Ok, that may seem a bit premature, but let's just roll with it for right now. It will at least get me through to Monday morning.
You can't really rebuff my wanting this Spring Break to last even a little while longer. It was really a fantastic one and my only true concern was trying to digest food and drink in time to enjoy more food and drink. Right, it was a teeny bit glutinous but I have it under control now. Oh what a start out the gate we had:
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| View from our Best Western balcony. |
While waiting to check into our hotel room we decided to check into a couple of local Breweries and try their fare. We have been to Full Sail a number of times and so we avoided that particular brewery this time but focused on a couple we hadn't been to at all but heard wonderful things about.
The first was pFriem Family Brewers. Clean, modern, bright wood and steel; this place has a cool money feel to it that was relaxed but still a tiny bit intimidating. I always feel a little bit like that when I hang around people who spend more on their hobby or sport than I do on my house payment each month but that is neither here nor there. Let's talk beer.
I, of course, ordered a flight. Took the waitress by suprise, I'm not sure why. I know it was just past 11:00am but she would have served me a breakfast beer, right? So why the look when I asked for 6 tiny beers? K ordered his own 6 tiny beers as well and I knew we were hitting the ground running.
K ordered mainly IPAs and I ordered mainly everything else so we hit a good portion of the menu. Two heavy hitters for me were the Belgian Strong Blonde 7.5% abv 30 ibu and the Belgian Strong Dark 10.25% abv 38 ibu. Both for very similar and very different reasons. Both are very bold, very boozy, in your mouth magic but, the Blonde finishes fresh and bubbly. Super balanced. The Strong Dark doesn't stop. Cherries, Chocolate, Figgy goodness. Makes me wish it was Christmas time again. My favorite, though, was the Flanders Blonde 7.1% abv 19 ibu. I'm not a huge fan of Blondes. I've always leaned towards the darker side of the tap but this had me thinking of Sunday Brunches and sailboating and lounging in a hammock wearing all white. This zesty, spritzy To accompany our libations we ordered the Meat and Cheese plate and an order of Deviled Eggs. The flavor of the eggs was fresh and delicious but the filling was too soft and sloshed out of the egg cups when we tried to lift them too quickly. I enjoy my Devil Egg filling with a little more body. But they were tasty. The cheese plate, don't let the $15 price tag dissuade you. The meats, (amazing!) pates and cheese on this plate, paired with a delightful sampling of pickles, olives, hazelnuts and a dried cherry mostarda lend themselves nicely to the crusty artisanal bread. Tasting these treats in a somewhat haphazzard way paired with the truly satisfying beers turns out to be the best way to begin your time in lovely Hood River.
After pFriem we headed over to the Double Mountain Brewery. This cozy place can be a bear to get into. There are often lines and long waiting lists if you attempt to come here on a sunny breezy weekend in Spring, Summer, Fall...Two reasons: Delicious pizza and outrageous beer. K and I split a Jersey Pie, capicola, mozzzarella, and peppers on a charredelicious crust. We did, of course, order more taster trays for our beer selection. I went with Witty Gnome 5.6% abv, 43 ibu (warm and refreshing wit), Black Irish 4.0% abv 50 ibu (creamy nitro stout), The Divine 9.0% abv 43 ibu (9th Anniversary Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout), Hail Yeah! (Cider) and the secret cask beer which turned out to be the Divine again so yeh. So Much Goodness. I couldn't finish the final taster. Pity. They were all truly amazing, my favorite being the Divine. No, the Gnome. No, The Divine. No. MMmmmm. I'll need to return to finalize my answer.
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| Theatre de la Mode, Maryhill Museum |
We hiked a beautiful plateau and ran into a flock of wild turkey and saw some lovely mule deer running on an island in the Columbia. All in all a really fabulous Oregon staycation. After returning to Hood River after a day of museums and sightseeing we were a little too pooped out to hit the pub scene again so instead we popped up the hill to Lake Taco, a totally unassuming, relatively hidden taqueria. I didn't take pictures of the food because I prepped it and stuffed it in my mouth too quickly. I can promise you, it looked lovely. It tasted even better. Now I'm not sure how I'm going to explain driving the 2 hours out to Hood River every week just to get my street taco fix.
When we returned to Portland after some delightful touring of the Gorge and her rich history and beauty we decided to continue in our quest to do what we had not done before and go where we had not gone before. So we ended up at Hale Pele on Broadway. This place is a kick. True Tiki Bar fashion, lighting is low but the mood is high as a kite. You can take an entire vacation in a couple of hours just sitting at the bar here. The drinks are a wee bit expensive but so delicious and terribly pretty to look at. The staff here is wonderful, attentive and friendly and will help you navigate the plethora of choices you have. I enjoyed this Coconaut after it took us a while to put out it's flame. Still, worth the wait. One thing we did not have to wait long for was our food. Although I had heard plenty about the drinks and the atmosphere at Hale Pale, I hadn't heard much about the food here. No idea why not, really. The menu is limited but really spot on. I enjoyed the Weebimbap and there was nothing Wee about it. Only $5 during Happy Hour and this was a succulent, sweet, spicy, cool plate of excellence. K ordered the Shoyu Chicken and proclaimed some
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| WeeBimBap, Shoyu Chicken, Hawaiian Bread |
