Article & photos by Lenora A. Hayman
The Willamette Valley, Oregon’s wine country, is one of Oregon’s major wine growing regions.
The Black Walnut Inn and Vineyard, in Dundee, Yamhill County, Oregon, is owned by Karen, Neal and son Kris Utz, and is a one hour,72kms(45miles) drive from Portland and within a 20 minute drive to over 100 wineries and other sites. This upscale, beautiful bed and breakfast, 9 suite Tuscan style inn has a spectacular view over their 13-acre pinot noir vineyard After a stroll through the vineyard, Karol Kirby, the hotelier, arranged a catered Farm to Fork luncheon, with a salad tossed in a poppy seed and hazel nut dressing, crusty bread roll sandwiches accompanied with an olive and radish tapenade, local Hotlips apple soda made exclusively from Pacific Northwest apples, organic lemon juice sweetened with cane sugar and ’07 Black Walnut Single Vintage Pinot Noir.
Fortified, we drove 64kms(40miles) south of Portland, to McMinnville, and the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum and the Captain Michael King Smith Educational Institute, which is dedicated in memory of the museum founder, Capt. Michael King Smith, who was killed in 1995 in an auto accident and was also the son of Evergreen International Aviation’s founder, Delford M. Smith.
Of the 70 aircrafts on display, the main attraction is the Howard Hughes H4 Hercules Spruce Goose brought in 1992 from Long Beach, California. Due to wartime restrictions on aluminium, it was built with wood and nicknamed Spruce Goose, although the wood was birch not spruce. This Hercules is the most, colossal, flying boat ever constructed with the largest wingspan of any aircraft in the world. On Nov. 2nd, 1947 Howard Hughes only flew this heavy transport flying boat once. Apparently it was airborne at a speed of 217 km/hr (135 mph) at only 21 metres (70 ft) above the sea for just 1.6km (1 mile).
Also on display was a replica of Orville and Wilbur Wright’s plane, Chiang Kai-shek’s plane sprouting red and white teeth on its nose and the Messerschmitt Bf109, a German WW11 fighter aircraft which was the most produced fighter aircraft in history but now only a few of the 33,984 planes remain.
Huge pumpkin boats at Giant West Coast Pumpkin Regatta, at the Lake of the Tualatin Commons, Oregon.
Next stop was the French Prairie Gardens, 17673 French Prairie Rd. St. Paul in the Willamette Valley, owned by Farmer John, Farmer Eric and Grandma Karren Pohlschneider. It was harvest season and while eating honey crisp apples and huge chocolate chip cookies from their farmers’ market, families were introduced to farm life, riding on tractor-trailers piled high with haystacks or cheering at the pigtucky derby watching the races of Duroc brown and Yorkshire white pigs.
There is no sales tax in Oregon. In need of a little retail therapy, we therefore drove a further 8kms (5 miles), to dash through some of the 95 shops at the Woodburn Company Stores, the largest tax-free outlet centre in the west. If driving south from Portland, the Woodburn Company Stores are located off 1-5 just 25 minutes away. Their glass- covered walkways in the Northwest architecture showcase Calvin Klein, Eddie Bauer, Levi’s etc
I was pleased with the recommendation for our evening meal at M & S Grill (McCormick & Schmick’s Grill), located at Bridgeport Village in Tigard. Photos of crayfish and other sea creatures hugged the walls and beautiful lampshades created subdued lighting as we dined on moist crab and shrimp cakes with orange fennel and watercress salad, excellent Dungeness crab bisque with a tawny port reduction and a cedar roasted steelhead salmon, a species of salmon native to the Pacific region. Landlocked steelheads are known as rainbow trout while the term steelhead is used for those that live in the ocean. Both rainbow and steelhead trout of course return to where they originally hatched in order to spawn. Janet, our waitress, suggested a bottle of King Estate Signature Pinot Gris for the table, whose grapefruit, green apple and lime notes paired well with the seafood.
Elizabeth Beekley at Two Tarts Bakery, Portland, Oregon
Our bed for the night in the Holiday Inn-Express, Portland South, located off 1-5, close to downtown Portland, offered a complimentary hot breakfast with porridge and hot cakes.
Portland has the most bicycles in the country and there is less road rage in the city. We cycled the gentle 3½ hr. Saturday 5 mile Bites by Bike tour owned by Todd Roll of Pedal Bike Tours, visiting stores with their artisan products. Scott Klees, our guide, took us to the World Cup Roasters for Café Rio coffee, cheese and charcuterie at Elephant’s Delicatessen, the Two Tarts Bakery for a New Zealand Anzac cookie, Felchin Grand Cru hot chocolate at Cacao Drink Chocolate and the Farmers Market at Portland State University for venison pate and lavender blueberry jam.
At the 7th Annual Giant West Coast Pumpkin Regatta, we saw 600 pound pumpkin “boats” racing on the Lake at the Tualatin Commons. Entertainment included children meeting Lori and Shannon Gregory’s Mountain Peaks Therapy Llamas, Roja and Smokey, live music by Back Porch Revivals, a costume contest and pumpkin golf.
Lori Gregory with llamas Rojo & Smokey, from Mountain Peaks Therapy Llamas, Oregon
At night, I futilely attempted to bowl a few calories off at the New Big Al’s Beaverton, Bowling, Sports Bar and Arcade Mega-plex!
I do like the selling point of hotels offering not only a complimentary buffet breakfast, but also free overnight parking. The Marriott Fairfield Inn and Suites, Portland South, Lake Oswego, certainly fit that bill.
Our final morning culminated with a tour of the winemaking process in the Ponzi wine cellars, followed by a harvest luncheon of smoked chicken, roasted acorn squash, seared duck breast with lemon-blueberry compote and arugula, apple galette with brown butter ice-cream and house-made caramel brittle with almonds and chocolate. All paired, thanks to Winery Chef Gavin Ledson and Winemaker Luisa Ponzi, with 2007 Ponzi Chardonnay Reserve and 2008 Ponzi Pinot Noir.
Photos all by Lenora Hayman