This morning we woke up in our swanky Motel 6 and hit the road towards Portland. We were excited because we really thought we would like Portland, plus tonight we were going to be in a Hampton Inn. Luxury in comparison to recent sleeping accommodations.
We started off on I-5 North. We stopped in Eugene for lunch. Eugene, OR is home to University of Oregon (Go Ducks) and is also referred to as “Track Town”. The University’s track team has been historically good for a long time and this was the college team that Steve Prefontaine (“Pre”) ran for. If you are even mildly associated with the running community you should know who Pre is. Anyway, we stopped at Track Town Pizza. It was right on the edge of the campus and you could tell it was all about the school. Everything was Green and Yellow. Made us feel like we were back at Bunn High School! We got there right at lunch time and got in on the pizza buffet they were having. It was delicious, but crowded. The place is small and we couldn’t find anywhere to sit. However, there was a long table/ bench that extended down the middle of the dining room, and sat about 20 people. So we staked out spots on the end next to a guy who was by himself and on his lunch break. We struck up some conversation and he said we were advised to have skipped our campsite last night, saying that the area of Wolf Creek is real sketchy. We rememembered we were in Big Foot/ Sasquatch territory, and he said that probably everyone in Wolf Creek has seen him, at least once.
After we finished our lunch we set out to find “Pre’s Rock”, it was about a mile or so away. It is a memorial/shrine to Steve Prefontain at the site where he died in a car crash at the age of only 24. He was an Olympic middle-long distance runner setting records even when he was in high school. Every year the university hosts a Track and Field Invitational and runners come from all over the world, many of them paying their respects at this Rock.
We got back on I-5 and headed to Portland. We were staying a little ways outside of the city so when we got to the hotel we had them call us a cab. Portland is situated right on the Willamette River and is an awesome city. Its not very big, and the city skyline is not very tall at all. But you have some excellent views of Mount Hood and the surrounding landscape as you drive in. Portland also claims to have the most micro-breweries, however we thought Asheville, NC had that title. Either way, we found it only appropriate to start the evening out at Deschutes Brewery. They have an awesome bar, and a big restaurant and menu. We just ordered drinks and sat at the bar. The decor was cool with wood carved archways, they had a gluten free beer, which we expected since it was Portland. Their menu also consisted of organic, vegan, free range, etc etc. We talked to the bartender for some suggestions of other places to go before dinner. He recommended a place called Bailey’s Taproom. It was not a micro-brewery, however they had a lot of local beers on tap there.
We headed to Bailey’s, which I believe is in “The Pearl” district of town. We ordered a drink and ended up sitting by a guy who just came to Portland for the first time for a oral surgeon conference tomorrow. It was his first time going to one and he was representing his company from Denver called Snowasis Medical. They made some sort of barrier membrane made out of placenta. Weird perhaps, but he ended up practicing his speech on us and we did find it interesting. But then we had to start making our way to dinner, we wished him well and headed on to the next place.
Kelly’s Olympian was on the way and looked cool so we stopped in there. They had all sorts of old gas station and highway memorabilia and neon signs on the walls. They also did not make their own beer, but had a bunch of locals on tap. Plus you could play your numbers…
Eventually we made it to our dinner reservations at Portland City Grill. The restaurant is located on the 30th floor of the U.S. Bancorp Tower, also known as the “Big Pink” due to its pinkish hue. It is one of the few skyscrapers in Portland and offered excellent views of the city. Had we known, we would of requested a window seat when we made the reservation. Nonetheless, we were situated right near a corner and got to see both sides of the view. We stealthily took some pictures of the view and sunset, just don’t mind the random people in the shot. This restaurant was by far the nicest one we have been to on our trip but the food was delicious. We ordered the artisan cheese plate, and to our surprise it also came with some accompanying “small bites”. We each ordered a glass of wine from Oregon. John got the Ribeye and Danielle got the Halibut for dinner. Each were so good, cooked so well, and it was worth every penny.
After dinner we headed towards the closest McMenamin’s. But before we reached one, we came across Powell’s Books. It was this amazing new and used bookstore that occupies multiple floors of an entire city block. It also had great local gifts, corky canvas book totes, and the best selection of books. We stopped in and browsed for a bit. McMenamin’s at the Crystal Hotel was just a short walk. McMenamin’s is a micro-brewery with a chain of locations just in the Pacific Northwest. The other cool thing is their locations are all at really cool places (old hotels, old libraries, and one is even in an old school). With both of us being teachers we really wanted to go to the one at the old school building, but it was a little too far away for us to walk to. So we decided to go to the Crystal Hotel location instead. It was “free” comedy night and they had some good drink specials. We hung out there for a while and then decided to call a cab to head back to the hotel.
The cab quickly picked us up and took us to our home away from home. Portland was awesome and we would have loved to stay longer. There are some brewery tours that shuttle you around, which we would have liked to do. And there is some historical locations (like the Pioneer Courthouse) that we didn’t get to see. But our review of Portland is a favorable one. Its a small city, but has a beautiful landscape and some of the positive attributes that we like about Ashville, NC and Austin, TX but just on a smaller, more laid back scale. Tomorrow we finish our drive up the west coast and end up in Seattle!
Dietz Summer Road Trip 