Monday September 7th Good Rats Andy, Kelly L., Darren and I with DD and Good Rat wannabe Delany, made a tour of a few McMenamins. The rat route was created by Kelly L. and I and I will admit it was rather ambitious. We selected 8, count 'em 8 McMenamins to visit.
The first stop was what has become my current favorite the Rock Creek Tavern. We arrived shortly after 11am and the place hadn't started to fill up yet but by the time we'd had our lunch it was hoppin'. It's worth mentioning that some of us had their potato soup which was very good. For drinks I started out with the Rubinator, a GR Patricia fave. I had only tasted it one time but it's a fine mix of Ruby and Terminator Stout. I then moved on to the Ruby which I find to be a nice summer time brew.
We then moved just down the road to the Roadhouse. This is a second favorite of mine. I'm not that crazy about Imbrie Hall which to me seems like a big warehouse, but the rest of the grounds are fun but disappointingly the White Shed (Whisky and Cigar bar) is not open on Mondays. Kelly L. and I got to show the old farm house off to the others and had fun showing them the "secret door" next to a fireplace. That was good for a few laughs and I'll say no more.
We drove the short distance to the Oak Hills Brewpub but were disappointed to find that it's in a strip mall. GR Kelly L. took a quick look inside and reported that that it looked fair enough but come on, a strip mall? We didn't stay.
We moved on to McMenamins Cedar Hills and guess what? Another strip mall. After having gone ten minutes without a brew we decided we better stop. Again, it wasn't too bad inside, there was a pool table and best of all a real old fashioned pin ball machine at fifty cents a pop! Well, the pool was free.
At some point GR Darren suggested we go to the Lloyd Center Theaters and watch
Hangover. We got there a few, and I mean just a few, minutes early so we went to a place I can't remember the name of and had another drink or was it two? By that time I couldn't really remember. Then it was on to the movie. I don't know if it was the alcohol or if it was truly funny but I laughed a lot. In fact I think I want to add it to my Netflix cue for when it becomes available on DVD. I'll stop short of recommending it although I know GR Darren does so take that for what it's worth.
We skipped the next 3 that were on our list and drove directly to Ringlers Annex. Now I must clarify something. I said earlier that Rock Creek was my favorite and Roadhouse was second. The Annex is really a great place. It's the place where "everybody knows your name". If I was downtown Portland I would call the Annex my favorite. So maybe it depends on where I am at the time. Hey, as long as they have quality beer what the heck. I say it's possible to have two favorites.
All in all it was a very nice day. Many thanks to Delany for driving! It was great seeing GR Andy again. Whether we want to admit it or not we really miss him. This trip was supposed to include GR Ron as a going away, have a great after life but he was on "vacation" making his final move of stuff from their local house to their dry side house. Lest we forget Ron... Prost!
I'm writing this an entire week after this trip and I just got back from Bellingham after taking Miss M back to school. Last night we had dinner at Boundary Bay. The nice thing was Marie and Miss M agreed to drop me off there and they went shopping before they returned for dinner. Now that may sound like I got the raw end of the deal. After all, Marie had the credit card. But the way I see it is, I got to sit outside on their deck, in super nice weather and drink good beer listening to a band they had playing below me in their beer garden.
Miss M turns 21 in January and she wants the Good Rats to come to Bellingham sometime next year and tour some of the pubs in her area. I know there are other good places to go but I'm not sure how many of you would want to make that kind of trip. I think it would need to be an over nighter. If no one else wants to go that's alright. Marie and I enjoy that area a lot and we'll have a good time without you.
With all that said... carry on.
