Oregon

A rare clear day

/ Greg / Leave a comment

I was under no false pretences when I booked a February trip to Portland, Oregon. I used to live on a coast and I get that winter weather can be grey and dreary. I was looking for somewhere warmer than Saskatoon, even if I’d be dealing with damp winter days. Imagine my pleasant surprise waking on my first day in Portland to crystal clear blue skies and unseasonably warm temperatures (no jacket needed!). I couldn’t let the opportunity pass me by – I had a rare February opportunity to view the mountains off in the distance from Portland.

After a short train ride south of downtown, I took the Portland Aerial Tram to the top of Marquam Hill and feasted my eyes on this – a stunningly clear view of Mount St. Helens:

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PDX public art

/ Greg / Leave a comment

Of Portland, I expected nothing less than some funky and interesting public art. Audacious, touching, poignant, curious – I got the full menu of art experiences from just walking around the city. I love how public art enlivens urban spaces, but perhaps nowhere was this more evident than outside the Oregon Health and Science University Hospital. In a small garden for patients and their families is Sophie Ryder’s sculpture “Standing Lady Hare with Dog.” On one level as simply an animal lover, this is touching. On another level, I love how the tenderness shown in this piece reflects what occurs mere feet away inside the hospital.

Sophie Ryder's Standing Lady Hare with Dog

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A great beer destination

/ Greg / Leave a comment

One of the main reasons for choosing Portland for my winter escape this year was its abundance of craft beer. Many say Portland has the highest per capita concentration of craft breweries and beer bars in the USA – that was good enough for me to book my flights! Once I arrived in the city, I knew I would be dedicating at least a couple of afternoons to some beer tastings.

My first afternoon “crawl” started at Rogue. When you arrive here, they pour you a sample to welcome you. For me, it was their Chocolate Stout, which ended up being my favourite of the visit.

Rogue Brewery, Portland

They have so many beers on tap it was difficult to make a selection of only four. I knew I’d be hitting two more breweries, so was trying to pace myself. My favourite of these was the 4 Hop IPA on the far left which was very full flavoured for a lower alcohol beer. By far one of the most intersting samples of my trip was their Beard Beer (second from the right) using wild yeast from the brewmaster’s beard. It was a touch sour with a hint of hipster.

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Rip City, USA

/ Greg / 1 Comment

When I planned my short February escape from wintery Saskatoon, I had a few criteria: (1) somewhere I hadn’t been before, (2) cheap airfare and hotel, and (3) get to attend at least one professional sporting event. Portland fit the bill on all of those including a Monday night Trail Blazers basketball game.

I probably follow basketball the least of the major North American sports, but always enjoy attending the game live as it’s much better in person than on TV. One thing I love about getting to an NBA game is arriving early, sneaking down to the lower level, and watching the players warm up. The size of the guys is amazing and seeing so many nearly 7-footers in one place is kind of cool.

I’m also always up to explore a new arena. Even though most of the new ones are fairly similar, the Moda Center in Portland had some unique touches including outposts of a couple of favourite downtown eateries. That let me fit in an extra meal here of a very respectable Bunk Sandwiches cuban sandwich. In fact, my meal came with this great view of the arena from one of the lower level corner seats.

Inside Moda Centre for Trail Blazers game

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Delicious Portland

/ Greg / 3 Comments

The eminent philosopher Homer Simpson once said “I discovered a meal between breakfast and brunch.” I think that’s the key to getting the most out of eating in Portland. It is a great food city. Amazing, really. It was a type of city that I had trouble planning out what I was going to eat each day, only on account of there not being enough meals in a day and me not having enough stomach capacity. With Homer’s mantra on my mind and hoping I could walk off all the calories I’d be consuming, I wasted no time once my flight landed in getting my first meal into me.

Lardo (a seriously awesome name for a restaurant) was my destination for dinner. As a sandwich lover, I had too many choices. I settled on their double burger from a menu where everything was “tied for first” in my mind – I mean, how do you choose among porchetta, a bahn mi, a Philly pork sub and about a half dozen other selections? The burger was great, but the star was the crispy pig ears with fennel salt and honey. I’ve eaten a lot of pig parts in my days and these may have been the best ever.

Burger and crispy pig ears at Lardo

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Oregon pinots before France

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I made a very difficult decision while visiting Portland in February. On a rainy afternoon, I gave up a precious afternoon beer tasting opportunity to visit Oregon Wines on Broadway to sample three higher end pinot noirs. Rough life eh?

If I could only drink one red wine the rest of my life, it would be pinot noir. At its best, its delicacy, earthiness and balance appeals to my senses. I’ve always thought of pinot noir as one of the truest expressions of wine and the expert craftsmanship that goes into it. Settling into an empty wine bar on a weekday around lunch, I was ready to sample the best of Oregon with a tasting consisting of three outstanding examples of the state’s signature grape.

Pinot noir tasting in Portland

I started with the J. Christopher Dundee Hills (2013). It was very cherry forward and I immediately noticed a bit of bottle age on this one and a touch more heat from the alcohol than a prototypical pinot. It may have been due to the rain pelting the window as I sampled it, but I quite enjoyed the extra bit of burn of this one going down. It was very pleasant and an easy sipper. My unrefined palate would say this is a great pinot for a fall day.

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My kind of town

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I just got back from Portland last night. Wanting to break up my first winter living in Saskatoon, I booked this trip a few months back deciding on a interesting city I’ve always wanted to visit over a warmer climate trip. I’ve seen a lot of American cities, and Portland is now easily way up near the top of my list of favourites with San Francisco, Philadelphia and Austin.

I packed a lot into four days – a healthy dose of simply wandering around to soak up the vibe, a basketball game, incredible street food, ample beer tastings, public art exploring, and so, so, so much coffee. I even got two days of spectacular blue skies and double digit temperatues that allowed me to see the often hidden Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens. Even when the rain came, it couldn’t dampen my enthusiasm for the city, as all it did was push me toward an indoor respite in a nearby coffee shop, bookstore or craft beer bar.

Portland had me at hello and I’m already looking forward to getting back some day. Definitely my kind of town.