Hello from Portland, the beer capital of New England!
I love Amtrak because it’s such a relaxing way to travel. I read my novel for an hour and Matt and I had pb and j for lunch. We arrived at Jeff’s this afternoon and caught up on fun cable shows before heading out to dinner at Nosh Kitchen.
I had a Smuttynose Maibock, which was thick and delicious, but very high in alcohol. I had to sip it slowly!
Matt and I are fried pickle connoisseurs, so we had to try these huge tempura fried spears. Probably the largest fried pickles I have ever seen. The batter was slightly sweet = perfect.
The restaurant served all local, grass-fed meats, but I ended up ordering the falafel flatbread because I was in the mood for flatbread. Lesson learned: never order a sandwich just because the bread sounds good. While I liked this wrap, it was a little dry and I was quite jealous of all the burgers at the table.
Nosh knows how to do burgers. I ended up having about four bites of Matt’s burger with bleu cheese, a fried egg, and garlic pesto, and it was hands-down one of the best burgers I have ever tasted.
After dinner, we head to Grace, a bar and restaurant in an old church! This place is gorgeous….I want to go back for dinner!
Given that my first beer was 9% abv and we’re getting up to go skiing at 6:30 tomorrow, I opted for a light blueberry ale. It turned out to be a great choice, because it was very flavorful – much better than Wachusett’s blueberry beer.
Now I’ve got to lay out my ski clothes and mentally prepared for the early wake-up and cold temperatures, but I’m excited to ski. Night!
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Welcome to TBT!
I've created this blog because I'm in a bit of a quarter life crisis. Since graduating from college in 2008 and earning an advanced degree in school psychology in May, I still don't know what career path to follow. All I know is that time is moving way too fast and I find myself living only for the weekends. Bear with me as I attempt to reclaim my twenties by finding pleasure and balance in the work week and incorporating my passions of food, fashion, fitness, and fun into everyday life. 
Girl after my own heart! I love Smuttynose, have you had their Star Island Single? I love it! Tonight I tried a “Mama’s Little Yella Pils” at a local bar and it was pretty good! Light with just a slight bitter taste. I’ve noticed the higher alcohol content in craft beers as well. Just one or two and I’m feeling it!
I haven’t tried that one, but I’ll keep a look out!!
That church/bar is beautiful! I’ve made a mental note *places to visit, if I ever make it up there.
The only fried pickles I’ve ever had were like eating a salt lick. I’m glad to hear that not all of them taste like that!
Good luck on the slopes
Portland is my hometown, glad to see you enjoyed your visit!
Grace is a beautiful place, a friend of mine had their wedding reception there over the weekend.
I highly recommend visiting Ptown in the summer time, it is bustling with people and there are so many cool spots to check out on the waterfront.