Travel review – TDTFYH

A few things I’m thinking about today:

How people react so strongly and so fearfully to change. Everything we currently love was once different or strange. Why not believe in the possibilities of something instead of choosing to focus on perceived limitations?
How to nurture your inner Tigger when in the company of or close proximity to an Eeyore. (Related: Happier podcast, episode 12.)
The genius of this Tonight Show sketch featuring Nikki and Brie Bella. I was inspired to look for it after I found this painting while we were checking out at Anderson School this morning.

I’ve had a lot of people ask me about Anderson School every time I talk about it or after we’ve paid it a visit. I know it can seem random that we stay in Bothell when we visit the Seattle area, but it truly is a case of the hotel being the attraction.

The McMenamins name has become an empire. With interests in hotels/resorts, beer, wine and spirits, coffee roasting, pubs, restaurants, theatres, music venues and I’m sure a few more ventures that I’ve either forgotten or am not aware of, the company has been spreading its unique flavour far and wide across Washington and Oregon.

I’ve been to six of their historic hotels and number of their pubs and restaurants. My introduction came from Amy back in the days when I used to be in Portland five times a year to visit and attend various events.

While all of their properties lend a very specific McMenamins vibe, it’s their hotels that are the greatest treats.

With McMenamins, the mundane becomes magical – depending on which historic hotel you choose, you may find an onsite brewery, a movie theater, a full-service spa, gardens and orchards, a winery, soaking pools, live music and more. Along with comfortable guestrooms, original artwork, restaurants and pubs, of course.

Essentially, they’ve taken old buildings and repurposed them as modern day lodgings including features unique to each property. There are hotels that have always been hotels, but there are also a few more out of the box transitions. Anderson School is similar to Portland’s Kennedy School and, I’m assuming, Bend’s Old St. Francis School. Two years ago, we stayed at Grand Lodge, a former Mason Lodge and the summer before that, Olympic Club, a former brothel in Centralia.

We have plans to visit all the locations, but time and again, Anderson School comes up as the most convenient for our Seattle-based needs and for our next McMenamins fix.

As we were driving there on Saturday, I told Kevin that my plans for the weekend were to lounge around McMenamins leaving only to attend the race and the come right back. It’s the kind of place where you just want to hang out and pretend there’s no other world outside.

And that’s basically exactly what we did.

Anderson School features:

A restaurant
A pub
Three bars
A brewery
A theatre
A store
A pool

There are also several rooms for hosting parties and events – both private and open to the public. On Saturday, there were two weddings and a christening being celebrated and there are always parties, concerts, historic talks and other fun events being held throughout the seasons.

There are 72 guest rooms (by my count – I may be wrong) and each is uniquely dedicated to one person of note who hailed from or had some other connection to Bothell. We’ve stayed in four of them, but we’ve seen five thanks to a kind front desk clerk gave me a tour of room 101 after I excitedly discovered that it was inspired by the former guitarist from Death Cab For Cutie.

Beyond their general funkiness, there are a couple of things that any McMenamins location can be counted on to provide:

Great beer
Great music
Great tots, particularly the Cajun variety

No matter the location, type of venue or product, they can be counted on to bring it. If you’re planning any kind of trip around Washington or Oregon, try to incorporate a stop even if it can’t be a stay. You won’t regret it.

I’ve written about Anderson School a few times. Here are some other links:

10.27.18

10.23.18

Writing is good, but living is better

Our *other* passports

Race Report: Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle 5k

I’m super excited about this weekend because I get to do one of my favourite things. Run? Yes, I get to do that and I’m pretty into it. Travel? Uh huh. That’s at the top of my list. Okay, so this weekend it going to be filled with a few things I love. The one I’m most excited about, though, is the chance to get some more stamps in our McMenamins passports!

I’ve known about the genius that is the McMenamins franchise from my years of being an honourary citizen of Portland, Oregon. It was just last year that our genius friends, Amy and Tyson introduced us to the McMenamins passport program and it has been an absolute blast to work on ours since we picked them up.

What is mcmenamins?

McMenamins is a staple of Pacific Northwest American living, particularly Portland, Oregon. According to Wikipedia:

McMenamins is a family-owned business operating 54 distinct brewpubs,^[5]breweries, music venues, historic hotels, and theater pubs in the Pacific Northwest. Founded by brothers Mike and Brian McMenamin with a single Portland neighborhood pub in 1983, McMenamins today includes 46 Oregon and eight Washington properties, 18 on the National Register of Historic Places. According to the Brewers Association, McMenamins is one of the top 50 largest craft breweries in the United States.^[6]

According to me, that doesn’t even begin to cover it. Their venues are all extremely eclectic and very unique – unique to the chain, but also unique to each location. Their restaurants are cozy and their hotels are converted from old heritage sites – children’s schools, asylums – last year we stayed in two, a former brothel and a former Masonic old folks’ home. Their beers, wines and spirits are first class and their menu is legendary. When you arrive at a McMenamins, you immediately feel like you could just sink in and never leave – or you are drawn to exploring every fascinating corner.

I already knew all that, but it was fun to be there while Kevin discovered it, too. Our passports just added a new and exciting adventure into the mix.

So, what’s the deal with their passports?

It’s easy! You pick one up at any McMenamins property. They’re $30 each, but they pay for themselves in no time. Each location has one or a series of stamps for the passport owner to acquire. Mostly you just have to ask someone, but sometimes you have to do something, too. Take a picture, order a flight, buy a movie ticket… It’s basically a scavenger hunt! Get all the stamps in a location or a series of them, get a prize. Some of the prizes are food, some are merchandise, sometimes you get to pick. We’ve brought home a water bottle, a coffee mug, a pint glass and a tote bag so far. This weekend we’ll bring home something new after our stay at Anderson School, the revitalized first junior high school in Bothell, outside of Seattle.

Complete all of the passport stamps in all of the passport locations and earn your Cosmic Tripster status which includes…

Three individual nights stays at three of McMenamins historic hotels
A pair of concert tickets at the Crystal Ballroom or Edgefield Concerts on the Lawn
Drinks at happy hour prices, Sunday–Thursday for one year
Entrance to the annual Passport Club Party
Exclusive Passport merchandise to show that you did it!
Cosmic Tripster Key, your ticket to getting into exclusive passport events, from tours of new properties before they’re open, to dinners and tastings and secret events, such as wine bottlings and tastings, advances on product releases from the distillery, special discounts, and who knows what else

That’s an over $500 (US!) value!

From the first completed property in our passports,
Kennedy School in Portland

So, if you like to travel and you dig an adventure, plan a road trip through Washington and Oregon. Pick up your own passport on the way and have a great time collecting your stamps and other prizes. I promise you, you will have so. much. fun.