Visting Tokyo

Another blog entry that is way over due.

A couple of years ago the plans were put into motion. A group of friends decided to go to Tokyo and started saving for the trip. Since Japan was always one of the places I wanted to visit, I planned on going as well. Last year we picked date at the beginning of August 2104. The trip was supposed to be close to two weeks, but my situation in life had changed due to a wonderful woman in the Philippines, So I cut my Japan trip down to four days and the rest was going to be spent with her.

A British,a Finnish, a Irishman, and three Americans walk into a rental house located in Roppogoni Hills area. Sounds like a the beginning of a joke but that's the group we had on this trip. Our friend Mark, arranged the accommodations for us. It was a small rental house, especially for 6 people, but it was lots cheaper than a hotel.

As with almost every time I have flown this year, my flight out of Fort Wayne was delayed and I was booked on a later flight. When I got to O'Hare International, I had about thirty minutes to get to my connecting flight which I barely made. I arrived at Narito Airport and was happy to see my luggage made the tight turn around. I grabbed a charter bus to Roppogoni Hills and a cab to the rental house, which was a tad difficult to find.

Mark was at the house to greet me as the rest of the group had arrived there about a week before me. I got cleaned up and decided to explore the area.  Mark showed me the layout of the area and where the subway was  located. We ran into Aleksi on our journey and three of us ate a ramen place in the subway underground, which was the first of many great meals. We then hit up a grocery store across from the restaurant, and then headed back to the house. The others started piling in for their own individual adventures. It was good to see people again.

The next morning I tagged along with Mark to the Shinjuku area of town to visit the Tokyo Sky Tree Tower. It is the largest observation tower in the city. It was quite a view that went on for miles, even on a cloudy and overcast day.

Sky Tree Tower

Sky Tree Tower

After getting lunch in the tower, we went to grabbed the subway and went to Ueno Park for some walking around action. There are lots of things to do at the park with different museums, a zoo, and lots of open walking space. We ended up at the Natural Museum of Nature and Science. It felt good to get out of the muggy heat. Plus the museum was rather awesome with five levels of exhibits including a stellar fossil collection, an exhibit on how all life is connected, a dinosaur and evolution of man.

After a long day of walking around, my bad knee was throbbing. We went back to the rental house to catch up with everyone else. Basically we just hung around watching wrestling clips and chatting for the night. And I also was sipping on a variety of Japanese craft beer, which again I was pleasantly surprised with what I picked up at the store.

The next day Aleksi,Stephan, and myself decided to find Brewdog Roppongi for lunch and brews. I could have spent a long time here but after a delicious burger and three delicious high alcohol brews the other guys wanted to go to other things. Stephan and I decided to find this particular samurai sword shop which ended up being farther than I wanted to walk in the scorching heat. Glad I did because this shop was so cool and the owners very kind as it was obvious we weren't going to purchase any of the high end swords.

Brewdog Roppogoni

We walked back to the rental house and prepared for our group trip for the evening. The Shinjuku Robot Resto. Once I saw this place on Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown, I knew we had to go and lucky everyone, but Mark did go experience this hard to explain, mind blowing show.  So Blake, Ceej, Stephan, Aleksi, and myself catch the subway and head to find the place. We had about an hour so we grabbed a quick dinner. We go back to the Robot Resto, which is really not a restaurant though it does serve a bento box, and purchase tickets. We are lead down this brightly light hallway to an elevator which takes us up to the bar. We order drinks and listen to the band, dressed up as robots, play songs. After about an hour we are lead down a staircase to the main floor for the show. I cannot begin to describe the next ninety minutes of  mind blowing images. There are YouTube videos out there but those don't do the show justice either. If ever in Tokyo do yourself a favor and witness this amazing show of scantily clad women, fighting robots, aliens fighting animals, and song. All of us who went agreed and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Robot Resto show

Robot Resto stairway

It was getting late and the subways were closing for the night and it was pouring down rain. So we took taxi's back to our rental house and decompressed from the visions we just saw.

