We stayed at the Oak Street Hotel which is really more like a bed and breakfast than it is hotel. The rooms are well appointed with a comfortable bed (not an old cheap thing), updated furniture and a good sized bathroom. As my previous blog pointed out, it took us about 3 hours to get from downtown Portland to Hood River (normally a 45 min trip) and this room was really welcoming when we arrived. Breakfast was served daily which was great because we got to eat and talk to the front desk person. He gave us a few pointers of hikes we could take and shops we should not skip. We took his advice and really enjoyed ourselves.
Doppio Cafe
Doppio is a cool cafe within 3 blocks of the Oak Street Hotel. It turned out this was the perfect place to watch the Colts/Washington Redskins football game. They have a bigscreen TV mounted on the wall so Lauri and I could watch the game. The sound on the TV was turned off so I could enjoy their free Wi-Fi and catch up on some reading during the times the Colts were stomping on the 'skins. I had some of the best coffee I've ever had at this cafe. It was an organic sumatra brew from which I really didn't expect to notice a difference from the in-organic kind. The coffee at Doppio tasted "cleaner" than any other cup I had. A sumatra blend has a deep earthy taste indicative of really dark coffee. This was no different with the added nicety of having a smooth clean taste. Yummy. We also had one of their home made cookies - we may drive back to Hood River for another one of those; it was excellent.
Big Horse Brewing
Big Horse was a place for us to get out of the rain. We had just finished at G. Wilikers (a kids' toy shop) and wanted to head for higher ground. We walked straight up and probably climbed 500 feet in elevation. We split a pulled pork sandwich which was good enough. It had good flavor and filled us up. Compared to Beth's pulled pork though, it was just ok. I had a beer tour of 4 of their house brews: a Belgian Trippel, a Red, an Oatmeal Stout and a copper colored ale. The Red was REALLY hoppy (they warned me before hand) and was probably my least favorite. It was ok, but the other three beat it hands down. I liked the Oatmeal stout enough to buy a growler and bring it home. I'll probably go back to fill it up sometime.
On our way out of town, we paid the toll to cross the bridge and dine at a restaurant the guy at the Oak Street Hotel suggested. They specialize in pizza's and cleverly enough bake it in their wood fired oven. The ingredients they use are all organic and one can easily taste the difference. We had a large pizza and I had a Walking Man's beer. The pizza was well worth the stop. The food was excellent and the environment was cool too. They had an iPod playing in a Bose Sound Dock which is not newsworthy, but he had a good mix of jazz going on and it was good enough that I didn't want to get in the car and come home. If you're in Hood River, I highly suggest crossing the river and eating at Solstice. The prices were fair, the service was great and it tasted better than eating at home.
All in all, it was a great anniversary weekend in Hood River. We'll probably go back again soon. There were a ton of hiking trails on highway 14 (in WA) that we missed and at least two hiking paths that we passed on because of the weather. Spring or early fall would be spectacular I bet.
2 comments:
Yes, it was a good weekend. Great food, drink and company. We just need to go back for great weather and it will be perfect.
That sounds so nice! Glad you guys got to do all that. Maybe we'll have to copy you for our anniv. in Feb.
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