McMenamins West Linn

Location: McMenamins West Linn. This is another strip mall location, although it looks pretty good from the outside thanks to copious landscaping. Ironically, though, every single one of its signs is partially or fully obscured by shrubbery.

Fellow travelers: Just me! I was wondering how I was going to arrange the West Linn location when I realized it was near another landmark I wanted to visit: the iron furnace at George Rogers Park. It's fantastic! Plus it has good river access and a nice trail with a waterfall.

(And this fantastically weird bone-like plaything lives in the park right next door, the Lake Oswego Sister City Area.)

Favorite light: I loved all the lights floating below the cloud mural because it makes them look like fantasy ships sailing the cloudy seas.

If I had to pick one, though, it would be this metal lamp with light shining from its interior like a luminaria.

Favorite art: This location has an excellent mural that immediately greets you when you open the door and practically wraps around the entire restaurant. I didn't realize its thematic significance was related to either the golf course or Willamette Falls until I read its history online, though. There are parts hidden in the dark corners that look quite intriguing but my poor camera phone wasn't able to capture them.

(Even the brewery had a mural!)

Food: A chicken schnitzel sandwich with tots and an RC.

Passport stamps: McMenamins West Linn

Other items of note:

• Sadly, no milkshakes at this location.

Market Street Pub

Location: Market Street Pub, marking the edge of PSU and downtown Portland.

Fellow travelers: None. I was filling a long period of time between a job at PSU and an event on Alberta. Since I had already paid for a parking pass, after visiting Michaelmas, I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the Market Street Pub, a pleasant place with wifi a short walk away. This is probably the first time I've actually completed a blog post about a location before I've left it!

Favorite light: Nothing of note.

Favorite art: I love these painted oval panels between tables and the long panel in the back that features Ruby, the dancing Hammerheads, and a striped cat.

Food: A Ruby ale milkshake (hooray!), a terrible TERRIBLE hot dog, a side salad and an RC.

Passport stamps: Market Street Pub

Other items of note:

• The staff here was super nice. I tucked myself in a corner after they agreed I could hang out for the afternoon and they kept checking in on me.
• We used to host afterparties here when we were first holding the Northwest Animation Festival at 5th Avenue Cinema.
• This was one of the locations I stopped during my big Ultimate McMenamins Ride in 2012. I rode my bike all the way from Forest Grove to Troutdale, stopping at several McMenamins along the way. This was the first McMenamins after the giant hill I had been worrying about for the entire trip, so I was jubilant and triumphant. 

Olympic Club

Location: Olympic Club, the first of the hotels! This one is located in Centralia, halfway between Portland and Seattle, steps away from the train station. I had originally hoped to visit this location by biking to Union Station and taking the Amtrak Cascades to Centralia, but it didn't work out for this trip.

Fellow travelers: Brian, who traveled from Seattle to visit me the first day of my stay. Cecilia signed up for this location, but I forgot to ask her if she wanted to come, so I am including a special photo of her.

(sorry, Cecilia!)

Favorite light: A toss up between the triple ribbed sun lamps in the theater and the inset glass lamps above one of the pool tables.

Favorite art: Every time I visit this location, I look forward to seeing this sink in the bathroom, so honestly it's probably my favorite piece of art. 

But this stove was very welcome during cold weather!

But with a pub, bar, theatre and hotel, there was a lot of art, much of it historical in nature. For instance:

Food: The Fleetwood Mac was excellent. I split it w/ Brian, which was probably wise. Also delicious was the mushroom flatbread I had for dinner the first night. I also ate a beet salad I split w/ Brian, several RCs, amaretto french toast, sausage, a terrible chai latte, a lovely pot of Earl Grey tea, crab mac & cheese (not nearly as good as the Fleetwood Mac), popcorn, chicken fried steak, orange juice. The food was inconsistent: at every meal, something was cold/burnt/wrong.

Passport stamps: Play a Game, Stay the Night, Olympic Club Pub (where they accidentally gave me an apple cider stamp first), Olympic Club Hotel, New Tourist Bar.

 

 

This was the first location I've been to that required a photo clue to receive a stamp for the hotel.

It was incredibly satisfying to get so many stamps after 3 failed attempts! I have also now earned my first gift card: I think I'll collect the gift cards until my dad visits in June or until my McMenamins Passport Project completion party (if you're reading this, you will be invited!).

Lodging (a new category!):

• I really love McMenamins hotels, which are clean, cozy and beautiful. I don't even mind not having my own bathroom when the rooms are so reasonably priced and they give you big fluffy robes.
• I was in Room 11, which I quite enjoyed even though it is right next to the railroad, above the firepit and across the street from a large glowing cross. But it was a corner room at the end of a hall with two windows, and mercifully not over the theater. I enjoyed the view of the train station, the hills and the patio. And the Olympic Club provides ear plugs.
• As much as I appreciate the art at McMenamins, I am not a fan of portraits in the room staring at me. I think I've seen this at the Grand Lodge, too.
• The room was a bit cold at night, but they gave me a space heater on the second night. 
• At the Olympic Club, the rooms that don't have windows have skylights, which I think is a very nice touch. They have several rooms w/ bunk beds. They even have a suite all by itself on the bottom floor.

(stop looking at me!)

Other items of note:

• Pool is free if you are a hotel guest. Brian and I play TERRIBLE pool together, not even managing to finish one game while we waited for my check-in time. I had imagined we might play shuffleboard, but that didn't happen. Probably a good thing, or we would have been there all night. ;)
• The movie is also free if you are a hotel guest, but I didn't go to a movie. I sort of meant to, but the idea of being able to read a book from start to finish in my cozy hotel room was too delicious to resist. 
• Sadly, no milkshakes at this location.