Bryan's Five Reasons to Visit Portland, Oregon

Hi guys,
Welcome back from the Thanksgiving break! I hope you all enjoyed a nice time off and spent some times with your families and friends. This is Bryan, and I went to Portland, Oregon, to spent my Thanksgiving vacation. 
I am sure most of you have heard about Portland. But here are my five reasons to visit Portland.

1. It's TAX FREE!

Currently, the Oregon sales tax rate is 0%. This means that you don't have to pay the 10% sales tax when you buy anything! Think like you get a 10% off for everything you buy. 
Besides, there are couple big outlets around Portland, like Woodburn Premium Outlet and Columbia Gorge Outlet. Or if you are not a hardcore shopper who is willing to stay up all night shopping, you can also choose to shop at downtown Portland like I did. You can find most of the brands you need just by walking in downtown Portland. And there are a lot of good foods. 

2. It's within driving distance (2.5 hours drive, if there is no traffic)

2.5 hours of drive is not that bad. Really... If you compare it with driving to other nearby cities:
Vancouver, BC -- 4 Hours drive, if you don't get stopped by the custom
Leavenworth, WA -- 3 Hours, if the snow doesn't bother you
Yellowstone, WY -- 13 Hours, yeah.. you probably won't drive there during thanksgiving
However, things can get rough if you are caught in a traffic jam, like we did. We first drove to Seattle to pick up my friend, and it took us two hours to drive back to Tacoma, because of two accidents near federal way. Then, the two hours drive to Portland took us over four hours, due to three more accidents around Olympia. Driving for six hours literally killed me both physically and mentally. 
So trust me, leave in the early morning when nobody is driving like they are in bumper cars.

3. Sunshine

Some people do whatever it takes to get away from the Rain in Washington. And I am probably one of them. 

Portland has always shown me her good side whenever I went there. It's sunny, dry, cool, and windy when I was where during thanksgiving. 

And if the weather is not enough to impress you, you should try exploring around Historic Columbia River Highway.

4. Great place for hiking - Historic Columbia River Highway

Historic Columbia River Highway is 20 minutes drive to the east of downtown Portland. It has many attractions along the way, like Vista house (photo ↙) and 5 waterfalls. The highway is built on the mountain, so you can get a good view of the Columbia River. There are also hiking trails built around the waterfalls. The one I recommend to go to is the Multnomah Falls (photo ↓). 

It takes around 1 hour to hike up to the top of the waterfall. It's not very tiring, which makes it ideal for all kinds of people. Also, the views along the way are gorgeous. 

Look at the view! Cr: Claire Huang

Multnomah Falls

5. GOOD FOOD

Try some "rainbow" poached egg

Portland has some serious good foods in the city. 

Five things I would advise to try are:

1. Petite Province for Brunch

2. Voodoo Doughnuts for Snacks 

3. Pok Pok for Thai dinner

4. Salt & Straw for Ice cream

5. Food trucks for some street foods

There are many many food trucks in Portland. And they are famous for being delicious! It's one of the special thing in the city that you should definitely try in Portland!

Unfortunately, I did get to try the food trucks this time, because most of them were closed due to thanksgiving break. 

But if you go to Portland someday, try it and let me know whether you like it or not!

Bryan Yuan

12/3/2019