The Best Reasons to Leave the House in Portland's Rainy Season

With the rain returning this weekend and the long inhospitable season ahead, we want to give you plenty of reasons to pull on your raincoat or dig up your umbrella and get out of the house.

"The Portland Book of Dates” co-author Eden Dawn shared her picks for the best activities for right about now:

Escape Rooms 🔒

Escape rooms, despite the name, aren’t locked. You can leave anytime. They are giant story-based puzzles to solve. And they’re best with a group of friends.

“You're working together, and people are going, ‘Oh wait, I think that these things on the wall are numbers that correspond with the numbers on the TV,’ and then you change the TV dial and a key pops out,” says Dawn.

“It's very fun and exciting,” she adds. “And if you get super frustrated, they can come in and give you a hint. The weather doesn't matter at all.”

Helium Comedy Club 😆

It’s the right season for a good laugh! Check out the Helium Comedy Club.

“It's really cozy there,” Dawn says. “You're all squished in, and there's something about everybody [being] there with the purpose to laugh together. I've been to some shows there — one memorable show where I laughed where I fell off my chair and no, that was not alcohol related.”

Mox Boarding House 🎴

You can grab a meal at their restaurant and try a new board game at this game shop.

“Sometimes you want to hang out with your friends, but you're like, ‘I don't want to clean my house. I don't want to have to cook for anybody,’” says Dawn. “You're allowed to play anything from their library. And then if you like it, you buy it and take it home for the next game party.”

If you’re looking for options, Dawn’s favorite game for dinner parties is Celebrity.

Or ...

• Get out in the rain for a hike.
• Snowshoe in the mountains.
• Curl up with a comic book by a Portland writer or artist.
• Eat dumplings.
• Sing some karaoke.
• Go compete in a trivia night.
• Find a great zero-proof cocktail.

What do you do for fun now that the rain has started? Help us have fun! We’ll share your tips.