The 100 Best Affordable Vacations (60 page)

To learn how craft beers are made, catch a tour like those led by Todd Fleming of
BridgePort BrewPub
(1313 N.W. Marshall St., 503-241-3612,
www.bridgeportbrew.com
, Sat.), the city’s oldest continuously operating craft brewery. First, the barley is malted (that would be roasted, so it tastes a bit like grape nuts), cracked, and hauled off to the brewery in giant sacks. It’s then mixed with heated pure Cascade water and mashed (steeped like tea), which releases the sugars from the barley to create a sticky liquid called wort. The water is drained, the wort is boiled for an hour, the hops get tossed in. The whole mess is drained and cooled; the yeast goes in and you’ve got beer.

Another brewery offering free scheduled tours is
Widmer Brothers
(929 N. Russell St., 503-281-2437,
www.widmer.com
). Or catch the Oregon Brewers Guild’s annual
Zwickelmania-Oregon Brewery Tour
that takes place during President’s Day weekend (Feb.); details can be found online at
http://oregonbeer.org/zwickelmania/
.

To really appreciate the intricacies of flavors that can result, you need to do some tasting. You can do that by ordering a sampler of beers—six or eight short glasses—at either BridgePort,
Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House
(2010 N.W. 11th Ave., 503-296-4906,
www.deschutesbrewery.com
), or at any of the city’s other craft beer houses serving fresh brews usually unavailable outside the city. You’ll find that the darkest beers aren’t necessarily the heaviest and the lightest aren’t necessarily the sweetest. (Color and bitterness have to do with the roast of the barley, the type of hops, and the specific recipe.) And it’s not just India pale ales and stouts: BridgePort ages its Stumptown Tart in Pinot Noir barrels to craft a raspberry flavor; Deschutes brews a gluten-free beer;
Laurelwood Public House & Brewery
(5115 N.E. Sandy Blvd., 503-282-0622,
www.laurelwoodbrewpub.com
) makes an organic beer.
Cascade Brewing
(7424 S.W. Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy., 503-296-0110,
www.cascadebrewing.com
) has spearheaded a national movement with its award-winning sour beers.

IN PORTLAND, BEER MEANS MCMENAMINS

More than 25 years ago, Oregon passed a law allowing breweries to serve their suds on the same premises where they are crafted. Brothers Mike and Brian McMenamin swiftly opened the state’s first brewpub. Today their company,
McMenamins
(www.mcmenamins.com), boasts more than 50 breweries in sometimes unexpected historic settings, including movie theaters, a former chapel, and a handful of brewpub hotels. You don’t have to check in to belly up to the bar, but if you do, you won’t have to worry about driving; your room is just down the hall.

McMenamins hotels in or near Portland include:

 
Crystal Hotel.
This downtown Portland hotel is opening winter 2011 in a 1911 pioneer residence turned tire shop.
Crystal Hotel, 303 S.W. 12th Ave., Portland.

 
Grand Lodge.
This former 1922 Masonic lodge features a rolling green lawn, spa, and 10-hole disc golf course. From $115 with private bath, from $45 with shared bath. In Forest Grove, between Portland and the Oregon Coast.
Grand Lodge, 3505 Pacific Ave., Forest Grove, 877-992-9533.

 
Kennedy School.
At this 1915 schoolhouse turned pub, guests drink in the Detention Bar, catch a movie in the auditorium, and sleep in a classroom turned guest room; from $109.
Kennedy School, 5736 N.E. 33rd Ave., Portland, 888-249-3983.

 
White Eagle Saloon & Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel.
Opened in 1905, Portland’s oldest continuously operating bar is a hit with those who want to rock until the wee hours; from $45.
White Eagle Saloon & Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel, 836 N. Russell St., Portland, 866-271-3377.

