Floating away

We attended the 23rd annual Oregon Brewers Festival over the weekend. It is always the last full weekend in July and it was quite an undertaking. The festival was located on the southwest side of the river and featured over 80 different craft brews from around the country. So we a grabbed a mug and some tokens and made our way into the crowds to find some good brew. The first stop was the Buzz Tent. This tent featured beers with higher than normal alcohol content. The beer was good, and cold. We met up with some friends and secured seats facing the river and settled in to drink some beer and people watch. We had beers from Pennsylvania, Alaska, Colorado, and of course, Oregon. Each time we found new flavors and favorites. I personally liked the Alaska Brewing Pale Ale and the Victory Brewing Victory Prima Pilsner. Dan had beers from Ninkasi and....well, we lost count.

As we sat looking at the river and feeling quite nice we shared a few laughs with some friends and welcomed sunset.

Sunday morning I woke up much earlier than I would have like for a Sunday morning but it was because there were good things ahead. Sunday was my first experience floating down the Clackamas river. So my friends and I packed up inflatable boats, life vest, sunscreen, and food and headed for McIver park.We inflated our boats and launched in to the river. The water was COLD. The Clackamas is fed by run-off from Mt. Hood and it's glaciers. I encountered my first set of rapids and survived more less successfully. Just a note: even little rapids look big when in a small inflatable boat with no steering mechanism or paddle. After a few bumps from the rocks it was peaceful floating from then on. Several of us strung our boats together and meandered our way down the river. It was an amazing way to see some beautiful landscape. The water was chilly but sun was out in full force and this native Floridian was loading up on sunscreen. We meandered our way down the river and about 5 hours later landed at the Carver boat ramp. Exhausted from dodging rocks, the sun, and lazing around on the river it was a quite ride home. Luckily our fearless leader, Melinda, had thought ahead and had marinated a stack of short ribs. Couple that with some watercress salad, corn, and rice and we settled in for an excellent feast. Another member of the crew, Karen, made homemade whoopie pies- a great way to end an amazing weekend! You should have been there.

Justified

I think I may have mentioned the PSU Farmer's market more than enough times in this blog, but it appears my affection is justified. PSU was just voted as one of the 10 farmer's markets in the U.S. for travelers.

Check it out America's Best Farmers' Markets for Travelers

Enjoy the Sun

The weather has been SPECTACULAR. We flirted with 100 for a few days but thankfully we seem to have returned to normal, here meaning 70-80 during the day and mid-50s at night. Dan and I inflated the air mattress and camped out in the living room over the weekend to take full advantage of the beautiful evenings.


Dan took Saturday day off and we were out and about. Hard to believe he's lived here all this time and never been to the PSU Farmers Market with me. But Saturday was his first time. As per usual  it was a pretty amazing place. We bought elk and black pepper sausage and beef and thyme sausage. Dan is trying them out as possible options for wine pairings. After the Farmers Market we hit up some of Portland's food cards on SW 9th and Alder. I had a gyro from a greek cart and Dan had a monster burrito from a Mexican one. We were both shocked how big the burrito was- it was huge.

Bellies full and curiosity satisfied we decided to take advantage and enjoy the sun and clear skies and head up to Pittock Mansion. It is this amazing old mansion on the top of one of the tallest hills in Portland. On a clear day, like the one we were enjoying, you can see both Mt. Hood in Oregon and Mt. Adams in Washington. It was pretty amazing. We dropped down on to the trails behind Pittock mansion and lost ourselves for a while among all the trees.

After hiking our way back up, not for the faint of heart by the way, we headed for the most sacred of places, the mall! Just kidding. We did hit up a few stores and decided to see a movie to cool off from our day in the sun.

We decided to celebrate the day with a truly classic fine dining experience at Morton's steakhouse. True, Morton's is a chain but the steaks were exceptional and we happily toasted our fantastic day with a bottle of 2007 J.  Scott Cabernet Savignon from the Rouge Valley.

Sunday brought another day of sun in the fun. After a few lazy hours  I went to the gym and then headed for a picnic in Laurelhurst park with some  friends. As I sat there drinking my beer, eating my pasta salad, and soaking up the sun I was immensely thankful for the wonder that is PDX. All of the amazing things that I have been able to do and see and taste and I know that it's only going to get better from here.

Gorge Yourself

The last day with Mom in town was by far one of the most breathtaking days yet. We woke up early and headed for Multnomah Falls. If you haven't heard of it, it is the U.S.'s second tallest year-round waterfall at 600'+ high. It is about an hour outside of PDX. So we hopped in the car and made our way out there. Even the hazy clouds couldn't put a damper on our spirits or the scenery. Driving alongside the Columbia river was like taking a trip into Wonderland. It was beautiful. Amazing views and landscapes everywhere really gave us a feel for what makes the Pacific Northwest unlike any other place.

We arrived at Multnomah and promptly decided that we would walk the 1.2 miles to the top. Afterall, the kindly volunteer at the help desk (who was about 70)  said it was a 'moderate' walk and that we could probably do it fairly quickly and then continue on for the remainder of the 2.5 mile trail and wrap it all up in about 2 hours. So we thought we would start small and do the 1.2 mile hike. Moderate, it seems, has a different meaning at Multnomah Falls. It is 1.2 miles up some steep inclines with little rest. It was literally 1.1 miles straight up. Our only saving grace was the promise of beautiful scenery and a small downhill section that would provide some sweet relief.

