Two weeks in Portland/Seattle in July - tips/help?

In a fit of spontenaity I%26#39;ve just bought tickets for two %26#39;Concerts on the Lawn%26#39; at Edgefield (July 17th %26amp; 18th). Sadly (though inevitably I suppose) there are no rooms free at Edgefield itself, so I%26#39;ve booked the Comfort Inn for those two nights - now I%26#39;m really confused about the rest of the trip!

It%26#39;s still very flexible, not even booked flights yet, we can fly into/out of either PDX or Seattle (coming from England). We have visited the PNW before: spent 4 nights in Seattle for Bumbershoot, went to Vancouver Island, San Juan Island %26amp; Portland - this time fancy seeing the Olympic Peninsula %26amp; Oregon Coast - maybe even Crater Lake?

We prefer to stay in places that are a bit %26#39;different%26#39; (e.g stayed at the Kennedy School in Portland %26amp; thought it was fab!) Any suggestions???

Two weeks in Portland/Seattle in July - tips/help?

Well, with 2 weeks you have lots of time to play with!

There is a hotel on the Oregon Coast that certainly would fit you desire for %26#39;different%26#39;...it is called Sylvia Beach Hotel. All of the rooms have book themes and the entire facility is book related. There are no tv%26#39;s radios, etc- it is a book-lovers haven. One of my relatives considered it for a visit to the area last year- opted out due to concerns of the kids not liking it- but it sounds like fun. I believe their website is www.sylviabeachhotel.com.

Two weeks in Portland/Seattle in July - tips/help?

Since you obviously like the McMenanmins hotels, they have several others--The Grand Lodge at Forest Grove OR (used to be a Masonic Lodge retirement home), Hotel Oregon in McMinnville, Old St. Francis School in Bend, White Eagle Hotel in downtown Portland, and the Olympic Club Hotel in Centralia WA.

www.mcmenamins.com

Another interesting place is Thornewood Castle in Lakewood WA (south of Seattle, near Tacoma)

www.thornewoodcastle.com

Also Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood and Crater Lake Lodge.

You could include the Olympic Peninsula (2-4 days), the Oregon Coast (2-4 days) and Crater Lake (1-2 days--the later in July the better, snow hangs around a long time at Crater Lake). How long you spend depends on your interests and activities. Do you want spend time hiking, etc.

I can see several options:

1. Fly into Seattle a few days before July 16th and tour Olympic National Park. (Recommend that you wait until after July 4 as that is a huge holiday here), see the show at Edgefield, then head down the Oregon Coast, over to Crater Lake, Bend, and the Columbia Gorge. Return to Seattle or fly out of Portland.

2. Fly into Portland, see the show, tour Oregon, then drive north to Olympic Nat. Park and fly out of Seattle or return to Portland.

Best weather here is mid-to-late July or August.

Thank you - what a speedy reply!

Checked out the website abd The Sylvia looks exactly the sort of place we like to try out. It will definitely go on the list.

We like to do a combination of busy city stuff (food/drink/music/art/buildings - not shopping), relaxing somewhere off the beaten track and more strenuous outdoorsy things (hiking/kayaking etc, although no %26#39;thrill seeking%26#39;!)

Would rather spend 2/3 days in one location and see it properly than spend all day driving and ticking things off a list, so your suggestions are looking good. Time to get onto %26#39;mapquest%26#39; and check out some distances I think.

Thank you!

Well, so long as you%26#39;re considering the Sylvia Beach Hotel, you might also be interested in going just a bit further down the coast to the Heceta Head Lighthouse B%26amp;B between Yachats and Florence. It comes with fantastic scenery, beaches, hiking trails and even a ghost.

http://hecetalighthouse.com/bed_breakfast/

Oh, this will be a fun thread, no doubt ;-)

Since you%26#39;re fairly new to TA, ThatNameIsTaken (love it!), are you familiar with the TA reviews? Here are the reviews for the Sylvia Hotel:

tripadvisor.com/鈥EVIEWS

I suspect you%26#39;ll really enjoy Nye Beach, where the hotel is located. Do book ahead as far as possible, as summer is very busy along the coast.

I%26#39;m not personally aquainted with them, but how about a yurt at one of the state parks? I don%26#39;t know how well supplied they are, but it would sure be different!!!

Also, as an interesting activity, there is a sled-dog training facility that I just read about in our paper ( The Oregonian). It is possible to ride the training sleds when you visit. I don%26#39;t know the exact date of publication for the article, but the Oregonian has a pretty good archive and I%26#39;m certain that I saw the article within the last month. It contained all the pertinent information for getting to the facility and making appointments.

If you like museums, you might enjoy going to McMinnville to the air museum to see Howard Hughes%26#39; famous plane ';The Spruce Goose';. It is apparently quite a good museum with all kinds of planes included. I haven%26#39;t been but family members have and they felt it to be a worthwhile adventure.

Thanks for all help so far - plan coming together I think:

Seattle

Port Townsend

Somewhere Else on Olympic Peninsula

Astoria

Edgefield

Bend (St Francis School?)

Newport

Portland

Finding that a lot of the places on the coast don%26#39;t have online booking/reservation checking which makes it tricky!

Oh yes, and I do check out the Trip Adviser reviews: remembering to be careful to weed out the ';the receptionist smiled at me in a sarcastic way when we checked in and there was NO shower cap, it was the worst holiday ever!!!'; types though.

%26gt;%26gt; Finding that a lot of the places on the coast don%26#39;t have online booking/reservation checking which makes it tricky! %26lt;%26lt;

Hmmm, should have, although might not expect if from Sylvia Beach Hotel. It is a little, er, different, lol.