During our stay here in Portland, Oregon we have been mixing nature hikes with neighborhood walks. In the Alberta neighborhood we found easy, free parking and knew we would enjoy this stroll since right afterward we saw two breweries Hopworks Urban Brewery and Lumpoc in the same block. Those would be our reward stops at the end of our walk. As we walked we could see that the neighborhood is experiencing a lot of growth as several condo construction projects were in full swing and we had to keep switching back and forth across streets due to the closed sidewalks surrounding the construction. We enjoyed seeing two very brightly colored painted murals and as with all the neighborhoods we have visited, there was a happy mixture of bicyclists and pedestrians.
The last time we were here we noticed many young people with brightly colored green, pink and purple dyed hair. We have seen much less of that this year but what struck us this time is that more of the young ladies are embracing the 50 and 60’s pinup girl look with the bandanas tied as hairbands and their hair tucked in all around it, bright red lipstick and bold eyeliner. High waisted skirts and shorts complete the look. Funny how fashion trends repeat…
Our beers were very good at both breweries but we especially enjoyed the atmosphere at Hopworks Urban Brewery where bicycle frames adorn the bar and 99 bottles of beer are proudly displayed on an opposing wall. Their happy hour extended to beer and food so we couldn’t resist ordering some wonderful handmade pretzels to go along with our beer. These pretzels alone are worth a visit to this place for what is truly a road treat! A fun day indeed…
We have also been hiking a lot in the Columbia River Gorge to make up for our last trip when Sharon was in a cast. We have been seeing lots of amazing and stunning waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge . Two notable hikes we have taken are the Multnomah-Wahkeena Loop hike and the Horsetail Falls Loop Hike with the added extension hike to Triple Falls. Both of these hikes were 5 or more miles each and I will blog about these later in more detail.
Since my recently repaired crown come off my molar again I made an appointment at the Dental School to have it re-glued. On the way I dropped Sharon off in the Pearl District as she wanted a haircut at the Paul Mitchell School on Broadway. After her haircut she had a little walkabout enjoying the hustle and bustle downtown. She couldn’t resist the food carts lining 5th and Stark Streets. (Carts lined up as such are called Pods). At the pod she ordered a very delicious spicy chicken Korean taco. She then enjoyed strolling the green space on Park Avenue pausing to sit on a park bench doing a little people watching before walking along the Riverside Trail then over to the Dental School to meet back up with me. Her timing was perfect as I was just getting finished. Since it was time for Happy Hour we headed off to some new (to us) breweries at Harvester and Burnside Brewery.
Harvester Brewery was the first entirely gluten free brewery in the United States. Since many other folks out there have issues with gluten we thought we should try their beers and see what we thought about them. Now these beers are brewed with chestnuts, lentils, oats and hops which are 100% gluten free. I didn’t care for their hoppy IPA’s but I did actually like their Dark Ale. So if you are gluten free we found a brewery in Portland just for you…
Afterwards we visited Burnside Brewery where the energy is the place was very upbeat. Mostly young professionals filled the establishment and it was very crowded and as we found it was because of their normal Wednesday $3.00 pint night. Lucky us as we were able to squeeze in at the bar and got to drink $3.00 pints of some very tasty beer. As we seated ourselves we met two young attorneys who were there also enjoying $3.00 pint night after work. What a delightful visit we had with the two of them…
Portland has been a blast and we cannot believe how the time is flying by. This Labor Day weekend we leave our park to stay at Portland Fairview RV for four nights then we will return to Columbia River RV for our final week in Portland. So much to see and so little time!
Yes, I would stop just for the pretzels! Yum!! We stayed in Salem as our home base and visited all around from there. We both enjoyed Portland. Now we need to spend a little more time. We enjoyed those loop trails in the Gorge, as well. We like the fact that the further up we went the less people we saw:)
ReplyDeleteLotsa of tasty brews for you to check out, sounds like fun.
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