Museum of Flight - spent 6 hours there much to the chagrin of the rest of the family)</li>
<li>Pacific Science Center - halfway meh </li>
<li>harbor boat cruise - great</li>
</ul>
<p>All the above were done with some kind of city pass that gives discounts.</p>
<p>Then we had the usual downtown fish market, Starbucks, and so on, visit to Bellvue, and one day trip to Mt. Reinier (sp?).</p>
<p>I spent a month in PDX and while it’s nice I could not see spending the same amount of time or see the same we saw in Seattle.</p>
<p>Too many Californians live in Seattle now. I think you can still find some native Nor’westerners in Oregon Territory.</p>
<p>If you go to Portland, I would say don’t bother with VooDoo Donuts. They do have some unusual donuts, and most of them have sexually suggestive names, but it’s just a donut shop. The line is long and the novelty factor is pretty low.</p>
<p>In Seattle, skip the Pacific Science Center. We were members for years when the kids were young, but that is really their target audience and the place is overrun with little ones. We have also been members of, at different times, the Seattle Art Museum (definitely), 5th Avenue Theatre and 4 or 5 other theater groups, Seattle Symphony (no, if you , the Woodland Park Zoo (good zoo), and the EMP (cool collection of stuff if you are into music at all). If your stay includes the first Thursday of the month the museums are free.</p>
<p>There are tour groups still running snowshoe trips in April to Mt. Rainier, but you run the risk of not being able to see anything on cloudy days. They have a collection of boots and waterproof clothing so no need to pack tons of stuff.</p>
<p>Some of the neighborhoods that may be worth walking around: Capitol Hill, Fremont, Ballard (locks tours are free), maybe Greenlake. As others have said, ferry trips are great on a nice day.</p>
<p>We spent a very long weekend in Portland last spring and loved it. First day or two we meandered around downtown - Powell’s Books, Voodoo Donuts, the Pearl District, the Rose Garden, food carts, Stumptown Coffee, dinner at Little Bird one night and Nostrana the next. Then we drove out to the coast - lunch in Cannon Beach, visited a cool lighthouse. Another day down in the Willamette Valley wine country -favorite winery visit was Penner Ash. Last couple of days were spent driving out to Hood River where we spent the night (dinner at a great pizza place/brewery) and then back through the Columbia River Gorge. We stopped at about 6 waterfalls, some of which we had to hike to see. We loved the whole trip and are going again at the end of the month.</p>
<p>We live in Oregon, but even though I love Portland, if I had only one weekend in the PacNW, I’d go to Seattle. </p>
<p>Last summer my husband and I did a tour (with a guide, but it’s not really necessary except we liked not driving) of Mount St. Helens. He’d always wanted to see it and I was always ‘meh’. Wow. It was astounding. Impossible to describe but a fascinating combination of beautiful country and sobering vistas of nature’s destructive force, and the story of the events is amazing. It could be a side trip from either Portland or Seattle; in WA but closer to PDX. </p>
<p>UPDATE #1</p>
<p>We have some things narrowed down.
Overnight train from Bay Area to Portland Tuesday night; Wednesday evening and full Thursday in Portland;
early morning flight to Seattle, Friday, Saturday, most of Sunday in Seattle and Sunday evening flight to SFO.</p>
<p>DD knows someone in each city we may get to see, mulling through all suggestions now to prioritize things to do, places to see, restaurants.</p>
<p>Thanks all, will update after.</p>
<p>Last time I was down in Portland we enjoyed our breakfast at Mother’s Bistro. It was a very happening place so if I make plans to go there again I will call in advance to place a reservation. I think it was less than a half mile from Voodoo Doughnut where there was also a line (we didn’t go in). Enjoy your trip, Mominva.</p>
<p>One of the best meals my H and I have ever had was at Andina in Portland (Peruvian cuisine) . We spent 3 hours there and enjoyed every bite. You’ll need a reservation and it isn’t cheap, but well worth it.</p>
<p>Some of our Seattle favorites:</p>
<p>Wild Ginger, an asian restaurant with a distinct NW flavor, located at the corner of Union St. and 3rd Ave. My youngest is in love with the fragrant duck dish.</p>
<p>Dahlia Lounge, a pretty famous Seattle restaurant from pretty famous chef Tom Douglas. His triple coconut cream pie is my favorite dessert ever. The Dahlia bakery and Serious Pie, a Napoli-style individual pizza joint are at the same location, 4th Ave, and Virginia.</p>
<p>For a real authentic Seattle experience, head to Ballard and eat at the Walrus And The Carpenter, a raw oyster bar. No reservations, so get your name on the list at least an hour before you want to eat and take the time to visit the local shops. Weekend waits can be 2 hours or more.</p>
<p>If you go to the EMP or the Space Needle, you will be a few blocks from Crow, a restaurant we like for their cassoulet and happy-hour bar food.</p>
<p>Burgers? Dick’s Drive-In is our local one. Late night? 13 Coins is a 24-hour diner/restaurant near the intersection of Boren and Denny. Local music scene? See who is playing at the Tractor Tavern, fun for the young but appropriate for grandparents.</p>
<p>I tried to include only Seattle-specific recommendations since you come from the great restaurants of SF. If you have any questions, the wife has eaten at just about every Seattle restaurant over the years.</p>