What to buy in Portland / Columbia River Gorge

We will be visiting for a few days from Europe in early July. Are there any crafts / gifts that are unique and/or special to Oregon (besides wine/foodstuffs/plants)? If anyone has suggestions, please include shop names and contact details. Thanks!

What to buy in Portland / Columbia River Gorge

Hi, we love the Nob Hill area of Portland for great shopping at the quaint boutiques. The Pearl District in Portland also has many nice unique shops. www.shopthepearl.com is a nice website for this.

Enjoy your time in Portland! :)

What to buy in Portland / Columbia River Gorge

Hello!

I%26#39;ll try to get this started for you, but I%26#39;m sure that others will have ideas as well.

You didn%26#39;t say exactly where you will be visiting when you arrive, so I hope that this reply will be relevant for you.

The first things that come to mind as ';Oregon products'; are the wines, but since that is not in your list, how about Pendleton Wool products? They make clothing and blankets. The town of Pendleton is in the Eastern part of the state and a very famous rodeo event is held there annually. Products they make are available all over the state in their own ';Pendleton Stores'; as well as major retailers.

Another thing that is ';unusual'; to Oregon is Myrtle wood products. You can find all types of items made from this unusual wood from bowls and cutlery to keychains. This also can be found in several places, but the ones I%26#39;m familiar with are along the southern coastal area.

The famed fishing floats are another possibility- way back when, the glass floats used on the Asian fishing nets would come across the ocean currents on occasion and end up on Oregon beaches. Not too many ';real'; ones any longer, but there are several glass studios along the coast that produce glass orbs they call floats...some places allow you to actually make your own. There are 2 that I can think of: the Sears studio and Pyromania. One is near Lincoln City and the other closer to Newport

but I always seem to flip-flop which is which.

Oregon Thundereggs would be another thing- these are geodes found in different areas which can be purchased at rock shops or, if you are the adventurous type, you can search for them yourself.Geodes are hollow rocks that, when broken open, reveal centers that are lined with crystalline structures. Some are really elaborate and valuable.

To make shopping easier, you could go to any branch of the ';Made In Oregon'; stores and see what strikes your fancy. They carry all sorts of Oregon-made products ( Hence the name :) )from foodstuffs to stationery to pottery and jewelry as well as books by Oregonians and about Oregon. I know there are 2 in the airport and there is a large venue downtown. There are probably others as well.

Back to the wine for a second- should you find a wine that strikes your fancy, you can have it shipped home ( if allowed by your state) or you could take it back as checked baggage by using specially designed boxes that contain a foam liner that protects the bottles inside. Oregon pinots are very good and many excellent ones are not generally available because the productions are small.

Ok- that is enough prattle for now. Hope this will get you thinking and spur other replies.

Footloose has great suggestions. Pendleton was the first thing that popped into my head. A couple years ago a friends teen went on exchange to Russia and she took several Pendleton blankets to her host family as gifts from Oregon.

Good post, footloose! Yep... Pendleton and myrtlewood are the first things that came to my mind, too. But, you missed marionberries. ;-)

If you%26#39;re here on a weekend, NHGirlinUK, I suggest you head to Saturday Market, and possibly Portland Farmers Market: http://www.portlandsaturdaymarket.com/ %26amp; http://www.portlandfarmersmarket.org/ . Besides Made in Oregon, The Real Mother Goose would be another place to look, though its products aren%26#39;t exclusive to Oregon.

Not sure why I%26#39;m throwing this out there, but it might be of interest that Oregon is home to Nike. And if you wear a size 8 (or 9), I could maybe hook you up with a pair of shoes that won%26#39;t be released to the market until summer 2010. :-)

Made in Oregon stores. There are several. One stop shopping for products that are, well, made in Oregon ;-)

Hazelnuts ... Marionberry jam ... Myrtlewood

All the products mentioned here and in above posts are legal to bring into the UK/Europe in your checked luggage. So is wine and microbrew beer.

http://www.madeinoregon.com/

Everyone here has some excellent ideas. I don%26#39;t have much to add other than if you are headed to the gorge, the gift shop at Bonneville Dam Fish Hatchery tries to stock only items from small, local companies whenever possible. (At least that is how the guy behind the counter reasoned no longer carrying ice cream treats) Seriously though, they do have some really nice stuff mixed in with the usual tourist garb, as compared to the gift shop at Multnomah Falls, for example.

Hello from a former Portland resident/shopper .. :O)

Made in Oregon stores, absolutely.

Powells Books in Portland on Couch .. it is called the City of Books, you have to see it and experience it and at least buy postcards or books or better, a book about Portland with lots of photos.

NW 21st street has lots of funky little boutiques.. but they also have the chain stores round all over the US ..

REI might have some clothing that would be more particular to the PNW...

If you are going to be there on the First Thursday in July- you would be in Luck ! the Pearl District has First Thursday when every gallery and shop is open late and there is music and people sell all sorts of things, streets are closed off and it is great fun... and you can buy all sorts of unique special things ..

If not, then just look in the shops in the Pearl ..

The Farmers Market on Saturday in the SouthPark Blocks is huge and has handmade baskets etc .. Wednesdays market in the Pearl is smaller but there are usually some small amount of handmade items..

Have fun.... shopping ...

The first thing that popped into my head was myrtle wood. Happy to see that I am not alone on that. Myrtle wood only grows in a few places in the world...Oregon being one of those.

Also, agreeing on those fantastic Pendleton Woolen Mill products. I still use a Pendleton blanket that my parents bought back in the late 1940%26#39;s. It has stood the test of time...and many a beach trip. Also just found a pristine Pendleton shirt with leather covered buttons, that belonged to my father (clearing out my mothers house as she downsizes). I am betting that he purchased it in the 50%26#39;s. He wore it as a jacket. It was dry cleaned a good 15 years ago and was still in the bag. You%26#39;d think it was new.

In other words, Pendleton products are fantastic!

The suggestion of the Made in Oregon stores is a good one.....remember that there is one at the airport and they charge the same prices there as they do at their other locations....so if you find that you need to pick up ';one more thing'; before heading home, you certainly can.

REI would certainly have clothing appropriate to the British Isles.

http://www.printartsnw.org/

Print Arts Northwest unfortunately quit their easily-accessible gallery site, but this organization does feature many excellent art prints.

www.museumofcontemporarycraft.org/index.php

The Museum of Contemporary Crafts has been building its collection for years, and has always sold wonderful stuff at reasonable prices. Even before their big move to the Pearl District. Portland is a big pottery town.

And here%26#39;s a unique not-for-sale crafts map: http://www.bullseyeglass.com/aboutus/map/

Y%26#39;all know what???We didn%26#39;t mention Saturday Market as a venue for buying Oregon crafts! NHGirl, if you are here over a weekend then the Saturday Market is a must do event. You will find all sorts of wonderful things there- some duds as well- and most are made by area crafters. I%26#39;m sure that you were referring to items that Oregon is ';known for'; in your original query, but there are many very creative folks that sell their wares at Saturday Market and you just might find the best souvenir ever down there.