Portland...Day 1, Pub Crawl

Started at Lauralwood Public House - all beers amazing!! Our waitrtess was Sarah, and she was hung over. We immediately loved her. The Workhorse IPA rivals any we've had - super hoppy, balanced, and yummy. We ended up being the topic of conversation at a nearby table since our pub crawl of 6 brewpubs was deemed impressive. See? Everywhere we go, people love us and are impressed by us. Next stop, the New Old Lompoc...

New Old Lompoc... had two IPAs that were awesome - the Centennial, which I drank and impressed Chris by comparing to a Bell's Two Hearted and was right! - and the C-Note Imperial IPA, which at 100 IBUs is like a smoother mellower Furious. That kind of describes me right now; with every pub we stop at, I become a smoother, mellower, furious. But seriously, we've not even been here one full day, and already we know we'll be back for another full week of vacation. Portland has a vibe that is like a cross between Northeast and Dinkytown and we love it!! Next stop is the Lucky Lab.

Lucky Lab...Kind of scary in here. Almost did't find it - stopped into an animal ER to ask for directions. Lovely. But everyone here seems to know their brewpubs, so WTF, right? Had 6 good samples here. Let's be clear, we are paretaking of the samplers at each joint. What do you think we are, alcoholics??? OK, OK, fair enough...we probably are. Biggest selection here of all, the Super Dog IPA rocked, and the pizza smells great. We've have a lot of Reds, and none of them are as good as Neil's. Next stop...Bridgeport!!!

Bridgeport...some kind of anniversary thing going on...too many people, they didn't have samplers. We had the IPA and Imperial IPA - quite tasty. Left after a quick beer - they looked to have good food. Maybe next time!! Off to Rogue...

Rogue...food marginal. Why do we keep picking the wrong places for food??? Way to many beers to try. It's a good thing they serve these at home. Starting to run out of gas, and I can't imaging drinking anymore. Last stop...Deschutes.

Deschutes...Chris had an IPA, I had water. Both were on the house!! Best beer of the night because it was FREE!! And yes, I had a water. LAME. Yes, LAME. It was either that or hurl on the street. Bought some cool galsses - like we need any more - and Chris got a T-shirt. We'll be back before we leave Portland because I need a Mirror Pond from there before I die.

We're both fairly sober, which is amazing since we did 6 brewpubs in 5 hours and basically both had a drink at everyone except the last.

Curious thing...not a Belgian beer in sight. Maybe someone can explain that...

Tomorrow is the Willamette Valley wineries. Hopefully my liver can recalibrate overnight.