July 3, 2016 - Portland, Oregon & Long Island Wine Country

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 29 DAYS

Long  Island Wine Country

How is your Fourth of July weekend going?
Thank goodness for a lovely weather day yesterday, because today is just a pretty icky day.

I'm not terribly upset since I look forward to relaxing and taking it easy today.

I will be catching up on some writing projects I've wanted to do.  

This week will begin a month long marathon of bringing the girls daily to horseback riding camp.

Unfortunately, I do not have the luxury of my Remsenburg home, as in years past, so me and the girls will be staying in hotels.  Not that I have anything against the driving - after all, it's only an hour each way - but the idea of siting in a hot barn day in and day out for six hours is not my way of spending the month of July.

I decided that I needed a "home base" and that's what I'll be doing.  When life hands you lemons, you can either throw them at someone you hate or just make lemonade! lol.

I'm thinking I making a number of visits to the local wineries... 
 
There are just so darn many - which one to choose!! On the North Shore of Long Island is where some of the best wines are created.

Long Island Viticulture Area is located in Suffolk County, New York and its existence is a relatively new phenomenon in the Long Island region.

The very first Long Island vineyard was planted in 1973 in the town of Cutchogue, New York by Alex and Louisa Hargrave  

They were followed by a group of pioneering investors, grape growers and winemakers with extraordinarily diverse backgrounds from all over the world. ntry.

Alex and Louisa Hargrave (credit: liwines.com)

Today there exist wineries themed for almost any visitor - from intimate settings, to pet friendly, to educational, there is a place for every wine-loving individual!

Many of these are not only great for a relaxing day of tasting and enjoying wine, but there are a plethora of events and entertainment that many of these wineries host.

You may be wondering what makes Long Island Wines unique - well, its based on the Terroir.

Terroir is the major factor in determining a wine’s personality - the characteristics that distinguish it from wines made anywhere else. The Long Island terroir is derived from its glacial soils, cool maritime climate and native flora as well as the distinct culture of the region.Today there exist wineries themed for almost any visitor - from intimate settings, to pet friendly, to educational, there is a place for every wine-loving individual!

Many of these are not only great for a relaxing day of tasting and enjoying wine, but there are a plethora of events and entertainment that many of these wineries host.
 
I'll keep you posted on the various winery destinations I visit!!!

Off to meet my sissy for some hot chocolate!

See ya back tomorrow!

-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: PORTLAND, OR

A Day in Portland (in my shoes)

GREETINGS from Portland on my short little biking and eating get-away!

We had such a full and fabulous day yesterday that during dinner (at one of my new favorite restaurants) I felt like I got hit by the tired bus (GOD FORBID getting hit by a Bus!)

But seriously, the sleepiness had just fell on me like a stack of bricks (GOD FORBID having a stack of bricks fall on me).

I really just wanted to rest my head on the table and call it a night - but there was no room on the table, as it was filled with so many delicious and innovative dishes - you know I had to try a lot!

I suppose this is what it takes - my usually fairly short night of sleep followed by a day of running around like a chicken without a head (GOD FORBID a chicken without a head), followed by a night of 2 hours of sleep, followed by yesterday:

Portland can be considered a rather quirky place, we started the day with a lovely breakfast at Vita-Cafe.

This very interesting car (owned by one of the servers was parked right out front), and I've seen this car before - like last time I was in Portland -
​I mean how can you forget a car that looks like THIS:

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I knew right off the bat that I wanted a vegan virgin Bloody Mary and kicked off the eat-a-thon weekend with this yummy drink:

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And for some reason I ordered 2 entrees!
Uh because I had to try the Corn Cakes - I'm drawn to Corn Cakes.
                     Anyhow - I shared!!

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Next up was the must do photo op on the giant chair!

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And then without skipping a beat, we were off to go pick up lunch for both yesterday and today (since I didn't want to waste the time making an extra stop today and not to worry, we got sandwiches and wraps which can be make a day ahead and still throughly enjoyed).
Reason for picking up the lunches and not just eating in - is because our mid-days were to spent on the mountain biking trails! 

​So back to the food...

Waiting for our to-go order. (c)travelincousins.com

One lunch stop being El Nutri Taco and another being Homegrown Smoker Deli, but then when I realized that the Vtopia vegan cheese shop was right next door - you know that I had to go in and get something!!!

A case of vegan cheese (c)travelincousins.com

And then it was time to rent some bikes...
The plan was to rent the bikes for both days of riding...but this is a fine example of how plans don't always go as planned.

I searched online for a nearby bike shop that rented mountain bikes, and off we went.
However the shop in fact did not carry or rent mountain bikes, but they were kind enough to direct us to another shop that wasn't too far away...

NEWSFLASH - this shop didn't rent mountain bikes either! Ugh WTH

But they informed us that their other location out in Hood River (an hour plus away) did rent mountain bikes.

Okaaaay great, because this is where we had planned on riding on this day anyhow.

The problem was however is that the bike will need to be returned to the same shop by closing time - not giving us quite as long of a ride as we wanted, and also meaning that we are gonna need to find another shop to rent bikes from today - nearby the location that we plan on grinding (riding) today - out by Mt Hood.

Portland (c)travelincousins.com

We drove out to Hood River, and passed some gorgeous scenery following the Columbia River and seeing Multnomah Falls along the way. 

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After being sized, we loaded the bikes, drove to the trailhead, and we were off!

Ready to hit the trails! (c)travelincousins.com

Let's go! (c)travelincousins.com

So eager to get the ride on the way, that we happened to completely miss the STOP - DO NOT ENTER sign!!!

Going the wrong way (c)travelincousins.com

Finally after climbing some banked switchbacks which just weren't fun, did we approach another STOP - DO NOT ENTER sign.
​
​We saw this one and wondered what went wrong?!

Wrong way! (c)travelincousins.com

Turning around and going ALL the way back and finding the correct trail to go up, we had a great time and found the trails so much fun and the area really lush and beautiful!

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After having to cut our ride short, we headed back to town and it was time for lunch - I happily dug into the sandwich that I ordered and damn was it good!

YUMMY (c)travelincousins.com

We also strolled through the adorable little town and in and out of some of the cute shops...

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Eventually making our way back to Portland and following the Columbia river back, with a few vista points along the way...

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And guess what was next?!

​It was time for a treat!!!

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I had ordered a Salted Cashew and Pistachio Turtle with a Chocolate Magic shell and was quite the happy little camper!

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We finally went to go check into our hotel, only to get cleaned up and changed out of our biking attire for dinner reservations. 
Don't be so surprised that we were going to EAT again...I told you that this was a weekend of biking and eating!

Let me tell you that dinner was absolutely amazing - we ate at the Harvest at Bindery and it was phenomenal!
​I have to do a FOODIE FRIDAY on this place to show you what I'm talking about!!

Anyhow, this is just a sample of the BOAT that I ordered as my entree:

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But this is where the tired had hit and once I finished, I just needed a bed.

Needless to say, we went back to the hotel and both crashed out.

I had a lovely night's rest (definitely more than 2 hours) and I'm more than ready for day 2 of more biking and eating fun!
In fact - we are slightly behind schedule since I was having a very difficult time with the internet this morning. I hate that!
But the schedule is kinda loose anyway - and we have all day!!!

So off we go...time for breakfast and then hitting the trails.

I'll catch ya again tomorrow for a new update and for Independence Day!
​-T