Helllllooooooo Portland!

We arrived yesterday and were able to check in early at our hotel.  This trip, we splurged a little because for half of our vacation we're staying with friends = no hotel costs.  So for the part we ARE in a hotel, we booked on the waterfront.

The Downtown Waterfront Marriott in Portland overlooks the Willamette (rhymes with dammit) River and the Tom McCall Waterfront Park.  The Park happens to be the location of the annual Fourth of July Weekend Blues Fest.  And just as we walked into our room and flung open the balcony door, a booming voice rang out: R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me.  Hellllloooo Portland.




A bonus view - Mount Hood

We danced around the room a bit, got settled in, and hailed Uber to take us to Deschutes Brewery.  Yeah, I know, Deschutes is a big brewery, and we have soooo many others from which to choose.  But it's great beer, the food is fabulous, and it's right in the heart of the Pearl District, which includes a dozen or so other breweries and alehouses, as well as Powell's Books (but we're saving that for Thursday's adventures).

At the brewery, we met up with four lads from London on a beer mission just like us.  They were hilarious and really made drinking Deschutes' English Bitter offering a topic of much discussion.



We bid ta-ta to our new friends and headed over to The Big Legrowlski, a small taproom with really BIG beers.


Thinking of you, Reverend.


Red by Delirium (love the pink elephants)

Back out on the street and about four blocks south, we hit Bailey's Taproom.  Another fine selection of beers with the bonus of a Mexican restaurant just across the street that delivers to the bar.  Santeria is not so much a restaurant as it is a hole in the wall of a back alley.  But OMG!  Housemade salsas, shredded chicken that melts in your mouth, crispy warm chips, real guac, and a burrito that's bigger than Joe's head.  



The red sauce on the bottom is peppery, but the least spicy, the green in the middle is an amazing take on a tomatillo sauce, and the top one is roasty and lit up with a flavorful heat that we just couldn't get enough of.  Who knew we'd find such a treat up here in the PNW?


Buzzy and tired, we Ubered back to the hotel in time to catch the last rays of the day and Joss Stone's set below.





Tomorrow, we celebrate!



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