We all woke up with one group activity to do, New Japan G1 Climax Finals. It took well over an hour and several subway changes to get to Seibu Dome and another mighty storm was closing in on the area. Being wrestling fans, we were all stoked for the show. And it did not disappoint. One of the best wrestling events I have ever been to. We got back to the house afterwards and reflected on our fun day.

I woke up ready to face my last day in Tokyo. The couple of items I wanted to do were closed so instead I decided to go bar hopping in the late afternoon. I ended up at Two Dogs Taproom which ended up being a fine craft beer bar. We all got together for a group picture at Roppogni Hills Observation Deck in Mori Tower. It's not as high as Sky Tree but on this clear the view was breath taking view. Afterwards Ceej, Aleksi, and myself went to find a sushi place to eat dinner. I had very fresh sashimi. Then Ceej and myself decided to take the long way back to the house and explore some more. Alright, I confess, there was a Godzilla art display to be seen.

Two Dogs Taproom

The group overlooking Tokyo

Tokyo is an expensive city. Tokyo is an amazing city full of history and sites to see. There could have been a better group of friends to take this adventure. All the people we ran across were very friendly, respectful, and helpful to us gaijins (foreigners). If ever visiting there remember that a small head bow goes a long way w/ the language barrier. The outstanding beer scene surprised me. The convenience stores kick the US convenience stores in the ass. And if you aren't near a store, there are vending machines for almost anything one can image all over the city. It was also odd to see lockers in the airports and subways. Haven't seen those in US terminals for quite a few years. For one the largest cities in the world it was so clean. It's definitely a place I want to spend more time in... some day.





Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.

Brew Haven 2014 (the place for craft beer lovers in Northeast Indiana)

It's that time of year again in Northeast Indiana. Time for a craft beer festival called Brew Haven! Another massive crowd lined up and invaded downtown New Haven, IN for a tremendous amount of beer samples.

The first thing I noticed this year is how smooth and well organized the event was. Much better than in years past. The area was well laid out with a food tent, a larger tent for the majority of brewers, two smaller tents, and two tap trucks (one with 15 Three Floyd's). It was spaced out where with enough walking room to help avoid the being overcrowded. There was a decent amount of brewery representation as I always find it fun to actually talk those making the beers and a lot of beers to try.

This year I finally talked a couple of friends in joining me on this adventure. They had a great time and will be returning. We had VIP tickets as I personally like to get in ahead of the big crowd and find it to be worth the extra cost. With my hit list in hand and marked, I had forty I wanted to try, the first couple of hours I hit it hard with samples and grabbing free swag. Then spent the last few hours calming down a bit and talking to people. I never got to all the new to me beers I wanted to sample (very close though).

There was a VIP section of the back tent this year where the sponsors came and talked about their beers. I thought this was a neat idea, but didn't seem to be a big hit. I had fun chatting with a couple of them. The area could have definitely used a few chairs to go along with the tables and about half the area was actually used. I would be surprised to see it return next year.

Shortly after the general session folks started coming in, the hard rain fell for about thirty minutes. People packed in under the tents. Luckily, one still could move around. After the sun came back and it was a nice afternoon. It seems the Fort Wayne Homebrew Club (MASH) were once again a big hit and with good reasons. This group knows how to brew good beers.

Indiana has a growing scene for craft beer. Nice to see drinks from Triton, Iechyd Da, New Albanian, Granite City, Big Dawg, Quaff On, Tin Man, Daredevil's. Taxman, Flat 12, Great Cresent, Burn Em, Mad Anthony's, Fountain Square, Carson's, Shoreline, New Day, Three Floyds, Sun King, Cutters. Upland, Summit City Beirwerks, Bloomington Brewing Co., Three Pints, People's, Chapman's, New Boswell, and Olde School Brewhaus being poured. Maybe a few Hoosier breweries will come back or join for the first time next year.

Now mostly I give praises here, but not were a couple of glaring issues to me that I  have to bring up a couple of things.

First off, as a VIP ticket holder you are suppose to get a shirt. We were about the number fifty in line and the XXL shirts were gone when we got to the stand. I am not sure if they simply did not order enough or their was a shipping problem, but its a tad annoying. I'm really not certain how you dont have enough bigger shirts available. And they had a cool design too. A voucher or something would have been nice since it is part of the package.

