McMenamins Oregon City

Location: McMenamins Oregon City, which is an easy, fun bike ride on the 205 path. As McMenamins points out, this pub is an old church located in the first incorporated city west of the Rocky Mountains: Oregon City, a town that dates back to 1829.

Nice patio:

Fellow travelers: I brought Kristin & Todd for a summer bike adventure!

Favorite light: None.

Favorite art: Love the clock the most, but Hehn is always great. Who can resist a man riding a fish? Or a frog playing the bagpipes?

 

Food: Busy day for them: we waited 45mins for a wine flight and food. Good thing we snacked on crackers, goat cheese and dried plums on the Clackamas river before reaching Oregon City!

Passport stamps: McMenamins Oregon City, Wine Flight, Bike

Other items of note:

• Sadly, this location doesn't have milkshakes. Which would otherwise make it the perfect biking destination.

• How much do I love the Oregon Municipal Elevator? Answer: A lot. After McMenamins we took the elevator to the McLoughlin Promenade. One of my very favorite place in the Metro areas is at the southern end of the Promenade, a flat cliff under a large shady tree overlooking Willamette Falls. Then we biked home!

McMenamins High Street Brewery & Cafe

Location: McMenamins High Street Brewery & Cafe in Eugene. It is a charming converted house near the University of Oregon, so it sort of sneaks up on you as you are walking through the neighborhood.

Fellow travelers: Sven & I were in town to run the NW Animation Festival in Eugene! By which I mean: Sven was in town to run the Festival, and I was around to help. :) Because the High Street location is so close to the Bijou, it was literally a 3-minute walk, so it was a super easy location for us to fit in between the afternoon & evening animation blocks. I wish we had known about it sooner!

Favorite light: None.

Favorite art: Nothing big, but lots of bizarre & beautiful details along the borders that make me happy. I mean, ears? REALLY? A hanger on a ringed planet? Oh, McMenamins!

Food: Because I completed the Eugene section, I could have picked up a basket of tots or fries. But a whole basket seemed like a lot of tots at that moment, so I may have to wait until the Best of the Northwest Animation Festival in September to redeem it!

Passport stamps: Eugene High Street Brewery & Cafe to complete the section!

Other items of note:

• Sadly, this location doesn't have milkshakes. :( WHHHYYYY?
• Even though I asked the server, I am still unclear what "pizza rolls" are. 
• Cute patio, eh?

An oddity: look at the lower right corner. "No Checks Please/Thank you, Capt. Neon". I have never seen McMenamins use "Capt. Neon" as a sign-off on anything, as if it is a real character. Why this location?

Hillsdale Brewery & Public House

Location: Hillsdale Brewery & Public House in Hillsdale, just over the hill from downtown Portland. It's not-quite-a-stripmall in a stripmall location. In fact, according to the History, it used to be a Skipper’s Fish & Chips!

Fellow travelers: Just me, filling time between a morning job at PSU and an evening job at OHSU. The afternoons are the best time to be at McMenamins if you want to bring a laptop.

Favorite light: I can't say this is a favorite light, but I've been to enough McMenamins now that I've seen multiple sun/moon neon lights (Barley Mill, Tavern & Pool, Blue Moon, etc.). So I find the continued motif curious. This one has an additional blue neon streak and I found it impossible to take a detailed photo of with my camera phone.

Favorite art: I love this large mural because it contains cameos of many of the characters from other McMenamins locations. And it's a Hehn, who I now realize is one of my favorite McMenamins artists.

Spar Café, Crystal & Baghdad:

 

Black rabbit from Edgefield & the coffee roaster cat:

Rock Creek!

Food: Hillsdale bacon cheeseburger, fresh tots, Ruby ale milkshake, RC.

Passport stamps: Hillsdale Brewery & Public House

Other items of note:

• One of the servers told me they built the little booth gazebo thing in the last year. I hadn't thought about it until he mentioned it, but I realize I've seen quite a few of them at the other locations, so it must be a general initiative.
• 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. When I reached Hillsdale I had no idea how close I was to finally cresting the big hill which would mark the easy slide to Edgefield, but I was proud I had made it that far and celebrated with an Edgefield Fizz.
• What IS that keg-light outside?

I'm a sucker for calligraphy:

Boon's Treasury

Location: Boon's Treasury in Salem. I didn't have plans to eat at this location until everything went wrong: my tire blew on the way down to work in Lebanon, and fixing it required 3 hours at two different locations. I hadn't had lunch yet and was starving, so I thought I'd cheer myself up by completing the Salem section of my Passport on my way home.

Fellow travelers: Just me and a car with a new tire. My friend Dayna & I tried arranged to meet here earlier in the month, but our plans fell through. Fortunately, Dayna lives very close to Boon's and this time we were able to meet up afterwards, which made the day a bit brighter.

Favorite light: None.

Favorite art: This location primarily has posters and wooden panels from Bali, but the inside seems fairly tame compared to other McMenamins. So the historical artifacts were the best part.

Food: Because I completed the Salem section, I could pick a wrap or sandwich. I actually wanted a burger, but I settled for a Portland Confidential wrap and chili, which were pretty good.

Passport stamps: Thompson Brewery & Public House to complete the section!

Other items of note:

• Sadly, this location doesn't have milkshakes. :(
• It was chilly so I would have sat next to the stove if it had been lit!
• This location has a TEENY parking lot.
  

Dayna's milage collection & Little Free Library:

A nice sunset as I left Salem: