Day 3 Welcome to Portland Beer City USA!

We awoke in Rogue River, OR and glanced out the window to a holy crap moment! Trees every where and a huge river with a massive steel bridge and green as far as we could see. We meandered through the rain down to a tiny 50's style diner where we found ourselves encircled by coca cola paraphernalia. The sign above the counter read "Thank You for Your Patronage, Have A Great Oregon Day." I ordered the Hash Browns, and French Toast. These were by far the best hash browns ever. Just the right amount of crispiness and cooked in browned butter. The potatoes were shredded to large strips and were tender and fresh. I am talking about hash browns, people. There isn't much to them but these were, in my opinion, the best!
We traveled the rest of our journey through the rain, but the air everywhere smells sweet and clean. We decided to skip lunch as we were so anxious to get to our destination. We arrived at Matt's house, tended to our exhausted animals, and promptly went out to dinner.
On our way to Wild Abandon Restaurant, Kyle spotted 39th Mini Mart, a beer store that claims to have 1000 beers. We made a promise to head there after dinner.

WILD ABANDON- 2411 Southeast Belmont Street
Meal: Dinner
Price: $$
What We Ordered:

• Appetizer: Goat Cheese Torta-A molded mound of goat cheese, fresh pesto, and roasted tomatoes, drizzled with balsamic vinegar reduction and served with roasted garlic and thinly sliced artisan bread grilled with extra virgin olive oil.
• Salad: Garlicky Caesar Salad- Super fresh and crispy romaine lettuce, tangy Asaigo cheese and fresh croutons. Nothing fancy just a classic prepared correctly using the freshest sweetest lettuce which made all the difference.
• Carla's Entree: Pan-Fried Oysters with Jasmine rice and French Green Beans and Carrots cooked in Beurre noisette. The oysters were buttery and tender and dredged in rice flour which made them extra crispy but not heavy. Matt tried one even though he is not a fan of oysters and he seemed to enjoy it. I on the other hand loved them and especially loved the paring with the green beans.
• Kyle's Entree: Ziti Ziti- Ziti Pasta in a rich cream sauce with, portabello mushrooms,roasted garlic, and scallops, finished with smoked mozzarella cheese and bread crumbs and baked till bubbly. This dish was so delicious, I found myself eating more than just a few bites. Luckily the portion size was generous.
  

• Matt's Entree: Cioppino-Super hearty tomato-based stew with a hint of spice and an explosion of seafood. I'm talkin, Salmon, Scallops, Shrimp, and a variety of shellfish. This dish was downright beautiful. Matt told us that he had been there 4 times and gotten this dish 3 out of the 4 times. It's just too good to pass up.

All in all it was a great first dinner in our new hometown. We left full and happy and ready to head to that cool beer place we passed and it was awesome. We made our selections after a friendly local gave us the rundown of the absolute best beer destinations in the city...more beer adventures to follow

OUR BEER SELECTIONS FROM 39th MINI MART:

• Dick's Lava Rock Porter-6.2% Alcohol, descent for the price. (Guess I just like Dick's.)
  
• Black Boss Porter-9.4% Alcohol
  
• Tranquair House Ale-7.2% Alcohol