The rose festival that wasn't

Turns out those commuter benefits don't just go south. A few months along and a few more Amtrak tricks up our sleeves, we boarded another train from the station down the street, this time northbound. Destination: Portland. Timing: Rose Festival.

"Commuting" to Portland

The surprise of the weekend: the lack of roses at said festival. Somehow the "rose festival" actually translated to a county fair set up in heart of the city, but at least there were fireworks. Luckily Portland also has pastries and tea to distract. Had I forgotten what cold felt like, or how to deal with rain? Perhaps, but nothing a few last minute purchases couldn't resolve. And the shopping gave me a legitimate excuse to drag Nicolas through several cutesy boutiques and outdoor markets.

A weekend in Portland

Overall, there was plenty to fill a long weekend: a pretty great beer selection (unless you're on the hunt for a Belgian triple), some legitimate bread (none of this San Francisco sourdough, thanks), and the cutest bourbon bar. A teamaker from whom I can only assume we'll be placing regular orders for more black lavender. Proper multi-hour hikes within walking distance of city center. And gardens in town that actually do boast those aforementioned roses not exactly featured in their namesake's festival. Not bad for a weekend "commute."😉

Fancy folks up in wine country

Now that we're fancy, we drink wine. We got sold on a "wine society membership" where we have to buy 3 bottles once every 3 months and, in exchange, we can go up to California wine country and get 1 free tasting per month at each of the Boisset vineyards. If we were to pace ourselves, we'd have an excuse to get up there nearly every weekend now. Our limitation: lack of car ownership. (Like I said, we're fancy.) The nice bit of news is that we can bring up to 4 people to these tastings, so I guess it's time we get on the making-friends-and-playing-nice thing. And surprise, surprise, we pulled it off twice this past month.

Snapshots from visits to Buena Vista and DeLoach Vineyards