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Sadly Neglected Travel Blog

Hey look, I have a travel blog! When did that happen?

No, it only seems like I’ve forgotten this thing existed. The truth is, my wife and I haven’t done a whole lot of traveling in the past two years. Spain was kind of our last hurrah for a while as we tried to, and eventually became new parents last May. Since then, our trips have been few.

In September we took the little one for her first travel adventure. We hopped a train down to Portland to celebrate our 4th anniversary.

Very much enjoyed the relaxing train trip. We stayed at the McMenamin’s Crystal Hotel, which was a short walk from the train station and right on the edges of the Pearl district. So we had plenty to do and were able to leave the car at home.

A large part of the reason we went down (a part from our anniversary) was to eat at Big Ass Sandwiches. You may have seen them featured on Best Sandwich In America, I know I did. And judging by the line, everyone else in a 300 mile radius had as well. We waited in line for about 2 hours for that sandwich. Was it worth it? No, no it wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it was a very good sandwich, just not two-hour-wait good. I recommend waiting till the hype dies down before going.

Back in October we took Arya down to Dallas for my father’s 70th birthday. It was her first plane ride and she travelled like a champ.

While there we took in the State Fair of Texas where we at much fried food (fried beer, fried biscuits and gravy, fried sauerkraut balls, fried jambalaya). We also got to see Big Tex just days before he burned down. Very sad.

Big Tex

And tomorrow we head off for the East Coast. First D.C. and then New York. I’ll try to post something about this trip before too much time has elapsed.

 

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Distilling Portland

Last weekend Irene and I took a trip down to Portland to see Jethro Tull who were playing a concert on the lawn at our favorite hotel, The Edgefield. We always have a great time in Portland and usually discover something new every time we go.

This time it was all about the booze. There are many fine craft distilleries and five of them are in what is known as Distillery Row. Four of them are within 12 blocks of each other and can be done on foot (recommended). The fifth is a little bit further away (and a bit hard to navigate to). We had a very good time and bought way too much by way of booze. My favorite of which was an experimental concoction from House Spirits which, to me, tasted and smelled like wort. The ginger rum from Deco Distilling was also noteworthy. We also paid a visit to Clear Creek Distillery, which is not part of Distillery Row, but is still well worth a visit.

And no trip to Portland is complete without hitting a brewery or two. This time we had lunch at Hopworks Urban Brewery where we partook of a flight of all their offerings. Big fans of their brews. Also, quite by accident we stumbled across the Cascade Brewing barrel house. They have an impressive collection of sour beers (an acquired taste that I am slowly developing an appreciation for). The taps rotate quite frequently so check it out next time your in town.

Portland is very much a foody town and we managed to have some great meals as well. Of note were The Waffle Window and the Laurelhurst Market. Both highly recommended.

I’ve posted a few more pictures from our trip here (some are from previous trips as well).

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