The Multnomah Villager

Today was the 1st annual Journeys mug and wine club BBQ - so I went up the hill to enjoy the “private event” with a good sized group of other mug & wine club members. Had a pint of the great ESB that they have on tap right now, from a Bend brewery called Silver Moon Brewing. There’s the ESB which I like, and and IPL, which is India Pale LAGER (and is a little too sharp for my taste). The current story is that Journeys is the first and only pub to have these brews on tap, and Bob drove the kegs up from Bend himself. One of the great things about Journeys is the amount of regional brews that one can get exposed to - and I pretty much just drink the reds. For me, since I’m not the type to go on brewery tours and I don’t drink beer at home, this is the only way I’d get exposed to some of these beers.

And this is probably even MORE true for wine. I haven’t done any wine drinking at Journeys, but I definitely am impressed by the continual parade of new labels, vintages, and varietals. Did I mention that they have port? A friend of mine introduced me to port at Legal Sea Foods in Boston one night some years back and I definitely appreciate it. One night I’ll have to go the non-beer route.

Still, I’m a mug club member (#16), which was a good deal even before today, but the spread that Bob & Shannon put out for us really put it over the top. Plus we got shiny permanent membership cards! Great food and did I mention free beer and wine? It was hot, but the conversation was good, the company was exceptional with all the regulars in house and it was REALLY hot but the outside tables were still pleasant.

Man, I am so glad this bar lived up to what I hoped it would be. Journeys has been a great addition to the neighborhood and is going strong. Thanks Bob & Shannon, and all the staff - today was really great.

Headed up to Journeys last night around 9PM, and things were gettin’ a little crazy at the bar. In fact, I and later TJ and Will were relegated to one of the tables before we could insinuate ourselves back over to the bar proper. The whole place was in a punchy mood, likely a result of Shannon’s presence on the OUTSIDE of the bar. She’s clearly an instigator.

A good time was had by all, and I was the last one out, slinking home at 11:30. That third beer sounded good at the time, but second thoughts set in this morning when it was time to get up for work. Unf.

Journeys has been expanding their menu with some good looking options including a sort-of Reuben, which should catch the eye of Mrs. V, but not as much as the PINK wine, which is in season and is totally acceptable right now as long as it’s sold in containers made of glass and not cardboard.

There’s some wine tasting events coming up this weekend and the weather has brought the front-yard seating back in full effect. It’s a good time to drop in for a drink. Ask about the “man-bites”. Ask why they don’t come with bacon.

You can’t believe it’s been a year already can you? Or perhaps in the case of Mrs. V, your reaction is, it’s ONLY been open a year? But indeed, this week is Journeys’ First Birthday. Seems like ages ago that I posted about my first visit there. I’ve been back a few times since. My love for Journeys is well known, so I won’t go into it again here - the bar has it’s own tag in the sidebar of the site, if you want all the history, but as for this week’s festivities - here are the details fresh from my inbox.

Friday & Saturday (open till Midnight):

• Special Bites - Italian Meatloaf Panino, Chicken Curry Panino, Mandarin Spinach Salad, Spicy Cheese Bites, Desserts
• Special Wines By the Glass - Bollinger Champagne $11, Vina Maquis Syrah $7.50
• Beers on Draft - Murphy’s Stout, Amnesia ESB, Deschutes Cinder Cone Red, Roots
• Organic Pale & Caldera IPA (or Elysian IPA) $4 and Kronenbourg Pilsner $3.
• Bottled Beers - new & expanded list of over 75 to choose from.

Thursday - Mug & Wine Club night (Open till 11pm):
T-shirts are in, Mug & Wine club members! Stop by anytime after 5PM Thurs and pick yours up!

• All Draft Beers are $3 (20 oz Mug!)
• All Bottled Beers are $1 off
• Extra $1 off our special wine club wines (Boarding Pass, Irony, Castillo de Jumilla)

Thanks again for your wonderful support of Journeys and its crew.
Bob, Shannon, Brian, Andrew, Gretchen & Ryan (coming soon: Will)

Well, I’ll be making a fun-packed commute to and from Redmond on Friday, and I’m a “Mug Club” member, so I’ll be stopping by on Thursday evening for a bit.
Save my spot!

Well, now things are starting to get back to a more manageable pace. I stopped by Journeys on Monday for the first time in over a month. It felt good to slide back into my corner seat at the bar, and just in time for the Laurelwood Red!  To quote Michael Jackson from back in the day, the job’s “got me workin’, workin’ day and night.” Late enough last night that I’m taking some headspace hours this morning and going out to breakfast. I’m going to walk up to Fat City in a few minutes and read the paper, then hit my noon Tae Kwon Do class over in Sellwood and roll into the office this afternoon.