Second, there needs to be more bathrooms. The lines were terrible for the second year in a row. Good news is I have already heard there will be more next year. So that will help big time.

Third (final and minor), I was really looking forward to trying some samples from Evil Twin and Clown Shoes as they are two of my favorite breweries right now. They were suppose to be on the larger tap truck, but I never found them there or anywhere. It is a possibility that I I just missed them.



Favorite New To Me Breweries:

Burn Em Brewery - Hands down my favorite brewery which I never had before. These guys out of Michigan City are doing very unique and outstanding beers. They are very friendly and chatty too. Combinations like a coffee wheat (Joey Wheat) and coconut pale wheat ale (Coconoats) does not sound appealing at first read but are simply amazing once they hit the palette. The Boomerango (mango IPA) and MCA (IPA) both hit the mark as well. Watch out for these guys! Hopefully a tap house and further expansion to this side of the state will be coming in the near future.




Taxman Brewing Co. - This brewery on the South side of Indianapolis brews Belgium style beers. La Maison (a farmhouse ale), Deducation (dubbel), and Exemption (tripple) all made the mark for delicious. Another brewery that I would love to see distribute up this way.








My Favorite New To Me Beers:

Apricot Sour Ale by Tin Man Brewing. An explosion on sweet apricot in taste and aroma quickly followed by a slight puckering tartness. I could drink a lot of this beer.
This Evansville brewery, and co-sponsor for the 2nd year, is doing things right. And if they start selling there product this far North, then I will be buying it.

Good Game by Oskar Blues. This abbey quad is simply one of the best American style quadruples I have ever tasted. Period.



Overall, another fantastic Brew Haven. Big thanks go out to the Trion Tavern and their staff, the co-sponsors (Brewers Art Supply, Sierra Nevada, Tin Man Brewing, Iechyd Da Brewing Company, MASH Club, Five Star Distributing, and Daredevil Beer), and all of the volunteers for the event. An outstanding job was done by all.

I look forward the fifth annual Brew Haven in 2015. My calendar is already marked!



Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.

MIla-Wau-Kee (That's how Alice Cooper pronounces it)

Once again, late to write about travels and what not. I've comes to term with my problem. I am a lazy writer. The ideas would rather swirl in my head than be put down in written form. At least on here, the Fringes portion gets good attention. But I digress...

About a month ago I had the chance to work in Milwaukee for about a week. This was my second time to the city but the first time for more than just an overnight.

We were working a conference at the Wisconsin Convention Center. Luckily we had plenty of time to patrol the area on our down days. I found a lot of pleasant surprises in this town and despite being right in the middle of Summer Fest there was never too much traffic or over mass of people crowding the streets.

These are a few of the places where I ate well and drank even better. I suggest any of them if you are in the downtown area.

Milwaukee Brewing Company - Drank a lot decent amount these guys over my stay. The large brewpub had a cool vibe going on. The food was better than good "bar style" eats and the beer surprised me. The Columbian Saison and Sheepshead Stout topped my favorite list.

MKE Brewing flight

Hinterland Gastropub - Two things that go well together are charcuterie and beer. This place has both and much more on the menu. The food is a tad on the pricey side but excellent. The beers flowed down my gullet easily. I have tasted some of their beers back home before with a mixed results but this time around everything hit the spot. The cherry wheat was the best of the four I drank down.

Hinterland Gastropub

Old German Beer Hall - Authentic German food, live polka style music, fun bartenders, and multiple styles of Hofbrau directly imported from Germany. What is not to love about this place!

Old German Beer Hall

Build a Breakfast, Build a Burger - I ended up here more times than I wanted to during my stay. Not because it wasn't a great place, I like to spread out a bit and explore, but sometimes you take what is close by and opened. The food here was absolutely amazing. Several different and not the standard burgers to choose from or a gigantic breakfast list. You wont go wrong either way. Throw in a handful of taps and a great staff to help the experience. I think this place has something for all to enjoy.

