As some of you may remember, Animated Meat first came to life in 2008 as a way to document some sights that managed to slip through the cracks of most popular travel websites. You may also remember that the original website was built on Apple's now defunct iWeb. From there, it migrated over to WordPress where it met an untimely demise at the hands of Russian hackers. Many of those old, pre-2012 entries have found a new home here in the Before the Now section. I would consider these posts as my starting place as a writer, probably comparable to a musician's first demo tapes. They are very rough, but I took them all seriously and wrote each one with passion. While I would like to believe that I have matured in my abilities as a writer, it is my hope that I carry this same blind passion into all of my new efforts.

Bridgeport Alehouse - Originally Published 2008

March 31, 2019

Portland is an amazing riverfront city, the kind we don’t seem to get on the west coast. The locals are fiercely proud and there is an emphasis on the local economy and talent. To get the full experience, don’t go looking for a TGI Fridays. Talk to some folks and be ready to try something new.

Rookie traveling mistake #1: Go to a new place and try the same stuff you can get at home. You’ll only be disappointed. If you’re disappointed, you’ll tell everyone that the city you visited was crappy. And it wasn’t. Your choices were crappy.

The Bridgeport Alehouse is a great place to get a feel for what Portland is all about. This city is home to more microbrews that anywhere else. The beer coupled with the food made from local ingredients make this place a winner.

We tried the hummus, the beet salad, and the open-faced salmon sandwich. If the leaders of the world spent a few hours here, there would be little need for a standing army. Yep, it’s that good.