The Millennials looking for work in the USA’s newest Silicon Valley, Portland Oregon, has unexpectedly made it the fastest growing region in the US. Attracted not only by the Techy work but the lifestyle choices - Oregon is Cheaper than San Fran, Weirder than Austin, Hipper than Seattle, Cooler than LA and Warmer than Denver. You can ski, golf, surf, hike all in the great outdoors. Oregon is home to some of the most unspoiled wilderness in the USA. CNN has named Portland the #1 Best Beer Town in America, home to more breweries than any city in the world. The city's brewing history dates back to 1852 and the Oregon Brewers Festival is the largest gathering of independent craft brewers in the United States. So Portland is no longer about Rose gardens and afternoon teas, it is more than just grandma’s favorite city. Boasting 80 craft breweries within city limits, and perhaps the worlds largest and best assortment of food trucks, quietly Portland is becoming a destination for travelers too. 

Portland is not a big city, a fraction of the size of it’s Pacific Northwest rival Seattle, it is very easy to get around and see most of the sites with in a weekend and in fact if you stay downtown you can mostly walk from one place to the next. It is the impressively revitalized Pearl district, a gritty downtown, old brick warehouse district turned neighbourhood that has become ground zero for the sites. As well as hundreds of food trucks, street music and live music in the pubs The Pearl district is home to Portland’s biggest and favorite local brewpubs: Deschute’s Brewery, Rogue Brewery and 10 Barrel Brewery – all 3 pubs have become big business and export beer world wide now. The Pearl district houses several other pubs that feature dozens of taps of other smaller local breweries – one place had 100 craft beers on tap to sample and hundreds more in bottles. And if you still have room to eat after sampling all those great food trucks Portland’s downtown is growing a world class repertory of high end eateries featuring the outstanding cuisine of the Pacific Northwest. Very highly recommended – The Imperial 

http://www.imperialpdx.com/about-imperial/ Sit at the kitchen grill counter and watch the chef’s cook your dinner over fire fueled by mesquite, oak and hickory logs. Also of note is the outstanding local wine scene. All of the pubs and restaurants feature wine (sometimes on tap) from the local Willamette Valley wine region that is gaining world wide acclaim and awards for several years in row of great Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris production. 

In case you need a diversion from wine beer and song a quiet moment can be had at Powell’s Books, the classic, old, brick warehouse which is the world’s largest independent bookstore that takes up an entire square block in the Pearl – trust me this place is massive. Highly recommend that you complete the Pearl experience by staying in one of the many great refurbished boutique hotels reclaimed from the wrecking balls in the downtown area. A great weekend.