Miller Time Pub & Grub - This was the hotel bar. The only reason I kept going back was the really good beer selection in both draft and bottles. I was very surprised by a few new to me beers including New Glarus Spotted Cow, Futhermore Fattyboombalatty, and Lake Louie Warp Speed Scotch Ale. Typical bar food menu did the job but was far from spectacular.

Milwaukee Public Market - Eat. Shop. Drink. This market is so awesome. It's not large, but packed full of vendors either selling food or making food. Wish we had something similar to this market where I live.

MKE Public Market

I left Milwaukee thinking it'd be a decent place to spend time in...as long as it wasn't winter. I enjoyed much of what I stumbled upon. Wanted to get to a couple of the more famous craft beer bars and Lakefront Brewery, but just didn't have the time or means to travel.

Maybe next time.





Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.

Work and Mardi Gras...NOLA Bound!

I had a chance to go back to the city of New Orleans and work back in March. I had not been there in several years, pre hurricane actually, and was rather excited about going back. What I was not excited about was driving a box truck down there from Indiana and all the hassles that go with a truck. Not to mention we had back to back events right in the middle of Mardi Gras. It created so many extra headaches and delays. My frustration level was at a very high level.

I did notice on this trip that the city was cleaner than I remember. And there were a lot less panhandlers. Both are good things. But for Mardi Gras time, it seemed rather tame compared to what I have witness in the past. Though it was very cold and rainy most of the week and I did the majority of my drinking during the day on my down time and far away from the French Quarter where I was working. However, if people want to expose themselves to the populous for cheap beads then I say let 'em. I will always take a look at boobs.

view from my room at Roosevelt Hotel

The first work week was at the historic Roosevelt Hotel, which is just a couple of blocks from Bourbon street. It was a long week for the two man crew. But we, as always, preserved and made the client happy with the AV portion of the event.  I love the architecture of this hotel, but it a pain in the ass to work in for a conference. And the capper of it was the last night, after we loaded the truck and was ready to drive it back to the convention center parking area, the streets were shut down due to the parade. It was after 1am before I was able to move the box truck.

I had a few days off before the next event moved in. Unfortunately I could not find any reasonable hotels downtown being the big weekend before Mardi Gras. I reserved a room up in Metarie and stayed there for the weekend. I did make a trip to the French Quarter on Saturday to met up with a friend who came into town for the weekend. Nothing like drinking at 9am! When you are hitting up the Absinthe Bar before noon, you know it will be an interesting day.

My friend Burke had never been to NOLA. So we walked around, drank, and ate all day. Caught a part of parade too. But as more people flocked around and darkness neared, I felt it was time for me to head back north to my hotel.

During these down days I managed to make it to some unique spots like the Avenue Pub (a famous craft beer bar), Stein's Market & Deli (great deli sammys & very good bottled beer selection), Jackson Square, all around the French Quarter popping in and out of bars.

one of the daily parades

 The second week saw us down at the Riverside Hilton. So much easier to have the truck on site and not have to fight through traffic. Especially since load in was on Fat Tuesday. Again, another long week but successful event. Even managed to get out the hotel a couple of nights to find some more eateries. Happy clients are great for business but even more than that our company (I can say that because Markey's is now employee owned) wants to form partnerships with every one we work for. Enough of the business plug.

I've always loved Creole style cooking and ate plenty of it on this trip. Now we had to take another off day in order drive back to Indiana. We camped out in Slidell at a hotel and did not do much of anything. The journey home was long and eventually filled with snow. I am hating this winter.

the muddy waters of the Mississippi

New Orleans is a fascinating and unique city in America. A person is bound to be charmed by what it has to offer. If only I could have spend a little more time exploring. Guess it's a good thing I will heading back next month for Wrestlemania.





Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.

Minneapolis...

I am so behind on blogging. No sure how people find the time to these things on the side. But since I enjoy writing it will keep at it.

Anyways, late October I traveled for work to Minneapolis. I've drove through the city and I have flown into the city's airport but never actually spent time here. For the most part I was pleasantly surprised.  

I have worked in many convention centers in my career. And Minneapolis has a huge and very nice one located downtown.  One of the first things I noticed when walking around the area was how clean everything is. It's not necessarily new buildings or streets but it all looks so darn up kept and inviting.