If you want to go a step further and learn to brew yourself, check out classes at local home-brewing supply stores.
F. H. Steinbart
(234 S.E. 12th Ave., 503-232-8793,
www.fhsteinbart.com
, free classes) and the
Homebrew Exchange
(1907 N. Kilpatrick St., 503-286-0343,
www.homebrewexchange.net
, classes $10) periodically offer courses lasting a few hours. If those don’t suit your schedule, check out the one-night courses occasionally offered by
Portland Community College
(503-244-6111,
www.pcc.edu
, $29).

And there’s more to beer than pizza and dogs, you’ll learn. The brew is an essential ingredient in many brewpub menu items, including venison stew (made with Deschutes’ Obsidian Stout), mac and cheese (made with BridgePort’s Ropewalk amber ale), and turkey pot pie (made with Black Bear Stout at
Alameda Brewing Company,
4765 N.E. Fremont St., 503-460-9025,
www.alamedabrewhouse.com
). Some breweries also host occasional gourmet dinners with beer pairings; you can find out about those and other beer events (like barrel-aged beer tastings) online at
www.portlandbeer.org
.

EAT ON THE CHEAP

Portland deserves its reputation for inventive (though sometimes expensive) cuisine. Numerous food carts offer a price-sensitive—and yummy—alternative. At most, less than $7 will buy you a heaping plate of pad Thai, pork barbecue, Indian curry, a Korean taco, or the famous Czech schnitzelwich (an enormous sandwich made from a freshly cooked pork or chicken schnitzel).

The carts are scattered around downtown and nearly always open at lunch during weekdays; in summer you may also find them open evenings and Saturdays. Popular locations include the parking lot at S.W. Fifth Avenue and Oak Street; S.W. Third Avenue and Washington Street; and the area around Pioneer Courthouse Square. You can’t go far wrong; just walk up to any of them and plunk down your cash.
www.foodcartsportland.com.

If all that isn’t enough to keep you brewed up, time your visit for one of the city’s many beer festivals, including the
North American Organic Brewers Festival
(www.naobf.org) in late June; the
Oregon Brewers Festival
(www.oregonbrewfest.com) in July; the
Portland International Beer Festival
(www.seattlebeerfest.com), also in July; and the December
Holiday Ale Fest
(www.holidayale.com), held outdoors.

No wonder the city is called Beervana.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH

Travel Portland,
800-962-3700 or 503-275-9750,
www.travelportland.com
.

learn to tie and cast that fly

CUMMING, GEORGIA

In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing.

—
AUTHOR NORMAN FITZROY MACLEAN,
A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT
(1976)

76 |
For someone who has never fly-fished, the pastime can seem an elite, closed society, a world with its own language, equipment, and rituals. Even watching it is different from traditional rod-and-reel fishing. Like a symphony conductor, a fly fisherman directs graceful loops of line that seem to float in the air. The bait isn’t a worm or an engineered lure, but a nearly weightless mass of feathers. Somehow this is enough to land a trout—and fuel a lifelong obsession.

Since 1999 Scott Swartz and his Georgia-based school have worked to take the mystery out of the sport, at bargain prices. A weekend at
Atlanta Fly Fishing School,
located in Cumming, Georgia, is all it takes to teach the basics of fly-fishing and casting, and give you a chance to try out your skills on Georgia’s 4,000 miles of trout-rich rivers and streams. The school’s about an hour north of Atlanta, making it easy to fly in for a weekend.

Swartz said he purposely keeps class rates low. “We are, without a doubt, the most affordable fly-fishing school in the country because we wanted to make it that way.” A five-hour Saturday class runs $125, as does the more advanced Fly Casting School, which lasts four hours. Several times a year, the school offers a “Double Header,” teaching both classes in one day. Another popular option is the discounted two-day Learn-N-Go package, which combines one class with a four-hour guided fishing excursion the following day. Prices, which include flies and equipment, are $260 for a floating trip on the Chattahoochee River and $270 for a wading trip. Swartz and his instructors are Master Certified Casting Instructors, accredited by the Federation of Fly Fishers, and the school even offers classes to those who want to become certified instructors themselves.