Portland and the Oregon Coast

Road Trip Days 19-20 (July 1-2): Portland and the Oregon Coast

After being totally enchanted by Seattle, I made the three-hour drive south to Portland. When I was in Seattle, Anish complained that my blogs only talk about the positive aspects of the places I’ve been. I told him that honestly, every place I’ve visited has been unique and I’ve really enjoyed each place. So, Anish, here’s something negative for you – Portland was very underwhelming. For starters, Portland’s downtown area is miniscule – it’s more a city of neighborhoods that you have to drive between – something like Denver. I stayed in an neighborhood called Boise (in a house I found through air bnb), which is on the other side of the river from downtown. I walked all through Boise and then the Mississippi neighborhood and yes, they were fun, but they basically reminded me of any other hipster neighborhood, like Northern Liberties or the Clark Park area in Philadelphia or Lawrenceville in Pittsburgh. I drove through a couple other neighborhoods and again, they looked like places I would like to explore, but they seemed unoriginal to me. Portland does have a lot of really good restaurants, a huge food truck scene, and beautiful surrounding areas like the Columbia River Gorge, but within Portland itself, I didn’t see anything that I couldn’t find in other cities I’ve been to. I was only in Portland for a day and a half so obviously I wasn’t able to see everything the city has to offer, but my impression of it is that it is very much a little brother to Seattle. All that said, Por Que No? had some amazing tacos and I very much enjoyed brunch at Tasty n Sons (bacon-wrapped, honey-glazed date with an almond in the center for $2 and an egg scramble – yum) -->

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The Oregon Coast, on the other hand, was phenomenal. After I ate some delicious clam chowder and battered fish and clams at Fishermen's Seafood Market in Coos Bay (-->) 

, I took in the sunset over the Pacific Ocean as I made my way down the coast. I stopped several times and walked down to the beach. I can’t even put the beauty of the
Pacific Ocean that lines the Oregon Coast into words and the white-sand beaches were very relaxing to walk on. Sorry Iowa, Colorado, and Yellowstone, but Oregon is now the proud owner of my favorite sunset drive. Finally, I passed into California and settled into a Crescent City motel, just outside the famed Redwood Forests of California. Here are a couple more pictures of the Oregon Coast:

 


Coos Bay on Dwellable