The second thing I noticed is all the city artwork on display. Countless statues and buildings with awe inspiring paintings on the side.


  

Happy Gnome

There is also a lot of great food and drinks to be had here. As any foodie would tell you. I ate well and drank better.

I got to cross another famous beer bar off my list when I was able to get out to theThe Happy Gnome in St. Paul. An amazing place which lived up to it's expectation.

A couple other interesting food and drink joints I wondered into were 8th Street Grill and Taphouse, Devils Advocate Bar, Market BBQ, Brit's Pub & Eating Establishment. All had delicious food and a fine beer selections.



The show I worked had long hours, as usual, and I didn't get to explore much other than the few blocks surround the convention and my nearby hotel. There were plenty of other places I wanted to check out. 

I was also unprepared for the first snow fall of the year. It got very cold for a few days as the white stuff littered the ground and building tops. Also found Minneapolis to be a rather expensive city. More so than I would have expected. I will know this for next time and I want to come back and explore more... only in the Summer though.

 






Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.

Traveling Man Part II - Heading Home

On my return home I decided to come a different route. I wanted to knock out a few more states that I have never been through. The route was going to be Washington, Montana, North Dakota, down to Iowa and home.

outside Seattle

Traveled up the highway of Washington to the outskirts of Seattle before jumping on I-94 to head East. I toyed with staying in the city for a day but opted for a couple of days in Montana instead. Seatle is always a more likely return due. This is more of what I imagined the Pacific Northwest to be like with small mountains and trees as far as one can see. It was rather beautiful.




After a few hours I entered the northern part of Idaho, which surprised me as it was very different from the southern part of the state. You go through some major mountainous territory. And it continous as you enter Montana. But again, it was breathtakingly beautiful. I should have made a couple stops but by the time I hit Missoula, it was close to twelve hours on the road and getting dark.

Missoula

I pulled in my room at the Red Lion, which may be my new hotel of choice when out West, showered and hit the town. Missoula is small town which seems to cater to outdoors types and The Univeristy of Montana. My first stop was at Tamarack Brewing Co. for food and drink. A nice selection of brews as a sampled a bourbon vanilla stout (which was one of the best things I drank on my trip) and ate some tasty fish. 

 Afterwards, with my belly full, I walked around the downtown area for a bit and made my into a bar called The Iron Horse Brew Pub which had about twenty different types of beer on tap, most from the Northwest. I had a couple more and felt very tired despite only being 10:30pm. Back to the hotel I went for sleep.


The other place in Montana I wanted to stop was Billings. It was only a five hour drive so I slept in and took my time before leaving. This town has a huge beer culture and I wanted to check it out. I drove and at somepoint during this short drive I feel in love with the state of Montana.

Montana Brewing Company

Angry Hanks

Carter's Brewing

After checking into the Dude Ranch Motel, my first stop was at Montana Brewing Company and had a late lunch consisting of a macoroni and cheese dish and a Custer's Last Stout, both hit the spot. After one more, it time to head to the next brewery, Angry Hank's. This place is only a brewery and due state law, has a three beer limit. I had three, all of which I cannot complain about as they tasted good. My next stop was Carter's Brewing
which ended up being my favorite, and last stop of the night. Here I cozied up to the small bar and ordered a sampler. Chatted up with the awesome bartender, who I quickly became smittened with, and a couple of regulars from town. I also found out another state law. Not only to breweries have a three beer limit, but they close at 8pm during the week. If I would have known this before I would have left Missoula earlier than I did. I drank my limit and stayed until closing. The Carter de Saison was great! Unfortunately, my pub crawl came to a screeching halt. I could have found a bar to sample more but I had been pounding top notch beers for four hours and was feeling good. So I decided to go back to hotel. An early start for Fargo, North Dakota was in the near future.


