The Harbor Happy Hour Project: Half Moon Bay Bar & Grill

A few more interesting facts about happy hour: Did you know that it is actually banned in Massachusetts and Utah? Utah doesn't surprise me, but Massachusetts? Strange. On the other hand, Kansas recently repealed their statewide ban on happy hours, and Pennsylvania extended the period of time for happy hour from two hours to four hours. I know where I'd rather move!

For the second entry in my Harbor Happy Hour project, I am reviewing Half Moon Bay Bar & Grill in Westport. I couldn't find any reference to their happy hour, besides them stating on Facebook that they offer it from 3-6 PM daily. Upon arriving there, I noticed that each day offers different food specials. So, you might want to check ahead of time to see if there is a certain day that appeals to you. For instance, my husband was not interested in either item available on the day we went (Fish Tacos & Buffalo Wings), and had to settle on a basket of fries from the regular menu.

I do appreciate the creativity of some of their specials, and I'll definitely be coming back for the Fried Tofu and the Taro Chip Basket. Try finding either one of those in a bar around here! But, their strong point in my opinion was their beer selection. They offer nine beers on tap, and only one tap was wasted on a lousy domestic. So, for $3, you can choose a nice cold pint of Kona, Manny's, or Elysian....or support your local brewer and kick back with a tasty brew from our own Westport Brewing Company...their porter and cream ale were available on tap. Props to Half Moon Bay for carrying these! And at 3 bucks a pop, it's cheaper than going to WB's tasting room.

I'm going to give Half Moon Bay an 9 out of 10 on my happy hour scale. Their only weak point, in my opinion, is that there are only two food specials per day, and you may or may not like what's offered on the day you visit. But I'm loving their micro specials, and the fact that happy hour is held EVERY DAY, not just Monday-Friday. Oh, and there's that amazing outdoor patio with a view of Westport's lively marina....a perfect place to spend a sunny afternoon.

You can find Half Moon Bay at 421 Neddie Rose Drive in Westport, and check out their Facebook page here.

The Harbor Happy Hour Project: Bridge's Restaurant

Did you know that according to Wikipedia,  one possible origin of the term "Happy Hour" is from the Navy? In the 1920s, "Happy Hour" was slang for a scheduled entertainment period on board a ship during which boxing and wrestling bouts took place; this was a valuable opportunity for sailors to relieve the stress accumulated during the long periods at sea.

I, for one, am glad to see that happy hour has evolved into throwing back drinks rather than throwing fists. And for me, happy hour has proven to be a great way to stretch my budget while still getting to try out new pubs and restaurants, and enjoy some time with friends before heading home for dinner. The only problem is that no one, to my knowledge, has compiled a list of happy hours in the Grays Harbor area, and they seem to go widely unadvertised. So, I have taken it upon myself to create the Harbor Happy Hour project, and thoroughly research all of the happy hours in town. What I difficult life I lead!

Up first is Bridges Restaurant in Aberdeen. I heard of their happy hour through word-of-mouth, because they do not seem to advertise it AT ALL, or even have a website/Facebook/Twitter. They're old school like that. And that old-school-ness extends right into their bar, which has a private library sort of feel, with lots of dark wood and comfy upholstered chairs. The clientele seems to lean white-collar...your lawyer or your dentist is probably here kicking back with a $2 well drink.

Without further ado, here is their happy hour menu:

Drink specials consisted of $2 well drinks, and beer specials ONLY on Coors or Bud. Yep, no microbrew specials. Boo Hiss. So, I drowned my sorrows in a plate of Fried Zucchini ($3.99) which was OK, but would have been better with a side of marinara instead of that ubiquitous gloppy ranch that seems to accompany so many fried food dishes. Here in 'MURICA we've got to dip our fat-fried foods in MORE fat. Yay us.

I'll give the Bridges Happy Hour a 5 on my super-special-scientific-scale of 1 to 10. There is a decent selection of food, although nothing really creative and mostly typical pub grub, but they lost it for me on the drinks. Please, Bridges, offer some micro specials for those of us who prefer something with actual flavor.

