Goodbye old friend...

Saying goodbye this morning to Portland.  I'm a little emotional!  I'm not sure if it's that I'm super sad to leave - this trip was different from others in that we didn't go balls out crazy to get 20 breweries in.  We skipped some notable favorites like Bailey's Tap Room, Cascade Barrel House.   But it was ok, we did different and more relaxed things.  It just felt different.

It could be that I'm genuinely sad about Prince!  Which sounds so fucking stupid... I didn't know the guy nor was I a rabid fan.  But I did dig his music.  And it was probably good we weren't at home for all of this during the week.

Either way, I'm always sad to leave.  But that means we will just be glad to come back soon.

Love you Portland!

The Commons...again...

No better way to spend our last night in Portland than at The Commons.  Such good beer, and yes, that is some tasty pork and pistachio pate peaking out from behind the beers.

Don't judge.

Home Cooked Meal

Chris and I had a lovely home cooked meal tonight.  Went over to Owen's - a guy that Chris knows in the beer industry.  Met his wife and kids and friends of theirs.  Good people.

Fun, simply, quiet night for our last night.

Then we headed to The Commons again.

Upright!

Hanging in the basement enjoying these lovelies.  I may pass out again yet!

Nap

Jesus.  It was like someone drugged me after Breakside.  We went back to the house and I passed out hard for an hour. 

I can't even say it was a good nap.

Purple Rain

The disadvantage of not being home right now is not hearing any Prince.  Nothing on the radio.  They've talked about it, but no songs. 

WTF PDX?  You are better than that.

So this morning Purple Rain was on VH1.  And we watched it.  And were sad. 

Saturday, Stop 1: Breakside

Stop 1 of 4 today: Breakside.  Got samplers amd the nachos...with every intention of splitting a sandwich.  Well, let's just say the nachos did us in.  I feel like I need a nap!!!

Last Stop: Argyle

Visited the new tap room and it was really really awesome. Had a little flight of bubbly which is a nice palate cleanser at the end of the day. They really do make great wines here, glad we're members of the wine club.

Wine Stops #3 and #4

Upon recommendation from Clare at Big Table Farm we decided to punt and visit two wineries that weren't on our original list:  Colene Clemens Vineyards and Bergstrom Vineyards.

Both were lovely and we brought home a couple bottles. It was nice to visit somewhere off the beaten path. At Colene Clemens we ran into two people from Minneapolis that live in Southwest Minneapolis on Abbott. What are the odds?

Had a little issue with the camera zoom for that one selfie below.  I laughed really hard.

Patricia Green Cellars

Wine stop #2!

Patricia Green, lovely wines, and fun tasting.  Drank less than last year where I had the equivalent of 5 glasses of wine at the eonery, then almost didn't make it to lunch.  I paced myself nicely, thank you very much.

Red Hills Market

Ok, I know they say that consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, but frankly whoever said that never had Red Hills Market pizza, sandwiches, or salad.

We come here every year for lunch when we do wine tastings in the Willamette Valley and it never fails. We literally get the same thing each year and why not? If it ain't broke don't fix it.

This year we deviated slightly and ordered the Cobb salad and wow! It was maybe the best Cobb salad that I've ever had and that is saying something. We also got the standby American Coppa flatbread / pizza and ham, gruyere and honey butter sandwich. 

It hit the spot and was the perfect base for the four other wineries we went to after lunch.  Tell me those pictures don't make you hungry.

Big Table Farm

Probably our most memorable winery, as when we pulled up their huge hound dog howled and ran along side the car.  Then it was so excited about us he jumped in the front seat complete with huge muddy paw prints all over the drivers side.  (Shhhh...don't tell Enterprise...)

After Clare the owner wrangled the dog into submission, and was horrified at his behavior (it wasn't that big of a deal...but it was nice she was horrified), we had our tasting.  Super lovely small vintage wines, all from their farm. 

Best part??  It's a working farm, so I got to meet and pet Josephine and Junior.  I got a kick from Junior so that means EXTRA good luck all year!!

Winery Day!!

My favorite day in Portland.  I think about it all year. 

Hitting a new one: Big Table Farm, working farm, really looking forward to it!  Then Patricia Green, then who knows? 

It will be a good day!

Nomad PDX

We went to a restaurant called Nomad tonight.  It was a prix fixe menu, and each of the courses was literally like only two or three bites.

I didn't take pictures of all of the courses, because I didn't want to be that person.  But everyone at the table didn't care (Nancy, Chris, Jake were my and Chris's table mates).

It was kind of amazing.  And I'm full.  That last pic is our teeny tiny bill.

I am rolling!

OK so that last picture of me that is heinous?  I posted it to Chris's Facebook page and the comments from people are PRICELESS.  I mean, I was reading it and laughing so hard I was crying.

Ah...I make me laugh.

The Commons

This is what happens 4 hours in and we try and take selfies...

God help me...

We're at Apex now, enjoying a Pliny the Elder and Blind Pig (still awesome in case you were wondering).

We are going to The Commons next. 

God help me...

Probably passe...

Pliny the Elder at Apex. 

