Oregon Road Trip

Last Saturday my husband and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. We had been wanting to visit McMenamins for some time and settled on the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove. Our drive down Friday was made even better by the donation of my father's Porsche Boxster. About two hours in to the trip my wish was granted and we put the top down. It pretty much stayed down the entire trip. I came prepared with a scarf. How very Hollywood chic!

We took the scenic route and got off I5 at Longview/Kelso to drive down a winding ribbon of highway 47. Full of logging trucks and plenty of twists and turns the hubs was excited to drive the Porsche around. The car took it VERY well.

Forest Grove is just a 40 minute drive west of Portland. It's a small college town in an agricultural area of the state. This is where our hotel, the Grand Lodge was located. McMenamins is owned by two brothers from Portland, Oregon. Their multiple properties are location in Oregon and Washington states. They brew beer, distill wine and roast coffee beans. We usually like a dark beer, you know the kind you have to chew. All kidding aside, their Terminator porter was the only think we drank all weekend

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Upon our arrival we found out they were having a Medieval Festival. We wandered around the tents that were being set up and then headed in to get some grub. Perfect timing for 1st happy hour. Yes, they have TWO happy hours a day. We ordered two burgers, fries and a salad for $12 and our beers were half off. After the drive and the food and the wandering I needed a nap (below is the view from our room).

Our room was European style with a sink but the bathrooms were shared. Conveniently the womens bathroom was right next door and had heated tile floors! There is original artwork all over the building.

These little faces popped up everywhere on the property. Amazing marble in the bathrooms and "baseboard moldings" in the hallway. Hand painting on the lights as well.

After our nap we went to 2nd Happy Hour at the outdoor bar. $4 for my meal of hummus, pita bread and a salad of mixed greens, red onion, hazelnuts and bleu cheese (and several Terminators) was perfect! There were several people from the Medieval festival at the bar dressed as pirates and wenches and there was even a belly dancer and drummer or two.

There was a room of the entry with a fireplace and wonderfully cushy couches. I took the opportunity to read a book for a while in there. So cozy! There was great art all over the property like this guy below. Two of them, one by the room off the entry and one in the restaurant.

More to come from the rest of our weekend.

The Forest Grove property of The Grand Lodge originally built in 1922 as a Masonic lodge.

McMinnville is just a 50 minute drive SE of Forest Grove and in the heart of Wine country of the Willamette Valley.