(Chloe, Stefanie, Britta, and Emily enjoy a few rounds during Bridge's Happy Hour)

So, while Bridge's may not be the best happy hour for me, it's still worth a try, especially if you prefer a more upscale environment instead of a rowdy pub. You can find Bridge's at 112 North G Street in Aberdeen.

 

Portland Road Trip: Brewer's Fest or Bust!

Oregon Brewer's Festival always takes place in Portland during last full weekend of July. Last year, Henry and I made our first pilgrimage to this craft-beer-lover's mecca and had an absolute blast, so we made plans to head on down again this year. This time, we decided to book a hotel room and make a weekend out of it.

Once we made it to Portland, we stopped for a quick lunch at Grilled Cheese Grill, a food truck that was recommended by a friend of ours. Can you believe that I'd never actually eaten at a Portland food truck until this moment?! For shame!

The main thing I adore about Portland is that it's so vegetarian & vegan friendly. More of the sandwiches on the Grilled Cheese Grill's menu were vegetarian than not. I had a hard time choosing, but settled on The Cam...with BBQ tofu, pepperjack, pickles, red onions, and tomato on sourdough. Yum. Henry opted for the special...The Texas Turkey Shuffle.

We opted to sit outside since it was warm and sunny, but we could have enjoyed our grub in the school bus dining room. (Even better, you can dine in a double-decker bus at their other location!)

Afterwards we checked into our hotel and then rode the Portland Streetcar over to the festival, which was located downtown on the waterfront. The place was PACKED....Portlanders clearly love their craft beer!

Lines were very long, so we didn't get to try as many beers as we had hoped, but all of the ones we did try were great. A few standouts were Laurelwood's Portlandia Pils, Dogfish Head's Positive Contact, Fearless' Scottish Ale, and Oregon Trail's Lavender Ale. Yes, lavender beer...I did not think the combination of hops and lavender would work, but the floral note was just right.

By that evening, we were more than a little buzzed, and had to walk over to the Bridgeport Brewery to meet some friends for dinner, and, well...more beer. We made a pit stop at Jamison Square to cool our feet:

At the pub, we met up with our friends Matt, Lisa, Ngan, and Josef, who had driven down from Seattle to celebrate Matt's new car purchase. ( A pretty blue Subaru STi....now he and Henry are twinsies!) We ordered some sampler platters and big 20-ounce pints, and I dug into my Vegan Bowl...a blissful blend of organic quinoa, black beans, grilled organic local tofu, kale, sweet potatoes, edamame, red peppers, carrot salad, and spicy cashew sauce.

(Vegan Bowl)

(Matt's new STi)

The next day, we headed out to do a little (tax-free!) shopping before heading home. We hit up the usuals like IKEA, Sur la Table, West Elm, and Anthropologie, and checked out a couple of architectural salvage stores as well: Old Portland Hardware and Salvage Works. Where else can you find an antique iron door from Egypt ($2200), a entire wall of door handle plates, or a DIY chicken-coop kit?

All of that shopping worked up quite an appetite, so we headed over to a place I've wanted to go to for a loooong time...Pok Pok, which is hailed as THE place to get authentic "street-food" style Thai cuisine. They were even featured on Portlandia in the "Allergy Pride Parade" skit. With all of that hype, the line outside was pretty long, but we were able to score seats at the bar right away. (One of my favorite "tricks" while dining out is eating at the bar...I often seem to get better service as well, since the bartender is usually close at hand).

We ordered the Khao Soi and Phat Si Ew, which were both delicious. The prices were also reasonable, with most prices around $10-$12. They also had several yummy-sounding cocktails, including a few that used Asian herbs and aromatics, but I kinda draw the line at paying $8-$10 just for a drink.

There was a food-truck "pod" across the street as well, so we ended our trip to Portland on a sweet note...by sharing a mini Brandy Peach pie from The Pie Spot, an adorable robins-egg-blue camper-turned-bakery.

With full bellies and a car full of tax-free purchases, we headed for home. It's been fun,  Portland....may we meet again soon!