Two eggs any style will help with my recovery, indeed.

Enjoy your last Tuesday off…. Well, not likely but starting next week, Journeys will be open five days a week. They’re starting off with a wine tasting next Tuesday. I’ll follow up with more deets when I’ve got them all.

There was a bit of a geek summit a Journeys last night, when talk of wi-fi router configuration between Brian and myself attracted some other bar-goers, who turned out to be blog readers and recent commenters. Yes, it was K2 (of Zella.org) and Lame-o Bike Commuter (of Sustainthis. org). Turns out we work not far from each other. K2 whipped out her….. Linux phone from China, and there was much oohing and aahing, plus discussion of kids, the best routes over Terwilliger and how many years ago any of us were anything cloe to TJ’s age. Nice to meet you both, hopefully we’ll see each other again, and yes one of those times will be on a bike.

Title pretty much says it all there - Journeys will be closed tomorrow for Memorial Day, and on Tuesday which is their usual schedule. Guess I’ll have to go get my Monday night beer tonight!

So things have been crazy this past week, and I have not had the time to post anything of substance. Gotta serve the day job…. Anyway, I stopped in last Monday for my weekly night at Journeys. Things were pretty quiet for a few minutes, although apparently business had been hopping all night. After I had been at the bar for a second or so, Brian Russell ducked in, fresh from the candidates forum at the Multnomah Center. He was followed shortly by Don (from the Multnomah Village Post) and Jessie (from the SW Connection) and all of a sudden it was an impromptu Village Media Summit at the bar. I should mention that Sony (spelled Sony, pronounced Sonny) a village resident was also with us and I hope we didn’t terrifically bore him to death with our “insider talk” such as it was.

This would be a good time to mention the new patio at Journeys! A good time since I finally got around to taking some decent pictures, as opposed to the cruddy cell phone shots I’ve been posting lately. Here’s a look at the patio. It’s on either side of the front porch, and before you ask, no - they can’t add seating in the back yard, since Journeys is on a double lot, and the back lot is zoned residential. Good news for the neighbors, that.

This is the left side (that’s Thai Herbs next door).

And this is the right side (that’s Jacqueline’s Found & Fabulous 0ver there)

Now, I like “my”corner bar chair, but I can’t wait to pass a warm summer night out front. Shannon’s going to plant some flowers and plants around the patios. I’m sure she’ll get right on that, you know, during all her free time and all. Oh, next time you stop in, try the “Free Range Red” if you’re a fan of the bitters, like me.

Made my usual trek up to Journeys for a beer Monday night around 8:30. They’ve been open for a month now, congrats Bob & Shannon! Had a very tasty new beer while playing a game of “what’s been added since I was here last week”. This week it’s a large globe by the front door, and…. a couple of desserts.

Yes, up on the chalkboard there it was, a dessert listing, featuring a coconut cake with buttercream frosting (pretty much foolproof Villager-bait) and a chocolate bundt cake. Both from Grand Central, and each for $4 a slice. Bob slipped me a slice of the coconut cake which was delightful - although it gave my already bitter beer a wicked edge. Shaved coconut on the top there, Mrs. V!

Apparently Journeys will be getting a few dessert items from Grand Central, but there’s not a set menu - they’re getting whatever looks good, so it will keep us all on our toes. Had I know about this option, I might have gone for a glass of port and the chocolate cake instead of my beer - oh well, there’s always next week.

Stopped back into Journeys last night for a late-night beer or two after putting Jr. V to bed. I probably didn’t get up there until about 8:30 or so. I wasn’t expecting many people in the place - although there were a few. Shannon had my corner barstool, owner’s privilege and all, so I holed up in the other corner and skimmed a magazine while downing a beer. Bot the bartender, Patrick and Bob remembered me by name from Friday afternoon, which is impressive considering how many people must have been through there over the weekend, and you know my retiring nature and all.

I did not “out” myself as the Villager, since I’m OK with just being a regular guy while out and about.

There are now several travel guidebooks distributed around the place, I stoked my annual island fever by leafing through the Maui guide, and lamenting the fact that now that Jr. V is in school, we have to take vacations in the summer, along with everyone else. Typically, our favorite Maui season is right about now.

Bob and I traded golf course stories for a while, after I moved over to the bar and fell into conversation and storytelling with the other folks. The late-night Monday vibe at Journeys is right up my alley. If you haven’t stopped in for a beer or wine (or port, yay!) yet, you certainly should pop in for a quickie when you get the chance. It’ll be interesting to see how this place evolves.