At the crack of dawn I pulled away from Billings and headed East once again. The scenery remained outstanding Montana and as I crossed into North Dakota it remained. I came across a sign that had a scenic look out. I needed to stretch so I pulled into Teddy Roosevelt National Park Lookout. This turned out to be one of the best part of the trip as it overlook the Painted Canyon. I just stopped and stared for minutes. I was speechless at this amazing landscape. Pictures dont do it justice. This reminded me that once in awhile, you need to stop and take in the view.

Painted Canyon

I continued my drive across North Dakota with thoughts swirling around my head. Fargo was a good point of stoppage and place I wanted to stay simply because of the Coen brothers movie of the same name. Imagine my disappoinment when not one "Don'cha know" was said to me. Once checked into the hotel, I did my usual... walk around and fine a place to eat decent food and drink decent beer. I found this place called Sickies Garage.

Sickies Garage

It's a burger joint and craft beer bar. Very good selection on tap, roughly thirty. It's a very cool layout too with a few booths having their own tap where you can pour your own and get charged by use. Since there was no room at the bar I found a table and ordered a jalapeno burger with tator tots and an Alaskan Raspberry Wheat, Big Wood Brewery Morning Wood, and a Lucky Bucket Cowbell Saison. I was content and weary from the road. At this point, I was ready to be home and had my fill of driving.


Once again I pulled out at dawn leaving Fargo in my rearview mirror and soon crossed the over the Minnesota state line. I made the decesion to head down to Des Moines, Iowa and stay the night since I had to stop over night one more time unless I wanted 15 hours in a vehicle. And I did not.

Again, it was a short drive day at about seven hours. My first stop in the DM was at burger joint called Zombie Burger which is an awesome idea. The decor is unique with movie posters and zombie art work. The burgers are uniquely named combonations of awesomeness. And dont forget a thick, delicious shake should you stop here. And you should stop here and make it a destination.

Zombie Burger

With my lunch and zombie fix satisfied I checked into the hotel and made my way to a one of the nation's top beer bar's, El Bait Shop. This place is amazing. A interesting look on both the exterior and interior with about hundred taps of rotating greatness. This is another definite stop for beer lovers. In my few hours there I tried a Backpacker First Anniversary Stout, Goose Island Big John, Goose Island Night Stalker, West O Red, and Tallgrass Brewing Velvet Rooster. It was Friday and I was feeling good. But it was off to another reknown beer bar Royal Mile. The place is known for European beers but honestly, I was a tad disappointed with the selection. I had a bottle of  Salopian Entire Butt Porter and was very buzzed. While walking back to the hotel I remembered about Belgium Bar upstairs. Damn.

El Bait Shop

Royal Mile

Once again it was rising at dawn and hitting the highway. Eight hours later I was home. And glad to be back.

This ended up being a great trip. One that I will remember for a long time. I am convinced if a person wanted to get lost and start over in obscurity they could do it in parts of Wyoming, Idaho, South Dakota, North Dakota, or Montana. Doesn't necessarily sound like a bad thing either.

With this trip I have now either drove through part of or flew into a city in each of the 48 continential states of the USA. Not too shabby but there are still lots of parts to explore. Heads up Alaska and Hawaii...
I'm coming for you too!




Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.

Portland, OR: The Return

Belmont Station

I had a couple of hours to kill before getting to the hotel. I decided to stop in at Belmont Station for a little bottle shopping as their selection is amazing. A first class bar adjoins the bottle shop so a quick sip of a Cigar City-Widmer Brothers collaboration called Gentlemen's Club and banter with the bartender was in store. I thought about the Horse Brass Pub for lunch which was just down the road but parking is damn near impossible with a Sprinter van. Instead I headed to the hotel hoping they could park me early.



Upon arrival at the hotel and after the business of getting the van parked, contacting the client, and getting checking into the room; it was time to hit the downtown area of Portland. My first destination was for a late lunch and drinks at Deschutes Brewery.

Deschutes Brewery

It was happy hour and packed but I managed to squeeze in at the bar. Started out with a sampler tray of brews. The tilted back a Black Butte XXV Porter which was outstaning (should have bought a bottle to bring home) and a sampler tray with Saison De Perle, Twilight Summer Ale, Obsidian Stout. The food was also excellent. I had a brasied pork belly. A few more beers entered my system. A nice brewery with quality. Maybe soon they will start distributing to Indiana.



