Portland: A LGBTQ+ Family-Friendly Gem
One of the country’s great progressive cities, Portland, Oregon, features much to do for LGBTQ+ families of all age ranges. My family has been to the city twice in the past few years, and a recent trip with my 16-year-old son Matthew on Spring Break cemented the city in our hearts as one of our favorites.
We chose the hip boutique hotel right in downtown Portland, The Woodlark, which served as a fantastic home base for exploring the city. Good Coffee, adjoining the lobby, was a great go-to for lattes, and Abigail Hall, toward the back of the building, has to be one of the coolest lounge spaces in the city.
Portland has become a foodie town, a nice compliment to its history as a great coffee scene. We ate really well here, and our favorites were newish Dolly Olive, a southern Mediterranean-focused spot that has incredible small plates to share. Pizza Kat’s thin-crust pies were perfect after a day of walking around the cool Alphabet District, teeming with shops. There were so many fun Korean options at the new Toki, where Matthew tried Korean BBQ for the first time. Lastly, don’t miss the selection of Lil’ America food carts, exclusively owned by BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ chefs.
Donuts, Sure, But … So Many Other Sweets!
Ask some folks about Portland and they’ll mention the donuts. Locals seem split between Voodoo Donuts and Blue Star Donuts. Voodoo has plenty of wild and crazy flavors such as Old Dirty Bastard, Chocolate Donut Cake, Butterfingering, and Memphis Mafia. There’s something for everyone. At Blue Star, the flavors are a little more adult in nature – Raspberry Rosemary Old-Fashioned or Cointreau Crème Brûlée – and the donuts themselves seem a bit lighter.
But we discovered that the sweets here aren’t simply about donuts. We stumbled on 1927 S’mores Company near downtown one evening and ventured into the small storefront. Inside, we found incredible handmade s’mores in an assortment of flavors like Bourbon Peach Cobbler and Whiskey Salted Caramel. Matthew enjoyed watching the … uhh, s’moreista? … expertly char our selected desserts with a propane torch.
There’s wonderful chocolate, here, too! I’m a huge fan of Ranger Chocolate Company’s sweets, especially their Oregon Wine Country Pinot Noir Chocolate Bars. They’ve been my go-to for pairing with a nice red wine for the last couple of years. So, I was eager to visit their local shop/café, and it wasn’t difficult to convince Matthew to accompany me for the outing. In addition to stocking up on various chocolate bars, we ordered a couple of the Ranger’s S’more Mochas (yes, you’re noticing a pattern here), which featured toasted house-made marshmallows and even chocolate-dipped graham crackers. Incredible! Matthew said the homemade marshmallows were the best he’s ever tasted, and I had to agree. We even purchased a half dozen to take home and share with the rest of the family.
The next day, we decided to get one more chocolate adventure in, so we signed up for the Make-A-Bar Tour at Creo Chocolates. This small factory tour provided so much insight into the chocolate-making process, what ingredients are used in different types of chocolate, and how to best enjoy chocolate slowly, savoring the flavor. We even got to make our own custom-designed chocolate bars, which was a lot of fun.
Attractions Galore
The Portland Art Museum, which was an easy walk from our hotel, had a lovely collection that spans a variety of areas, including American, European, Asian, and modern art. There’s also a significant portion dedicated to Northwestern art and Native American art, which was our favorite. The museum also hosts regular temporary exhibits; I loved the “Dakota Modern: The Art of Oscar Howe” that was running during our visit. Upcoming temporary exhibits include ones focusing on director Guillermo del Toro, Black artists of Oregon, and African fashion.
Over at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), we wandered through thought-provoking exhibits on everything from energy generation to the development of the human body. We really enjoyed the planetarium show, and there are even tours of the USS Blueback Submarine, which is docked next to the museum. And although the exhibits and labs trend toward younger children, there is a Teen Tech Center, where no parents are allowed! Here, teens can experiment with different musical instruments, operate knitting and rug tufting machines to make their own creations, and even print out their own designs on 3D printers.
Other fun family-friendly options in Portland include the city’s famed International Rose Test Garden and the nearby Portland Japanese Garden, both pools of serenity in such a large urban area. Powell’s Books is an endless maze of happy wandering in a bookstore that takes up multiple floors and dozens of rooms. And stop at MadeHere, a fun shop of local artisans, where you can buy everything from glassware to clothing to popcorn.
