Orlando City ends their four game road swing in the Pacific Northwest when they head to Oregon to take on the Portland Timbers. And need I remind you that they’ve never beaten us.
The Venue
The Portland Timbers play all their home matches at Providence Park, one of the most well-known soccer venues in MLS and NWSL. Originally built in 1926 in the downtown core of Portland, its 91-year history has seen the likes of soccer, football, baseball, dog racing, concerts, ski jumping, presidential visits and much more.
If you’ve watched any home Timbers match you know that their tifo game is impressive and that’s due to their supporters group, the Timbers Army, who sit in the North End of the park.
Things To Do
Washington Park
This park is home to many of Portland’s premier including a zoo, children’s museum, Japanese Gardens, and an arboretum. For visitors that do not want to spend time at an attraction there are picnic areas, playgrounds, tennis courts and large spaces of green land or wild forest to explore.
Oktoberfest
Grab your lederhosen and head to Oaks Bottom Park to celebrate Oktoberfest…but please, cut yourself off after three dunkelweizens if you plan to ride the Ferris wheel. Children will be present.
Ground Kontrol
Welcome to the main event: over 90 of the best arcade games from the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s in an authentic gameroom environment. Original cabinets, original gameplay and original quarter slots, just like you remember! Pull on some Pumas and terrycloth wristbands, get in your stance, and prepare to immerse yourself in the electric glow of years gone by. Make sure to play Killer Queen, the world’s only 10-player arcade strategy game. Bonus: full service bar after 5pm.
Bars and Restaurant
Dot’s Café
Dot’s remains a spot known for its drinks and heaping plates of cheese fries, but its weekend brunch menu often goes missed. It’s fairly standard but extensive, with scrambles, waffles (with fried chicken options), benedicts, and biscuits & gravy as the stars. Bottomless mimosas are only $10, and Saturday brunch occasionally has a DJ because it’s just that Portland.
Blue Star
If you want to stand in a line deep full of tourists at VooDoo Doughnuts, be my guest. You’ll be able to find me at Blue Star shoving my face with their brioche-based donuts. A crème brulee donut with a perfectly burnt-sugar crunch and a shot of Cointreau syrup poking out of the top? I’ll take a dozen.
The Loyal Legion
There’s a reason Oregon is called Beervana. Portland, and the rest of Oregon, is famous for its beer culture. To get the full Beervana experience, head to The Loyal Legion where they have ninety-plus Oregon beers on tap, which sounds like an amazing idea, until you start to consider how the hell they can keep that many lines clean and that much beer fresh. Other mega-tap bars have tried and failed, but that’s why Loyal Legion devotes an entire page of its menu to describing the decontamination process, which includes weekly cleaning, shorter lines, colder temperatures, and quick turnover.
