Again, on a Friday night after work, when we had no plan, why not watch a free movie and eat popcorn with other people in a park. This is a very friendly and safe place to hang around thanks to the City of Portland. On this day (7/12), they had this Movies in the Park event at Colonel Summers Park in East downtown Portland.
How to get there?
It takes about 8 mins drive from downtown Portland. The traffic towards a bridge across Willamette River can get heavy depending on time of a day.
Every summer in Portland Oregon, Portland Parks and Recreation by the City of Portland offer free movie and live music concerts with local music bands. This is a very friendly event and kids would love it.
Portland Parks & Recreation by City of Portland. This event was well managed and trash cans and toilets were there. Here is the list of coming up events for the movies in the park.
The movie starts after dusk (it started around 9:30pm). Free concert starts around 6:30pm.
kids playground, basketball courts and baseball field are there.
Food and Drink?
Free popcorn and food carts are available. Everybody is welcome to bring any outside food.
How was the movie?
The movie was Fantastic Beasts: Crimes Of Grindelwald from 2018. The movie was a little more than 2 hours (2 hr and 13 min). This is the second movie of the “Fantastic Beasts” series. The content is about what happened before Harry Potter. Young Dumbledore was in the movie.
They played the DVD version. The movie started after 9:30 and finished around 11:30. It got very cold. Extra blankets would help.
Introduction | Fort Vancouver is a National Historical Park and they hold a July 4th Fireworks event. This is one of the biggest fireworks at West Coast. They play music while launch fireworks. They start fireworks after 10pm, which is later than other firework places. So, it is a good idea to bring warm cloths to wait for fireworks.
Park Features:
Parking: Free Street Parking on July 4th (Holiday)
Bathroom: Toilets and public restrooms at Visitor Center and Museum
Parking is free on July 4th on street. There would be traffic jam after fireworks, so if possible, I’d recommend to park where you could exit from crowd easily. For example, closer to entrance to highway.
There were a couple of people checking car traffic on Evergreen Blvd. You could park on Reserve St or before the bridge. You need to take a walk to the park.
Food and Gift Shops?
Yes, at Visitor Center and Food Cart. You can bring outside food. There was a bag check at the park entrance.
What to do before fireworks start after 10pm?
Art Museum
The front door to enter the museum after the ticket office was unique. The museum ticket was free on July 4th.
Miniature of Fort Vancouver
When do the fireworks start?
Fireworks started around 10:05pm. It was already cold, so good to bring blankets.
Starting FireworksJuly 4th Signature Firework There was a fire near the highway after the fireworks. Firefighters were able to stop the fire. Great Job!
Introduction | Every year, the Oregon Garden offers fireworks and live music one day before Independence day (July 4th) in Silverton Oregon, United States.
Introduction | This was one of the best Highlands bus tour stop. It is a good and short hike with two water falls and trace of diatomite mining for dynamite.
Introduction | Here is a trail trip from Fort William to Mallaig in West Scotland. This train rail road was used in the Harry Potter films for the Hogwarts Express.
Introduction | Timberline lodge is built at an elevation of 5,960 feet (1,817 meters) within Mount Hood. There are about two million visitors annually. It takes about 1 hr 30 mins from Portland and it is good for hiking during summer and winter sports (ex: skiing and snowboarding) for winter.
Park Features:
Timberline Lodge Trail: shortest trail
Trail Type: loop
Time: 30mins
Distance: 0.5 mile
Gift shop: Yes at the lodge and ski/snowboard rental building
Glasgow Necropolis is next to Glasgow Cathedral. Necropolis means a large and historical cemetery. There were roughly 50,000 people buried here and about 3,500 monuments. Glasgow Cathedral is built in 1197 and it has been maintained well for more than 800 years. (Reference: Wikipedia)
Park Features:
Park Entry: Free
Hiking Difficulty: Easy but some uphill and downhill
