Ringlers Pub

Location: Ringlers, because that's where we had to pick up our passes for the Portland Film Festival. For this location I had originally planned to take the Crystal Ballroom/Lola's Room tour and end with a meal at Ringlers for a perfect stamp trifecta. But since we were already here, we ate dinner before we headed out to see Labyrinth at Cinema 21.

Fellow travelers: Sven! I could not get a good picture of us.

Favorite light: I thought this virus lamp was sort of adorable, even if one of the bulbs was burnt out.

Favorite art: The star here is the mosaic bar (with a mosaic disco ball!). Is the bar made of cob? Because that's SO PORTLAND.

 

Food: Timber Jack sandwich, fries, Burnside lemonade. But looking at the menu online, I totally would have gotten the Ringlers Meatloaf Sandwich if I had seen it. Drat!

Passport stamps: Ringlers

Other items of note:

• I'm surprised Ringlers doesn't have a more traditional McMenamins sign. Just the window neon and side awning lettering.
• I never knew you could rent/reserve that side room for private events like the PFF. I can imagine it's very handy for a downtown location.

Barley Mill Pub

Location: After Sunday Parkways I visited the Barley Mill Pub, an undervalued gem on lower Hawthorne. I had to stand in the street to take this photo.

Fellow travelers: Katura & her daughter Magpie! And my bike (or at least, a bike very much like my bike, which is in the shop being fixed).

I should have invited Taz because she signed up for this location -- but forgot! Sorry, Taz! I am including you in this post in spirit.

Favorite light: lots of fun options here, but the neon sun is probably my favorite, especially since it parallels the Blue Moon light.

Favorite art: The barley mill is classic, of course.

But I was also charmed by what looked to be a lot homemade art to celebrate their 31st anniversary this year.

And the eyes under the stairs. 

Food: "House Special" steak sandwich, tots, root beer float, RC for the bike ride home.

Passport stamps: Barley Mill Pub

Other items of note:

• I am very interested in coming back for their small upstairs area, which in the afternoon and early evening seems like a good place to have a meeting, a small writing group, study time, reading, etc.
• They have an interesting hybrid indoor/outdoor seating area. But Hawthorne was too loud for me & Katura to enjoy eating outside.
• When I ordered a root beer float, the waitress asked how many scoops of ice cream I wanted. (!!!) I have never been asked that before, but that should be the standard of service for ALL root beer floats! (In my case, though, it's just one.)
• update Aug28: why didn't anyone tell me this was the very first McMenamins? Perhaps I should have brought an offering.

McMenamins on the Columbia

Location: McMenamins on the Columbia, my first Washington location! This location is right on the Columbia River, and on a beautiful day like today there was no better place to be. The water sparkles, the boats float by, the starlings talk to themselves as they look for crumbs.

Fellow travelers: Serin! And my bike!

Favorite light: I couldn't get a good picture of this, but I really liked the large carousel circle overhead with different colored bulbs at different levels.

Favorite art: Not a lot, honestly. The view is so good, who is looking at the art? Strangely, the bathroom had the most McMenamins-like art mural.

Food: ahi tuna sandwich, fries, part of a lemon polenta cake and part of a flan w/ strawberries. And three glasses of RC because of the bike ride.

Passport stamps: McMenamins on the Columbia. It looks like they have a brewery here but it was empty when we went, so I'm not sure if I could have taken a tour.

Other items of note:

• Serin taught me lockpicking! That might qualify as one of the best birthday presents ever!
• Biked to Vancouver's Marine Park and Wintler Park afterwards. They were both very nice. It looks like the trail between them has been detoured since 2013, though.
• I biked back to the I-205 path when I got a flat tire. I could have fixed it, but I called AAA to take me home -- mostly to see if I could. And I could!

Blue Moon Tavern & Grill

Location: Blue Moon Tavern & Grill after work. I was surprised they replaced the sign that's been there for years! I liked the old one much better. They have the old old sign on the ceiling now.

new sign: 

old sign:

old old sign:

 

Fellow travelers: Michaelmas!

Favorite light: nothing very notable at this location.

Favorite art: A lot of good stuff. My favorite is the blue moon logo w/ the hands erupting from its surface. I love the locations that have a long mural strip that wraps around a large space, like this one does.

Food: "Take Me to the Moon" Burger, tots, RC. That burger was definitely the best burger I've had at any McMenamins location, and one of the best ones I've ever had anywhere. Wow.

Passport stamps: Blue Moon Tavern & Grill. Decided to save the "Play a Game" stamp for the Tavern & Pool location.

Other items of note:

• According to the waitress, this location burned down in 2000, but Michaelmas has no memory of it.
• They now have shuffleboard. And a CD jukebox!

St. Johns Pub

Location: St. Johns Theater & Pub. We went here on my birthday proper.

Fellow travelers: Sven & Cecilia. I forgot to take a picture! So I'm cheating by cropping them from a picture at yesterday's Cornelius Roadhouse Pass event.

Favorite light: My UNFAVORITE lights were the ones in front of the screen that stayed on during the whole movie.

Favorite art: None. It turns out the St. Johns location doesn't have much original art.

Food: Scooby snacks, tots, RC

Passport stamps: St. Johns Pub, Movies

Other items of note:

• If I was going to see "The Edge of Tomorrow," I'm glad I did it as part of the passport project.
• The movie projector in that location is distinctly skewed and cut off the bottom of the movie.
• The staff is not friendly. 
• I really liked the little upstairs area.

Cornelius Pass Roadhouse

Location: Cornelius Pass Roadhouse. We began the McMenamin's Passport Project by celebrating my 41st birthday here on a hot Sunday afternoon.

Fellow travelers: Sven, Michaelmas (not pictured), Jenny, Taz, Cecilia, Brian, Kristen, Todd

 

Favorite light: I quite liked Big Red, especially as the day transitioned to night.

Favorite art: I've discovered a new favorite McMenamins piece!

Food: Edgefield Fizz, Some of Jenny's cheese plate (thanks, Jenny!), Imbrie Flatbread, Terminator Stout milkshake, Sven's homemade cupcakes, white whiskey, Irish Rueben w/ sweet potato fries

Passport stamps: Cornelius Pass Roadhouse, Distillery Tour, The White Shed, Beer Flight

 

Other items of note:

• Sadly, we could not bring our balloons onto the property.
• Also sadly, the brewery was closed.
• We hid beneath the umbrella while squirrels rained walnut shells down on us.
• Two weddings! One in the Octagonal Barn, where the groom was happy to show us around.
• We sang "Happy Birthday" just before the first wedding began.
• Kristen blew us all away playing Apples to Apples. 

make a wish!