From Sleepy to Metropolitan, Booming Portland

What once seemed like a sleepy town, Oregon's largest city is now booming with rich advancements any metropolis would envy. The grubby dive bars have been replaced by coffee roasteries and craft breweries on just about every block. And the food carts--more and better than ever. If it sounds like Portland has become a concrete jungle, fret now. There is an abundance of natural beauty – perfect parks with leafy trees and a view of Mount Hood on the horizon. Download the Portland Travel Guide and Offline Map and go see for yourself!

1.  Pittock Mansion

This grand and beautiful 1914 mansion was built by pioneer-entrepreneur Henry Pittock, who revitalized the Oregonian newspaper; his wife, Georgiana, also a pioneer, started the earliest of Portland's annual Rose Festivals. Guided tours are available, but it's also worth visiting the grounds simply to have a picnic while taking in the spectacular views. If you're up for a wander, the mansion lies along the Wildwood Trail in Forest Park, with dozens of miles of connecting trails branching off it.

2. Forest Park

Abutting the more manicured Washington Park to the south is the far wilder 5100-acre Forest Park, a temperate rainforest that harbors plants and animals and hosts an avid hiking fraternity. The Portland Audubon Society maintains a bookstore, a wildlife-rehabilitation center and 4.5 miles of trails within its Forest Park sanctuary. It's worth visiting the grounds just to check out the spectacular views – bring a picnic.

3. Pioneer Courthouse Square

One of Portland's grandest Victorian hotels once stood here, but it fell into disrepair and was torn down in 1951. Later the city decided to build Pioneer Courthouse Sq, and grassroots support resulted in a program that encouraged citizens to buy and personalize the bricks that eventually built the square. Names include Sherlock Holmes, William Shakespeare, and Elvis Presley. Across 6th Ave is the Pioneer Courthouse. Built in 1875, this was the legal center of 19th-century Portland.

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What to See in Seattle, the Futuristic City Amidst Evergreen Forests

What's not to love about Seattle when you get the best of worlds--modern architecture and a large tech industry on one hand and on the other mountains and evergreen forests and thousands of acres of parkland. A city nestled on Puget Sound and a view of Downtown Seattle from Queen Anne Hill, with the Space Needle on the left and Mount Rainier on the right, is a testament to the city's booming economy and penchant for preserving nature. If you'd want to have a taste of both worlds then visit Seattle with the Seattle Travel Guide and Offline Map.

1.      The Space Needle

One of the most iconic landmarks of the Pacific Northwest, the Space Needle was built in the Seattle Center for the 1962 World's Fair. It was once considered the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River and it 605 feet or 184 meters high. It ws built to withstand winds up to 200 miles per hour and earthquakes of up to 9.1 magnitudes. It offers a great view of the city from up above on its observation deck and even boasts a rotating restaurant.

2.      Museum of Pop Culture

The Museum of Pop Culture is a nonprofit museum, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. The 140,000-square-foot building houses exhibits that cover pop culture, from the art of fantasy, horror cinema, and video games to science fiction literature and costumes from screen and stage. Interactive activities included in galleries like Sound Lab and On Stage where visitors can explore hands-on the tools of rock and roll through instruments, and perform music before a virtual audience.

3.      Gas Works Park

What was the site of the former Seattle Gas Light Company gasification plant is now a famous public park on the North shore of Lake Union. Gas Works park contains remnants of the sole remaining coal gasification plant in the United States. The plant operated from 1906 to 1956 and was bought by the City of Seattle for park purposes in 1962. Gas Works Park also features an artificial kite-flying hill with an elaborately sculptured sundial built into its summit.

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