"Get a first-hand glimpse at how the affluent lived and partied in the 1900s at this 16,000-square-foot French Renaissance masterpiece, which was built between 1912 and 1914 and commissioned by Henry Pittock, the London-born publisher of the Oregonian and the original Portland Renaissance man. Special rotating exhibits like "Dining in the Gilded Age" display the tableware and tools necessary to throw a proper early-20th-century shindig; you can also sign up for fun, hands-on talks like "They Ate What?," which covers the popular food trends of the Pittocks' era, like cold-pressed meats, mushes, puddings, and jellied delicacies—tastings included." - Jen Stevenson