Summer guide to queer Portland!

Portland Weather...it's getting better!

Do I dare post this? Hard to believe, but the weather forecast for tomorrow is up to a staggering 94 degrees! Considering I was having drinks with a friend at the Bye and Bye last week and could see my breath, this is unbelievable.

Time for a quick-and-dirty summer guide to queer Portland.

1. Ah, beach life. A great place to go and be amongst your fellow queers is to hit up gay (clothing optional) beaches on Rooster Rock or Sauvie Island. Check out our handy-dandy little guide to Sauvie Island. Sauvie’s is totes trans/girl/queer/clothed/all-sizes positive, so you have no reason to stay at home! You can also go berry picking or check out the wildlife on the island. Rooster Rock is also another option, but is generally cruisier and more gay-guy orientated than Sauvie Island. Plus we went there yesterday and its all kinds of flooded, so bring yer raft or prepare to hike.  A trip to the Oregon coast is also the perfect way to spend a summer day.
2. Hit up one of our fabulous local parks! Colonel Summers is popular with bike freaks and SE hipsters, while Laurelhurst boasts amazing trees and picnic spots. Wilshire is a bit posher, while Washington Park is huge and has a Japanese garden, Rose Test Garden, Arboretum, and all that jazz. Alberta park is popular too, and Peninsula Park has a rose garden.
3. Outdoor pools are it. Peninsula Park outdoor pool is popular with folks from the gayborhood and local kids while grant park pool is a bit fancier and popular with local families. Peninsula Park is also home to Chunky Dunk, the size positive swim. If you’re not near a pool, hit up a park with a water feature and queer it.
4. 

   Why don't we have a gay cycling club in Portland?

   Go for a ride. Now is the perfect time to cruise around on your bicycle that has been collecting dust. Enjoy the cool air sliding through your fingers while you check out the local talent. Almost any bike shop in Portland is queer friendly, check out Citybikes and A Better Cycle in SE (there are also a number of bike shops on Hawthorne), the NoPo Bikeworx on Mississippi, Community Cycling Center on Alberta, or the more expensive/classier River City Bicycles for a new ride or a tune-up. Just wear a helmet. More bike community news can be found on bikeportland.org.

5. Have a nice, cool drink. Enjoy some legendary Portland back patios. Some of the biggest and nicest are at the traditional English (forget the Horse’ Brass, this place is it!) pub Moon and Sixpence, the yummy vegan food-sporting Bye and Bye, the crusty Alberta St Pub, the Alleyway, Vendetta, or, if you want some fancier fare, try snacks and hookah’s at the Pied Cow on Belmont. Or stop by Crush for some yummy cocktails. Portland has some great happy hours, too.
6. Have a BBQ. But before you do that, hit up your local Whole Foods, or even better, New Seasons (local, better labor policies!) for the necessary food and bevs. Each New Seasons has an employment policy that makes hiring hot queers mandatory. It be the truth! Well, it seems like it, anyways.
7. Read a good book. In a hammock in a shady back yard, or at the beach. In an un-official poll of everyone we know, Powell’s has been rated a great place to spot local hotties. Reading is sexy. Portland Queer also just won the lambda lit award!
   
8. Get some new styles. Yardsales and freeboxes are what make Portland fantastic. Inner SE/NE is a great place to freebox, but the more family-oriented areas of PDX such as Kenton, Sellwood, Cully, etc are great for yard sales.
9. Work in your yard. Have no yard? Borrow a friend’s. The best produce is local produce, ideally from your own back yard. Nothing beats fresh home grown veggies. Have no friends? Make some new ones at one of our local farmer’s markets, which are packed with cute people, too.


Portland Queer

10. Throw a dance party. Portlanders can throw a dance party in a shoebox. Hit up Do The Dark at Tonic (nice front patio), new nights at Vendetta, or old standard’s such as Gay Pizza. Check our events listings, or let us know what is new and cool. Or make your own-in your back yard, basement, roof top…
11. And last but not least: Get out of town. Summer is the perfect time to leave the PDX and do some travellin’. Queer some campsites, make new friends, go down to wolf creek, or head north to canada…but be sure to bring some of that out-of-town spirit with you when you come back.

Have a great summer!