Oregon adventures continued: McMinnville

Yes, we are still sorting through photos from this spring, including our spring break getaway to Oregon.  I keep telling myself to move on to other blog topics, but there are so many great memories and things to share about our finds from that trip.

Near the top of the list was McMinnville, Oregon.  My favorite "small world moment" from this year happened at Community Plate in historic downtown McMinnville.

First, you should know that I love this place for a thousand reasons.  I won't name them all, but here are a few...it has an open kitchen and I am insanely curious about how food is prepared and am fascinated in thinking about how so much food is prepared so quickly.  The space is this cool, historic building with open storage and vintage decor.  Check out their website to get a feel for it.  The seating is a mix of large community-style seating and some smaller tables, too. 

Now, the small world moment.  We were ordering and the person at the counter asked if my Wildcats shirt was for Northwestern.  And, I said no, it was for K-State where I went to school and work.  He's says that he went to school there, too.  So, naturally, I geek out...trying to do so quickly because of the line behind us.  I ask him where he grew up and he says he went to high school in the same county where I grew up.  Get out!  He's much younger than me, so we didn't know anyone in common, but what are the odds that on the other side of the country, I would meet someone from my same home county.

Other than the chance meeting, you should also know the food was out of this world.  We also bought some granola to take home with us and it was fantastic, too.  Super huge fans of locally owned, great food making, community supporting, and kind people sort of places - this place had it all.  It had a similar vibe to Biscuithead in Asheville, another of our favorite places.

We stayed at Hotel Oregon, a McMenamins' property. You might remember that we want to be the McMenamins when we grow up - the two brothers that renovate historic properties and turn them into great places that honor the past and create a place where people can dine or stay and just enjoy themselves.  This was a great stop. The bar downstairs had awesome food and enough tv's to get our March Madness fix.  We skipped the rooftop bar because it was kind of chilly.

Our room was pretty spectacular.

Price wise, it was comparable to what we would have paid at a mid-tier chain hotel, but this place had tons of character.  The walls had quotes and notes about the history of the property and the bed was really beautiful.  I loved the old sink in our room and all of the character throughout.

We really want to return to get the full experience of the town.  We were there midweek and kind of "off season," so many places were closed.  And, we are freakishly early risers, even on vacation and factor in the time difference and we were always up at the crack of dawn.