Northwest tour: Portland

This summer I took a week to visit some wineries and must see's in the Northwest. My first stop was Portland; I've heard so many amazing things about microbreweries, wineries, outdoor activities and the overall Austin-like vibe of the city... so I had pretty high expectations going in.

Day One: Vino!
Landing in the morning did not defer us from getting out to Willamette Valley to discover some of the best pinots.

Our tour included:

(Dundee)
Ponzi
Argyle
Archery Summit- We did the actual tour here and I highly recommend it. Later, it was ranked 1 out of 50 best Oregon wines for their 2006 Red Hills Estate Pinot Noir!
Four Graces
Winderlea- best tasting area, outside on a glass deck overlooking the vines.
**Food: Pok Pok. The most amazing, spicy, inventive Thai food. I'm sure my rave for this is elevated since we hadn't eaten all day, but it was still delicious. We had the pork shoulder, hot wings, prawns and some Thai beers. Let's just say I still crave this... its that good! The restaurant is unassuming to say the least, a converted house! They were voted best restaurant in 2007 and have since opened a sister restaurant called Ping.


Day 2: The great outdoors
Just a stone's throw from Portland is some phenomenal hiking; we decided to take in some fresh mountain air at the Columbia Gorge during our 5-mile hike to Angel's Rest. We also ducked into Naked Wines near Mt. Hood. Not very good but the names were hilarious, one label, Penetration, was even banned from a few states because of its provocative description!
**Food: Toro Bravo. Delicious tapas (must try the drunken pork) although there isn't a waiting area there is a cute bar next door.

Day 3: Coastal
We decided to head toward Cannon Beach after a quick stop in the Tillamook cheese factory. Unfortunately the fog was rolling in, so we spent an hour sipping wine on the powder soft beach at Seaside and then popped into a few wineries off hwy 8. Plum Hill wines were good and the table wines were exceptional for the price.
**Food: Bunk sandwiches, for breakfast or lunch. Homemade bread, fried egg, protein of choice with gooey local cheese? Yes please!

Side note: Although we didn't stop in, the street vendor food carts were worth stopping by. They have everything from Vietnamese chicken to gyros to funky flavored ice creams.

Dare I say, but I think this might be one of my favorite cities!

You better Belize it!

Travel Spot: Ambergris Caye, Belize

After hearing so many great things about the Blue Hole and Ambergris Caye we made a Christmas trip down for 4 nights to do some snorkeling and sunbathing at the very secluded Blue Reef Resort.

After hearing so many great things about the Blue Hole and Ambergris Caye we made a Christmas trip down for 4 nights to do some snorkeling and sunbathing at the very secluded Blue Reef Resort.


We arrive in the BZE airport after a brief 2.5 hours of airplane cocktails and stock up on some vino, hop in line for our next (15m) flight out to Ambergris Caye on a tiny single prop plane…. And arrive in San Pedro!

The Blue Reef hotel picks us up in a boat and delivers us to the very cozy hotel. Only four buildings, one small bar and not even a hotel restaurant. All food orders are served on your choice of your indoor table, your private patio or the tables by the pool!

Highlights:
Snorkeling in Hol Chan (ie Shark Alley) with nurse sharks and sting rays.
On good weather days the water was clear bright blue.
Experiencing some local eats. Specifically burritos at Waraguma and lobster bites at Rojo.

Tips for future visitors:
Bring Off… so many mosquitos we paid $14 for one can.
You can bring in your own booze.
It’s worth bringing some workout clothes/games/etc for entertaining yourself or your ADHD bf on cloudy days.

Best of Dallas? Pizza edition.

What better place to start with than the place you live! So there are a few cuisines that are always debated among friends of what is the ‘best’ of. A few of us decide to take matters into our own hands and start putting restaurant reps, and our food credibility, on the line. First up: pizza!

Contenders: Prego’s, Garibaldi’s and local fav... Bryan Street Tavern.

To make all things fair, we decided to have agreed toppings half (pepperoni and mushroom) and the other half to have up to each submitter for creativity. Since the host(ess) had first dibbs and went with BST, we banked on Grimaldi’s (per Jeff’s request) and I did not feel comfortable hedging on an unknown. I take winning and food very seriously after all.

Results:
Best overall- Grimaldi’s (our submission!)
Best choose your own- BST (tavern favorite)

Next up: eggroll off! I’m putting my trophy on the line and backing Vietnam off Bryan/Live Oak.

What are some other delicacies we should debate?