Argyle and Lunch

Lots of sparkling wine and pinot...awesome...drunk...bought some sparking wine for Cory...eating lunch on the hopes I sober up some...

OK! Back after eating lunch. AMAZING. We ate at the Red Hills Market - had a roast beef sandwich with blue cheese and carmelized onions, and ham with gruyere. YOWSA. It was awesome. OH! And we also had the bread with olive oil. Wow...warmed olive oil in the bottom of a shallow plate, and crusty bread piled in it. So simple, but so amazing. On our way to St. Innocent now...I'm going to take a nap.

Sokol Blosser

First stop...Sokol Blosser. Excellent pinots. T and T need be ready for wine and card night. We had the same woman do our tasting that lived in Minneapolis for a while. It was a nice how-do-you-do. I am well on the way to total shitfaced-ness. Bought seven bottles, four that need to age 2-3 years. Any bets on me remembering that? Next stop...Argyle!!

YAR!!!!!

That is a Cap'n Crunch donut, people.

A. CAP'N. CRUNCH. DONUT!!

And Jeezy Creezy, it was fantastic. Also purchased: Two Portland Cremes (think Bismarck), and apple fritter, one "Ain't That a Peach" peach fritter, and one chocolate Oreo peanut butter god help me I don't care if it kills me donut.

Portland 2.0 - The Coast

Today was the day on the coast.  After rising bright and early, we left about 9:00 and got our rental car.  Amazingly, we didn't get a Dodge Caliber or a 1996 minivan, as we have in the past, but a Ford Fusion.  The only drawback to getting a rental car that is the same as the car you own, is that when your car is loaded with accessories, anything less is like a piece of shit.

We took off for Yachats, and stopped a at couple of place:  a scary little booth to get some beef and salmon jerky (FYI, the beef jerky was awesome), and then stopped at a little glass blowing studio.  There are a lot of those here - not sure why - but we got a great little vase and a super cool glass float.  It made me miss the glass blowing class we took 11 years ago with N and J - can it be that long ago??

We then got into Newport to eat at Rogue.  Um...has anyone ever had a good experience at a Rogue restaurant??  We always go, think it will be awesome, and frankly, their beer sucks.  And their food is marginal at best.  As we were walking the 6-7 blocks from where we parked the car, we were lucky enough to pass not one, but TWO, seafood processing plants.   (I killed a guy with a Trident.)  Now I will tell you, you have never gagged as much in your life, unless you are dealing with bloated corpses.  I actually gagged.  Between that and the smelly seals, it was enough to make you pass out.

After leaving the sunny, breezy, cool city of Newport, we headed to Yachats where we were ready to do some serious tide pool walking and see some spouting horns!  And guess what!?!  We saw NOTHING.  First it was totally foggy and overcast in Yachats.  Second it was so windy my hair was completely curly after being outside for only about 20 minutes, and I didn't get to wear my cute new hat.  Third, and most importantly...there was nothing in the tide pools but water!!  So much for that.  At least we go to use our walking sticks...and take our signature self portrait.

We then headed back to Portland for dinner - and on the way we stopped at another glass place...you guessed it, I bought some more stuff.  After getting back to Portland we picked a place called South Park, as they have a ton of locally sourced stuff on their menu, as well as seafood.  And my review is...meh.  So so, about a 6.5 out of 10.  I had scallops, Chris had halibut.  The bonus was that we had a Boneyard IPA and that was amazing.  All in all, not an amazing food day.  And as evidenced by this blog, not a very exciting happening day.

Tomorrow is wine day!!  I'm very much looking forward to it!!  Four wineries in six hours - pray for me and my liver, I'm gonna need it!

Portland 1.0 - I'm sleepy...

Well, we made it through the first day.  After an hour and a half nap, we headed out via cab to Hair of the Dog brewing and had a sampler.  It was moderately good, except for the 2009 barrel aged "Adam" that tasted like ass.  Gagged.

After that we walked to Cascade Barrel House and had their sampler of sour beers.  about 1/2 of them were good, and 1/2 were just so-so.  They had a kreik that was really tasty and also a gose - you know my motto:  if my eyeball doesn't fall out while drinking it, it's not going to be at the top of my list.  But those two were good.

After that we walked across the street to Green Dragon - we've been here before and thought that maybe they would have Pliny on tap.  Alas...no.  But I did have a cask Racer 5 that was amazing.  Earlier when we walked by Green Dragon there was some kind of outside party and people were dancing to, "We don't have to take our...clothes off!  To have a good time...oh no!  We could dance and party...all night!  And drink some cherry wine!"  Um, what?  I am easily spooked and let me tell you, I had some kind of awful flashback to my youth.

We hung out there for a bit and then called a cab and went to Henry's 12th Street Tavern for dinner.  Consistent, good, not fancy...just what we wanted.  Stopped at Whole Food for fruit and yogurt and stuff for breakfast.  It is now 8:47 pm and it is all I can do to stay awake.  I hate to say it, but drinking all day is exhausting.

Tomorrow we head for Newport and Yachats on the coast for some Rogue beer and tide pool wandering, respectively.  The walking sticks and my oh-so-cute blue floppy hat are at the ready!!

Portland 0.5

What a great day already!  It's 2:00 and here is what we've done:

1) Walked to Voodoo Donuts so I could get both a donut with Cap'n Crunch on it, and  Portland Creme (think Bismarck).  Well, since at 10:30 the line was about 85 people deep, we decided against it.  We'll hit it at a less busy time - i.e not Saturday morning.

2) Walked through the Portland Saturday Market - think farmer's market without the produce and lots of arts and crafts.  We bought a sweet new cribbage board, complete with a lid that let's you hold a couple of decks of cards.

3) Took the bus and walked about a mile to Queen Bee and Saraveza.  Queen Bee does purses - bought one in Duluth last month, and bought a back pack today.  SO CUTE!!   And Oh.  My.  God.  Saraveza?  AMAZING.  Had a sample of beers from Pizza Port, Green Flash, Dogfish Head, Beer Valley, and Solera.  I think it's pretty cool that we have been to those first three in person...   We also ate:  Deviled Pickled Eggs - I could have choked on one and my life would have been complete; the charcuterie plate - pretty damn good; and a roast beef pasty with hot chipotle sauce - um yeah, fantastic.  I washed it down with the double IPA from Beer Valley (the Leafer Madness).   See how happy we are below with our food and sampler!!

We then power walked back to the bus stop and caught a bus back to the hotel.  I took a little nap on the bus, quite refreshing, and now as I type this, Chris is going to upload pictures of our beautiful lunch at Saraveza and I'm going to run across the street to Johnny Sole and probably buy another pair of shoes I don't really need.

More to come, we are heading to Upright Brewing later, after which I am sure I will be anything but.  Then I'm not really sure...I'm sure it will involve copious amounts of alcohol.

Ready for Portland!!

We are ready for Portland!  Flight leaves tonight, all packed, heading to get dinner and chill.

All laundry done, bedding washed and changed, all dishes clean, bathroom spic and span - who says a little OCD isn't a good thing.

The next 4.5 days will bring beer, food, beer, wine, food, beer, hiking at Crater Lake, beer, hiking on the coast, beer, food, and more beer.  As is our style, packing 100 pounds of potatoes into a 5 pound sack.

Pray for a strong tailwind and calm skies, and that Ativan works like a charm.

Wishing ourselves safe travels!