Pine City Biscuits

This is why you go on vacation.  Because I would never go to a place like this at home.  Which would be a mistake because it was AMAZING.  This is the kind of lunch which says, "What is wrong with you??  Go drink more NOW!"

And so we shall...

The Beermongers

Got a beer from the cooler, Alpine Duet IPA.  Then the guy said, oh sorry, that is past it's sell by date, so we got two more comped from Pfriem.  

I basically am blind stinking drunk right now, so we are going to get biscuits at Pine State Biscuits then hit that shit again at Apex.

Why does Minneapolis suck?

Just sent my state representative an email about why Minneapolis can't have on/off sale liquor.  Because let's make Mpls as great as PDX !

And yes, I was drunk when I sent it but whatever.  I'm still right. 

This is what we are drinking at The Beermongers.  Bottle out of the cooler.  Or we could have bought it and left with it. AND YOU CAN'T DO THIS IN MINNEAPOLIS because we are idiots when it comes to liquor laws.

Prince? Really??

You know, Death can just go fuck itself. 

Good day for brewery walking!

Thursday = Brewery Day!!

Today is officially brewery day.  Here is what is on the list:

Apex Bar
Bailey's Taproom
The Commons
Cascade Barrel House
Culmination Brewing
Great Notion

Let's see if we can do it.  We're getting old...I'm not sure we have the same stamina as last year.

Dinner at Nostrana

We made it back to Portland by 7 - 3.5 hours to get to bend, 3.5 in Bend, 3.5 hours to get back from Bend.  This is how we travel.

We went through our list of dinner places and had a hard time picking.  But we landed at Nostrana.  We've tried to go there before, but I can't remember if the wait was too long or what the deal was, but it was soooooooooooooooooooo good.

We started with an Upright Saison - small batch, used Saison Dupont yeast, tasty as shit.  WOW.  I'm not sure if they have bottles at the brewery but if they do we'll snag some to bring home.

The charcuterie plate was OK, definitely not the best we've had.  But OK.  The beef tongue was a turn off for both of us.  Texture thing.  And thinking, "wow, this is a tongue" made it kind of impossible to like.  Chris got a pizza - that was awesome - and I had this wonderful asparagus, goat cheese, and lemon butter pasta.  SO good.  Light (and yet so rich I thought I might barf after the tongue) and springy and bright.  Definitely a come back restaurant.

Bend! Round 2

After we ate lunch at Crux (and did I mention having that stout that tasted like a hot fudge marshmallow sundae???), we hit two more breweries:  Bend Brewing and Deschutes Brewing.

Chris had samplers, I wanted to take a nap, but we muscled our way through it.  Pics below.

Both breweries were...OK.  I mean after Crux, it really isn't fair.

OK, Backing Up and Catching Up...

Yesterday's drive to Bend was beautiful.  Chris took these out the car window as we went through Mt. Hood National Forest.  It was such a great big blue sky behind that gorgeous mountain.

Wowsa.

Crux has a limited series Barrel Aged Imperial Stout.   Now, many of you know, I'm not a giant stout fan.

This one tastes like a DQ sundae woth hot fudge amd marshmallows.  I'm not even kidding.

We are coming home with bottles of this.

Bend! Round 1

Stopped by Boneyard for a sampler.  Eh.  The one I kind of liked was a collaboration with Three Floyds Brewing which starting in none other than Hammond, Indiana, the place of my upbringing.  

Then we came to Crux.  Oh MAN.  This place rules.  Worth the three and a half hour drive.  The two IPAs are stellar, and the Crux Farmhouse Saison is awesome.  I wonder if we can buy bottles here...

Lunch is on the way, and should be fab.

Headed to Bend

We are a few minutes for hitting the road and driving down to Bend for the day.  It's supposed to be a beautiful drive, and when we get there we'll be hitting a few breweries:  Crux Fermentation Project, Bend Brewing, Boneyard Brewing to name a few.

The weather here today is MORE gorgeous than it was yesterday.  Yesterday it was a bright blue sky and almost 90 (a little warm but I'm not complaining), and today it is going to be about 80 in both Portland and Bend, with that same bright blue sky.

PS - one thing that I'm not sure we always get in Minnesota is the smell of spring.  It goes by so fast you don't really get any.  Walking around Portland, you can smell all the flowers blooming - and everyone has them in their yard in the neighborhood we are in.  It's just a lovely smell and it's everywhere.  One more reason to love PDX!   (To be fair, it was also compost and garbage pickup day - those smells were...less than wonderful.)

Pulling mussels...

La Moule?  L'amour!

After picking up some groceries from Safeway for the week, headed to a wonderful little Belgian restaurant called La Moule  (which means mussels).

And wow it was good!  The chicken liver pate was delightful, and the frites were perfect.  Amd the mussels were awesome!!  Definitely on the "must return" list.

Now we are exhausted and will likely pass out.  Bend tomorrow! !

Stop 1: Hopworks!

After a very sweaty 30 minute walk, these were sooooooooo good. 

And we are right next to Queen Bee.  Guess who might be coming home with a new bag!!

And we're off!

On the plane, fairly comfortable, one horrific Rock Bottom IPA in, and we are ready for Portland!  Hope to shed the work stress before we get there...maybe another beer will help?