The Cities So Far: Portland
I am on day 8 of my journey and have been reflecting on everything I have done and seen so far. Believe me, there is a lot. There have definitely been both positive and negative attributes to each city so I will try to recount each city and my time there as I experienced it, independently of my experience elsewhere to save from comparison.
I love Portland, I really do. I almost went to college there five years ago and absolutely fell in love with the city when I visited. The inhabitants are friendly and genuine in a way that you feel as though you are surrounded by people who are completely unafraid to be themselves. Right up my alley.Ā
When I first arrived in Portland I had a strange encounter with a police officer who thought I was a person of interest instead of just a weary gadabout. Shortly after my near arrest (kidding Mom), I was enthusiastically greeted by Donica, whom I have known for most of my life but have grown closer to inĀ the past year or so. Donica recently moved to Portland after finishing her Masters in Traditional Chinese Medicine and is awaiting the arrival of her Oregon license to practice. I got in the car with Donica and was ready to take on the city.
We made our way to her adorable 1 bedroom apartment, where prior to arrival she gave a foreboding warning that her home sat above an Indian restaurant and as she put itĀ ādoesnāt so much smell like curry, as there is more of an ambiance of it.ā
After arriving to her home she was brainstorming the evening activities we could explore, she hesitantly suggested something she had seen the day before that looked cool but was unsure if I would be interested.Ā
āIām usually down for anything,ā I said,Ā āWhat is it?ā
āItās a beer festival downtown by the Christmas tree that is specializing in winter ales.ā
āSay no more,ā I said,Ā āSay. No. More.ā
With the sun set, making a deceivingly dark early afternoon, Donica and I took an uber to Pioneer Courthouse Square, also known as Portlandās living room. There we found sets of double-decker beer tents surrounding a 30 foot tall Christmas tree. $35 and a collection of 12 tickets later we were set for the festivities.Ā
It truly looked like a proper beer fest in Bavaria. Both Donica and I have roots in Germany, hers being of the familial variety and mine being of the ex-boyfriend branch. Regardless, we both have a strong love and appreciation for authentic German beer fests and were so happy to see the that the Holiday Ale Fest was representing a time-honored tradition with attention to detail and care. Ā
We sampled several 4 ounce pours of everything from winter ale, to porter, to a persimmon sour, taking diligent notes on each beer we were tasting in order savor the quality and deduce the aging process and barrel type.Ā
We were running from booth to booth trying to find the coolest name or strangest beer listed in the directory. However, one beer that we were able to distinguish barrel type was a lager that had been aged in spiced rum barrels. It had a distinct essence of a barely wine with a touch of a sour to it that made it especially memorable. At this point we were a few beers deep so the termĀ āspiced rum barrelā could not have been funnier to us and thus inspired us to coin this term as our code word for any handsome lumbersexual dude who was also at the event. Remember, this is Portland...that describes basically every dude. I think people grew a little tired of us ceremoniously shoutingĀ āspiced rum barrellll....ā But we couldnāt have cared less.Ā
We split a Cubano Sandwich and early in the evening and found a free photobooth area that our friends parents had been talking about. Of course we had to partake. Luckily for us, an adorable little man dressed as Santa Claus was just finishing up a photo session. We thought he was a part of the booth but it turns out he was just a festive patron trying to get his beer on. We took 3 photos, each more hilarious than the last, with a beer slinging Santa in the center.
The festival began to wind down and we were ready for some real food. A girl on the street suggested a hole-in-the-wall location just around the corner and we made our way there. Unfortunately for Donica, establishments that serve alcohol in Oregon are under strict carding laws and so her temporary Oregon License would not suffice and she would need an alternative form of ID. I suggested we go back to hers and grab her passport then come back to hang out again. After all it was only about 9 PM. I called for an uber and we made our way to the street to find our car. That was when we met our driver Garrick, that was when the night really got started...
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