Edgefield Visit

McMenamins is a slightly obnoxious restaurant franchise, but a simply delightful bed and breakfast franchise. The ubiquitous brewpub has locations all over Oregon and Southern Washington, most of which are tiny pubs populated by inexperienced servers, cigar aficionados, tourists, and the type of girl who really like Ruby, a light raspberry flavored ale.
However, the 2 brothers who head up the empire also renovate old properties, like a Masonic Temple, an old Catholic school, and an insane asylum.

Last week Rob and I went out to Edgefield, the property that had been an insane asylum at the turn of the century. Now it's the modern-day hub of the McEmpire, housing their brewery, their winery, a golf course, a spa, a soaking pool, a movie theatre, and about 6 different bars.

Note: I did not take the above picture. I found it on the Internet.

First though I made us breakfast.


Cornmeal almond waffles with blueberries from Sauvie Island, organic maple syrup, and orange juice. Mmmmm.


After we got checked in--an hour early-Yes!--we headed down to the wine tasting room. I tried a flight of whites and Rob stuck to the reds. The Viognier and the Riesling were my favorites, and I don't remember what Rob liked. The Merlot, maybe? Regardless, the palete-cleansing oyster crackers were delicious, and the wines were a perfect treat to start the stay.

Later that evening, we tried to watch a movie, but realized that after sampling wine, beer, and whiskey all day, Wall E wasn't really the movie for us. We headed down to one of the bars instead to drink some tea and play shuffleboard.

The tea was delicious, and a much needed break from all the spirits! I can't remember who won at shuffleboard, but it was probably me, right? :)

We hit up the soaking pool after that, and I don't have any good pictures because it was so steamy. They don't allow glass in there (for obvious reasons) so the bottle of champagne Rob bought had to be poured into two 20 oz plastic pints. Not quite as romantic, but better than a foot full of broken glass, I guess. The soaking pool's attached tea/cocktail bar was closed, which was a bummer because that's what I was looking forward to the most, but it was so unbelievably pretty out there--this huge warm pool with tropical plants surrounding us, and the moon so bright overhead... quite wonderful.

After the soaking pool, we showered and headed up to the golf house/distillery bar. I had a Terminator Stout, Rob had their Hogshead Whiskey, and we shared a cigar. Actually 2. I had never had one before, and it was pretty nice! I wouldn't want to smoke them all the time, but I definitely enjoyed them.

We strolled up to the golf course later to have a look around...




Then headed back, weary from a perfect day.

In the morning, I drank tea and read the complimentary paper at the Black Rabbit Restaurant's bar area, while Rob got a massage. We then had breakfast, bought a bottle of whiskey to take home, and headed back from Troutdale to real life.

A wonderful mini vacation.

Wine and Wigs

Yesterday I rode my bike out to St. John's. I've never been out there before. It's adorable! It's a tiny little town/part of town situated in super North Portland. I rode with Shelley and Laura, and we stopped at Proper Eats Cafe for a minute. Great little place! It's a vegan co-op-y kind of place that's also a restaurant. It was about a 12 mile bike ride, there and back.


Then,
Abby and I went wine tasting. It was the annual autumn tasting sponsored by Galaxy Wines. We stuck to white wines and champagnes (real champagnes, too, not just "sparkling wines"). The fruit and cracker platter was tasty, but not enough to ward off a case of tipsy-ness.



It was awesome of Dave to invite us--he's the bar manager at BridgePort and gets these sorts of invites all the time.(Thanks, Dave!)


After wine tasting and hobnobbing, Abby and I made our way to a wig store, where I became the proud owner of a new hairstyle. What fun!

I desperately wanted her to experience the Liberty Glass, so we walked up there from my house. Played some BINGO (!), took some pictures:



Um, they have DELICIOUS mac and cheese. I should have taken a picture, but was too carried away by the sheer gooey-goodness of it.

Instead, I have a picture of my dinner tonight: mashed potatoes with sauteed spinach, butternut squash, sage and hazelnuts.



It's just work food, but the BridgePort Ale House has made some really good stuff recently. There's a yummy black bean burger (vegetarian but not vegan--it's made with a little bit of aioli) and a super duper yummy dish that has quinoa, tofu, arugula, and a vegan cashew-tomato sauce. KILLER!

I'm home early, and am headed to sleep soon, cuz I've got lots of stuff goin' on in the next few days: bowling tomorrow night, and then Rob and I are going out to McMenamins Edgefield on Thursday for the night! Fun! Have any of you guys been out there? I've been once, but it was so long ago! I'm most excited about the soaking pool and tea house. I'll take lots of pictures, I'm sure.