The Next Chapter

On October 2, 2015, Z and I arrived in Portland, Oregon. A week before, we had left our home and families to drive cross-country to this city we had already fallen in love with.

When we came out here, we committed to a year, knowing we'd eventually want to return to our house, our loved ones, and our cubicles. (We both work remotely for Boston-based companies).

And here we are: even though we extended our time here a teeny bit, it's almost time for us to pack up the car again and make the trek home. I'm very excited for our cross-country trip - we're taking a different route this time, and double the days to see everything we can - and I am so excited to be home with our families. But I never could have guessed how hard it would be to leave our home here in Oregon.

Tumalo Falls in Bend.

Yes, the scenery, the food, the beer - it's all amazing here. Hell, even the coffee is incredible! All of these things make leaving hard, but the people - the lifelong friends we've made - make it the hardest.

And as I drench my keyboard in bittersweet tears, I am comforted to know we'll be back here. Many, many times. Portland, Oregon has officially become our second home - even if we're not rich enough [yet] to make that officially true. It's our second home in our souls, as cheesy as that sounds. We made some lasting memories and friendships in our year+ here; we have our favorite restaurants, bars, and bartenders; and our favorite day trips, such as to the Coast and hiking through the Gorge.

Multnomah Falls.

If there's one thing I learned from this crazy thing we did - you know, dropping our lives to do something totally different for a year - is that, if you can do something like this: DO IT. We almost didn't. But we were able to make it work, no matter how crazy it sounded in our minds initially. And if you really want to do something like this, you just have to do it. Life's too short not to. I would have totally regretted not doing this, but the worst part would have been not knowing just how life-changing, in the best way possible, this move actually was going to be.

Portland: Thanks for everything. We're sure going to miss you.

Exploring Astoria, Oregon

Before I had to fly back to Boston (on Labor Day) for work, Z and I took full advantage of our holiday weekend. We kicked things off Friday afternoon, first stopping at de Garde Brewing in Tillamook, and then making the gorgeous sunset ride into Astoria (about 1.5 hours away).

Astoria is a place I've wanted to check out for a while now. Z and I love the Oregon Coast, and Astoria is saturated with history (and the house from The Goonies is there, which is extra cool).

We stayed at an Airbnb Friday night, which was located right in downtown Astoria...AKA only a short walk to the breweries we wanted to visit. Astoria's downtown is located right on the water, so everywhere we went during our short stay had lovely, ship-filled views.

Some of our most noteworthy stops in Astoria included:

The Riverwalk

The Riverwalk in Astoria stretches for over 6 miles, but we enjoyed walking just a short distance of that after our breakfast (see below). The Riverwalk was a nice way to get around the downtown area on a beautiful day - right along the water, with lovely views everywhere you look.

Fort George Brewery

Inside the Taproom.

Fort George was high on our must-visit list. The brewery has two different settings, including their Public House (with an upstairs and downstairs menu) and, right next door, their Lovell Brewery & Taproom. We had dinner upstairs in the Public House Friday night, where mason jars full of beer and delicious pizzas (and a just OK tofu banh mi) hit the spot. On Saturday afternoon, we hit up the taproom, where the beer list was more "special" (i.e., featured several brewery-only beers, which the Public House lacked). Oh, and the bartender at the taproom put fresh hops in my 3-Way IPA sample (pictured above). Winning!

Buoy Beer Company

To be honest, I wasn't a big fan of the beer I tried at Buoy (their IPA). However, their taproom floor is open to the water below - where several seals were sleeping! It was really cool to drink a pint and watch the show below us. We checked out Buoy right before it closed Friday night, but I'd be open to going back during the day time to enjoy their views of the river (and more seals, obviously).

Columbian Cafe

It looks incredibly unimpressive from the outside, but this teeny little joint pushes out some incredible breakfast dishes - with plenty of vegetarian options to boot. There are only a few booths, as well as bar stools overlooking the one chef/griddle, which is where we delightfully sat and enjoyed the show. We were lucky to go here on an unusually quiet weekend, but expect some wait time (it's worth it!) if you're not as fortunate as we were.

There are many other places to visit in Astoria, but we made the most of our short trip!

How did you spend the last long weekend of summer?