Travel Recommendations: pFriem and Oregon Garden Resort

[ORMojo]

Funny side note: As I'm typing this post, I have my Jack White channel playing on Spotify . . . and "Portland, Oregon" plays.

I regularly request recommendations here on the forum when I am traveling to new locales. I also see several inquiries a year for recommendations while visiting my home state. So a bit of a travelogue . . .

I've mentioned this business a couple of times when providing recommendations for here in Oregon, so it is good to see this story: How Oregon's pFriem rose to new status as nation's top midsize brewery

While I'm at it, I should have posted the photos below (sorry, just cell phone photos) in the "Fall Foliage" thread, but they also lead me to another travel recommendation. The Oregon Garden Resort is a regular stay for me and/or the family. I'm fortunate to have multiple multi-day business meetings there every year. I also assist with school field trips there. I just did a 4th grade trip a couple weeks ago that was particularly entertaining - the kids' favorite thing that day was watching a snake in the pond pictured below slowly consume a whole frog just a few feet in front of them. And no, I'm not affiliated with the Garden or Resort, just the schools. I often just stay a night or two for the heck of it, especially when the weather and season line up just right. Technically, the Oregon Garden and the Resort are two different entities, but it is a very symbiotic relationship.

What makes the Resort special isn't any one thing about it - it is the combination of everything you can get in a package stay, at what I consider to be a great value. My favorite is the "Dinner Escape Package" currently at $129 per night (it has been that price for some time). For that price, you get a very comfortable room (every condo-style single-level room has a private patio and gas fireplace), full breakfast, year-round outdoor hot tub, seasonal outdoor swimming pool, unlimited admission to the Oregon Garden, a bottle of wine, and dinner for two (anything on the menu). The house wine is not bad at all (I prefer the red Zin), and the menu choices, while not Michelin rated, are pretty darn good. There are also 1-2 dinner specials every night, and live entertainment seven nights a week. A couple of weeks ago I had the "Red Sea Pasta" - pasta with lobster, scallops, and prawns in a spicy red sauce - and it was quite good.

Also, in the Fall Foliage vein, I've made several trips over the Cascades during the past two months, and the foliage has been at least the best I can recall from my 50+ years in Oregon. I don't know if it was our extended dry spell, relatively warm autumn, and then relatively sudden very cold nights, or climate change, or what, but it has been spectacular. And the vineyards in the valley have, as always, been spectacular carpets of color.

Anyway, I highly recommend checking out both pFriem and the Oregon Garden (Resort) if you have the opportunity.

[gasman]

Thanks for the post. I've seen the exit off I-5 for the Oregon Garden but never knew what was there .
Sounds like a nice overnight.

[ORMojo]

Originally Posted by gasman

Thanks for the post. I've seen the exit off I-5 for the Oregon Garden but never knew what was there .
Sounds like a nice overnight.

You are welcome - hope you get to visit!

I wouldn't quite put it in the "destination resort" category (unless you are really into gardening/plants!), but if you are local or passing through the area, it is definitely worth a day visit and/or overnight. And (my) kids seem to really like it there.

Of course, it is best visited Spring/Summer/Fall, for obvious growing season reasons. But if you have young kids, their "Christmas in the Garden" program is a hit - they have lots of special activities, ice skating, and a fairly large light display. I shot the photos below just last week as the display was being set up.