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:

Oak Hills Brewpub

Location: The Oak Hills Brewpub, a strip mall location in Oak Hills, which I didn't realize was its own (apparently swanky) neighborhood/development. It has a Portland address but I would still categorize it as a "PDX Metro" location closer to Beaverton.

Huge Oaks Hills sign. Image from Modern Homes Portland
because I was not about to stop on Cornell and take a picture!

Fellow travelers: Another solo location after a job in Hillsboro. Thought it would be a good place to fill some time while waiting for rush-hour traffic to thin out.

Favorite light: now THIS is a classy light!

Favorite art: This first mural really grabs your attention as soon as you walk in. I also really liked the sequence of hammer-moon goddesses, one of whom looks to the left as the others look straight ahead.

Food: A Ruby Ale shake, a Thai chicken sandwich w/ red pepper bisque, and the Stella Blue fries, which were so terrible I didn't take them home. The waitress was kind enough to take them off my bill.

Passport stamps: I forgot my passport again! This is my anguished face:

updated Apr15.2015: I finally got the stamp!

Other items of note:

• This location truly embraces its brewery. Unlike many locations that tuck it off to the side, at Oak Hills the brewery is visible from everywhere in the restaurant and feels very central to the concept.  

Chapel Pub

Location: Chapel Pub, a classic historical building in North Portland. This is not a quadrant I get to very often, so I was happy when an opportunity popped up to be in the neighborhood.

Fellow travelers: Just me! I had a meeting in this neighborhood and stopped by afterwards for dinner.

Favorite light: Most lamps here are the lovely-but-standard sunburst ones. I like the burning lamp outside, but the firelight from the fireplace I sat next to was probably my favorite:

Favorite art: the architecture! Everything about this location is beautiful, especially the arched windows whose nooks were often filled with books.

and this art of my favorite fireplace thus far in the Project:

Food: Smokestack Lightning mac & cheese, mustard chicken salad, Ruby ale shake

Passport stamps: Chapel Pub

Other items of note:

• Becky & I met here before the Bike Play last summer.
• Before it was a McMenamins, this location was the "Little Chapel of the Chimes," and an organist comes to play music on the restored organ on Thursday nights.
• The ironwork grills, of which I have no photos, were created by the same man who made the ironwork at Timberline.
• This is a great place to hang out and work: I memorized some cases for an upcoming job here. The waitress was gracious and accommodating.