Should you ever decide to visit Multnomah falls and hike the trail a few words of advice: bring water and a snack, 1.2 miles might not sound like a long distance but don't let it fool you; stop and enjoy the scenery-there are some amazing views as you make your way up the trail; enjoy the top of the mountain- there are a few non-paved, although well-traveled paths that take you just a few feet off course but that are totally worth it; go to the overlook-it is spectacular!

After conquering the mountain we headed off to the town of Hood River in search of some grape-y refreshment. First stop was Phelps Creek tasting room. The tasting room is situated next to the country club and offers and absolutely breathtaking view of Mt. Hood from the golf course. They have some great wine and we even got a quick tour of the winery. What I like about wine country is that you start at one place and stumble upon places that you never knew existed. One of those was Mt. Hood Winery. They had some spectacular Syrah and Tempranillo. The whole place makes you want to sit a while on their patio and stare off into the distance at Mt. Hood. We couldn't have asked for a more spectacular day. The last stop on our mini-wine tour was Cathedral Ridge. Surprisingly they had a Zinfandel. Zin is not a typical Oregon varietal so it's always fun to taste it when a place has it available. Cathedral Ridge has some amazing Zin.

Exercised and slightly buzzed from our wine we headed back into PDX for dinner. What better place to wrap up a visit to PDX than to go to one of PDX's hottest new places: Le Pigeon? It was a dining adventure. The place doesn't have more than 40 seats and without a reservation you have to sit at the bar- but that's ok. There is a three man team of chefs who preform what looks like the most wonderful dance as they move about the small open-air kitchen with nearly wordless communication. One is prepping salads while the others get the maincourses going. And just when you think you can spot your dish hitting the grill they turn it into something totally different. We had the Foie Gras Bacon as a starter and it was to die for! Sinfully smooth foie gras with the cooked with bacon fat, piled on toast and served with a wonderfully citrus-y salad is a great way to end a day and to start a meal. The entrees were as follows: Salmon served with mushrooms and veggies, a huge, bone-in pork chop served with chilies and pan seared green beans, and finally beef cheek bourguignon. This was foodie heaven. Everything was perfectly cooked, melt in your mouth delicious, and just what we needed after our day of hiking and wining. The piece de resistance were the luscious desserts. Mom had a creme brulee with an espresso side car, I had a chocolate cherry galouti with vanilla icecream, and Dan had bacon cornbread with maple-bacon icecream- Y U M!

And now it's back to the real world. I dropped Mom off at the airport. The warm days of summer are rolling in and it's time to experience all the summer fun in PDX

Let Freedom Ring

So we had our first official visitor over the 4th of July holiday weekend- my Mom! She couldn't have caught us at a better time. The weather has been AMAZING!

She arrived Thursday night and we spent the night catching up and eating some dinner. Friday we toured the big towns of Beaverton and Hillsboro and then made our way out to Forest Grove for one of the quintessential Oregon experiences: dinner at a winery. This one was at Apolloni Winery. They make great wine. They paired each course with one of their stellar wines- first course caprese salad served in parmesan cups with their Pinot Grigio.  Second an amazingly fresh salad with gnocchi paired with their Chardonnay. Third course was Italian sausage with their Sangeovese. The final course was a series of mini desserts served with their Vigonere. (apologies for the spelling mistakes). This was mom's first experience at a winery and we were so lucky to have a wonderfully cool night .

Our next stop was the PSU Farmer's Market downtown on Saturday morning. The fresh produce was so alluring that we just had to buy some to make for dinner. We couldn't get over the beautiful berries, giant tomatoes, and incredible greens. We bought heirloom tomatoes, asparagus, zucchini, pork steaks, bacon ends, a present for my sister, beautiful flowers, and an excellent cup of coffee. We even snacked on a few cookies from 2 Tarts Bakery. 

After the farmers market we headed to one of PDX's most famous markets: The Saturday Market. It's more arts and crafts fair than market but it is spellbinding all the same. So many interesting and talented artists. Mom got 2 skirts that wrap around and are super cute. We bought a Portland t-shirt for Jacob and another for Bailey. We even got to see the long line of people snaked around Voodoo Doughnut.

From the Saturday Market we stopped at Elephants Deli for some lunch and forged ahead to Washington Park. Since it was such an exceptionally beautiful day we climbed our way up to the Rose Garden. The roses were in full bloom and the entire place smelled so sweet.

After all of that running around we came home to put our food in the fridge and take a nap.

This morning we got up and went to St. Michael the Archangel's Catholic church on SW Mill St. It was a cute little church in an older brick building. From there we headed out to brunch. PDX-er's love their brunch so it was a bit of a challenge to find a place that didn't have a line out the door because we were too hungry to wait. But we stopped at Wild Abandon on Belmont. Stomachs full we headed back to Hillsboro because I forgot we had to pay rent. But first we stopped at Pioneer Square downtown.

So far we have covered a lot of ground. We are going to grill some hamburgers and see some fireworks tonight. Tomorrow- the Gorge!

So many choices

There are so many amazing choices for dining in PDX  that it can be overwhelming at times. Especially when you have a guest in town- how do you decide? I certainly haven't been here long enough to have established some 'go to' places and I'm anxious to try so many others. So what to do? Well there are a couple of options. Portland Monthly has become a great guide on where to go, what to do, and what to eat in this new city of mine. Another great resource has been SignatureDining.com. This start up site features critically acclaimed restaurants that focus on local food. Of course, Open Table is an amazing resource as well.

What I want is one big map with all of the great places pinpointed so that I could just look at it and decide. All the info in one place. Is that too much to ask? I need an easy button.