Late Summer Road Trip 2019: McMenamin's Kennedy School Hotel

During our year of living in Portland, we discovered a chain of very quirky hotels and restaurants called McMenamins. Founded in 1983, the family-owned business has become famous in the Pacific Northwest. Although they are a chain, no two locations are alike.

Our friends from California visited us during the spring of our year in Portland, and they raved about McMenamin’s Kennedy School Hotel, which they visited for cocktails. The location of the hotel was a former elementary school that was built in 1915, it had been abandoned until McMenamin’s renovated it, turning it into a unique hotel with a movie theater, multiple bars and restaurants.

Here is a picture of the Kennedy School in the 1940’s.

And how it looks today…

The entire property takes on an Alice in Wonderland air, as visitors explore the different rooms, passages and multiple levels. The art work that adorns the walls are clearly not original to the school house, as they take on a nightmarish quality. I kept sensing that this would be a fantastic building for a halloween event. It also must be a very trippy experience for visitors who worked at or attended the original Kennedy School.

In keeping with the “school theme” the hotel has a detention bar. The principal’s office has also been turned into a bar, which two of our friends who are retired teachers, really loved.

We parked ourselves in The Boiler Room for the signature cocktail, Ginger Pear Sidecars. The Boiler Room is an overwhelming experience for the eyes: exposed pipes, ornate lighting fixtures, and beautiful stained glass.

Whether you visit the Kennedy School Hotel or one of their other properties in the Pacific Northwest, you are sure to have a memorable experience at a McMenamins! Make sure to bring your appetite for adventure and stomach for a strong, well-made cocktail! Also, if you plan to visit more than one McMenamins Property, make sure to ask for a passport. Each location will stamp your passport, challenging you to drink your way through all of the McMenamins.

Oaks Amusement Park

Within the first month of living in Portland, Dan and I discovered Oaks Amusement Park. Opening in 1905, Oaks Park is one of the oldest, continuously operating amusement parks in the United States. Due to chilly Portland winters, Oaks Park operates seasonally, our first visit was during their final weekend in the fall.

We went back many times the following summer, including bringing my step-kids during their holiday visit with us. At the time, Zoe had just turned ten and Felix was a few months shy of turning eight. Oaks Park was perfect for them, offering both rides for younger guests and thrills that they were growing into.

This review is a mix of several trips from the fall of 2016 to the summer of 2017.

Parking and entry to Oaks Park is free. On that first visit, Dan and I just walked around, ate giant ice cream cones, and enjoyed the park. We didn’t go on any rides, but scoped it out for future visits, knowing that we would want to bring the kids.

When we brought the kids, we purchased unlimited ride bracelets for them. This was an amazing deal. For about twenty dollars, they could ride all day and it included one skate session at the indoor roller rink, plus skate rentals. Oaks Park has since changed their deal slightly and have excluded some of the bigger rides from the twenty dollar deal, however, the same deal we got, is available for an additional five dollars. Compared to a regular carnival, this is still an excellent value.

I grew up skating at Moonlight Rollerway in Glendale, California. This is the same rink that my parents enjoyed in the 50’s. The rink at Oaks Park had the same vintage flair.

I really wanted to skate, but I was experiencing sciatica and could barely walk, so I had to sit on the sidelines, watching the kids. Zoe was a very good skater, confidently gliding around the rink, showing off tricks like skating backwards. Felix was a beginner, but within a few hours, he was able to let go of the wall and skate around the rink. Roller skating is one of those rare activities, where you can see people of all ages having fun together, including many seniors citizens showing the kids how it is done.

On our visits, the kids would skate for at least two hours, which would really tire them out. This was great, because they had so much energy at that age. It also gave them a break from the dizzying rides and the summer heat.

They definitely loved the rides the most. Oaks Park has a good selection of rides and as a theme park geek, I loved how they had placards explain the history of classic rides, like the Tilt O’Whirl. Here is selection of pictures from Oak Park.

After much consideration and a big dose of bravery, Zoe and Felix went on the “upside down” roller coaster. This wasn’t their first loop, as we got them on Rock-n-Roller Coaster during our WDW the previous summer. To be fair, they didn’t realized that Rock-N-Roller Coaster had loops, until they were on the ride. This one they could see and it created nervous anticipation. They saved it for the last ride, on our final trip to Oaks Park.

But their favorite ride, that they rode on repeat, was a sliding saucer called Disk-O. They must have ridden it a million times and never stopped loving it. Here is Dan riding with Zoe, but after this, Felix tried it and realized that it was the best ride in the park.

Oaks Park has been a staple for generations of Portland families. Even though we only lived in the area for a year, it was easily one of our favorite places in Portland. Through the dreary fall/winter/spring, locals kept promising that summer would be spectacular and they were right. Summer is magical in Oregon and Oaks Park is the perfect place to bring the family for outdoor fun.

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm and Wine Tasting

I'm sure regular readers have noticed, that I'm blogging about events that are over a year old! We are just too busy running around and enjoying life, that these amazing activities that we've done rack up and I don't have a chance to write about them in a timely manner. I actually hope that I'm never current, as it will mean that we have a travel dry-spell. I love blogging about our lives, but documenting is certainly not as important as simply living and enjoying the moment.

Our amazing friends Bill and Melissa took it upon themselves to make sure that we enjoyed local Oregon activities during our year of living in Portland. One of these activities was a trip to Woodburn to the Tulip Festival at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm. We did a day trip with them last May to see the tulips, eat ice cream, and visit a few of their favorite wineries.

My first tip for visiting the Tulip Festival is to arrive early. Luckily, Melissa and Bill knew this and we avoided long waits. Be there when they open, because it's popular. When we left, just a few hours after they had opened, the line of cars to get into the dirt parking lot was enormous. We probably would have spent more time waiting for parking, than enjoying the flowers.

Before seeing tulips, we saw some old farm equipment.

There are a few rules to keep the flower beds safe and pretty.

When I visited Holland a few years ago, I visited a windmill farm, but it was after tulip season. They only tulips that I saw, were fake ones at the Tulip Museum in Amsterdam. I knew that tulips came in many shapes and colors, but seeing them in person was gorgeous. The entire farm was awash in color.

Pictures of us!

Another tip: Wear rain boots or shoes with good traction that you don't mind getting dirty. It had rained ( it's Oregon) and the fields were very, very muddy. A lot of people brought their dogs, which were having a great time playing in the mud!

Tulip close-ups.

The Tulip Festival had a large craft fair, live entertainment, and food. Of course, there were several tents where you could purchase tulips.

Being Oregon, they had a tent with wine tasting too. No, ten in the morning is not too early for a little taste, not even on an empty stomach.

After getting our fill of flowers, we spent the afternoon visiting local wineries. Oregon has A LOT of wineries. So, so, so many....that even a search for where we might have visited, doesn't leave me with any names that rang a bell. I remember that they were very good and at one, people were throwing a birthday party for their dog on an outside patio. You don't forget things like dogs having a party!

We also didn't take a single picture at the wineries. We did however, take a picture of this amazing ice cream truck that was parked outside of one of the wineries. Ice cream always trumps wine. Cream NorthWest was delicious. I vividly remember the scoop of Coldbrew Coffee & Caramel that I devoured. Yummmm

We had a wonderful day out with friends enjoying local activities. If you're visiting Oregon in the spring make sure to add the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm to your itinerary.