I left the brewery with another destination in mind, but was sidetracked by this huge bookstore taking up almost a city block, Powell's Books. This place was the biggest bookstore I have ever stepped in. Multiple floors with tall racks upon racks of new and used books of every variety. Time escaped me as I wandered the aisles just gazing and searching for nothing particular. I walked out with a couple of purchases and then it was time to fill another craving, Voodoo Doughnut.

I dont care how trendy this establishment has become to tourists or how much locals crave them because they make a damn tasty donught. I bought a couple new to me flavors for breakfast (Diablos and Mango Tango) and one for the road (Voodoo Doll). On the way back to the hotel, I grabbed a slice of Thai pizza from Pizza Schmizza. Another day of travel and exploring was completed. Time for sleep as actual work came in the morning.

After work on my second day, I ventured the few short blocks down to Bailey's Taproom, another top beer bar in the nation and a bar I visited on my last time in town. This place is a techie and beer lovers dream. They had a digital display with all the tap listing, size of pour, and cost. Plus an Untappd feed scrolls across the top. But more importantly, an amazing and often changing selection. I had a few glasses which included a Fort George Rye Whiskey Cavitica Stout, Full Sail Chris's Summer Delight Berliner Weisse, Oakshire III-Tempered Gnome. On my way back to the hotel I found a food truck, one of many on this trip as the city embraces them with spots all over the city and lots of these establishments are wheels off for permanent location. I hit up a Mexican food cart and got a huge steak burrito. Full and very, very content it was time to go back to the hotel.



On my third day in town I managed to sneak away from lunch and found food truck scene a few blocks away. It's about one square block oarking lot with food trucks surrounding the perimeter. I had a Spam Musbi and Spicy Pork from Island Grill Hawaiian Barbeque. Another top notch food truck experience.

After work I decided to head to a brewery. And there are a plenty to choose from in Portland. I ended up at one close to the hotel called Tugboat Brewery (actually across the street from Bailey's). Its a small place with a laid back atmosphere. I tried two of the house brews with my favorite being a Russian Imperial Stout called Chernobyl. Also had a tasty Chinese Pork Tenderloin to eat from their unique menu.

Taps at Tugboat

Italian Cured Meat

  On the next day, one of the locals helpers I had for the set up raved about a sandwich place. When he ran there for lunc and grabbed us food. The place is Bunk Sandwiches and I had Italian Cured Meat. It's was great. I highly recommend it.


That night I ate dinner with the meeting planners at Pasta Pastaria. I am not a huge pasta fan but I like our clients and I wont turn down a chance for after work bonding with them. It's good for company. I had a five cheese lasagna and a Black Butte Porter. We had a good time. They called me an AV Ninja.

On the way back to the hotel I stopped in a store and I snagged a bottle of Ninkasi Vanilla Oatis Stout to sip on back in my room.

Yak Momos

It was the last day of the show. Luckily, I managed once again to sneak out for lunch again. A farmer's market was about a block away and I saw food being advertised. There were some interesting choices but I went with an item I have never had before.Yak Momos from Momo Cart which are steamed dumplings with yak meat. And there are incredible! Philly Cheesesteak from Steaks Fifth Avenue





One more night in the city. My first stop was a little store called Made In Oregon where I picked up a couple of bombers to take back home. I also wanted to go to a couple more beer destinations. So it was off to Rogue Publick House. The place was packed but once again I managed to grab a seat at the bar. I ate a trio of pork sliders, which were good. And had a Shakespeare Nitro Stout and a sampler tray because even though we get a lot of Rogue's back home there are some we do not. I had a CPT. Sig's NW Ale, Dirtoir Black Lager, 19 Original Colonies Mead, and Charlie 1981. And on my way back, once again I hit up Bailey's where several taps had changed. A Fort George Three Wiseman Oatmeal Stout (unbelievably good) and a 10 Barrel Brewing Ransom Imperial Stout crossed my lips.

By now it was getting late and I was feeling pretty good. So it was back to the hotel. I had to back and sleep. The road back home would come early.




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