Thursday Tours: Galentine’s Day

In preparation for February 14th, we are bringing you two Thursday Tours themed for celebrating love! Personally, I’ll be spending the day hitting the ski slopes in Bend with some of my favorite people. Why not share the love, am I right? Like why not celebrate with your favorite lady friend?!

That’s why we are bringing you the Galentine’s Day edition of Thursday Tours! We’ve got the darling Alexa Darrow of Little Green Pickle PR firm to share her faves. Alexa is awesome fun and while she’s only been in Portland for about a year, she knows fantastic places to good all over town for meals or drinks. She offers you a day of assured fun – from brunch to beers to dinner to late night shenanigans. Now that sounds like a good Valentine’s!

As always, head to Martha Chartreuse for more from Dangoule of 10th Kitchen! Happy love day, friends! xoxo!

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Galentine’s Day Recommendations from Alexa Darrow

“What’s Galentine’s Day? Oh, it’s only the best day of the year. Every February 13th, Leslie Knope and her lady friends leave their husbands and their boyfriends at home and just kick it breakfast style. Ladies celebrating ladies.” – Leslie Knope

Galentine’s Day has held a special place in my heart ever since seeing this Parks & Rec episode a few years ago. When I was living on the East Coast, my girlfriends and I had our own version of Galentine’s Day, heels and all, to celebrate our love for each other. This tradition usually involved a chef’s tasting, lots of champagne, and dancing the night away.  Now that I’m in Portland, I have a whole new group of gals in my life and a whole new slew of options for celebration!

 

Brunch

Lechon has quickly become one of my very favorites in Portland for any meal. Not only do you feel like you’ve been transported to South America for a few hours, but the friendly staff, killer views of Mount Hood on a clear day, and most importantly, delicious food make for a memorable meal. I just found out that Lechon is doing a special Valentine’s Day brunch on both Saturday and Sunday. For $20, you and your gal pals can indulge in a 5-course chef’s tasting (marinated strawberries and roasted banana fritters included!). Not a bad way to kick off Galentine’s Day 2016, huh?

Beers

I don’t know about you, but these days I’m finding myself drinking more beer than bubbly (I guess that’s just PDX rubbing off on me). I know Galentine’s Day is traditionally filled with Champagne and Chocolate, but honestly, this year a brewery crawl seems more appealing. Start at Burnside Brewing Company (Eat here! You’ll thank me later after you’re a few beers in); head to Cascade Brewing Barrel House for a sour; finish at Commons Brewery (one of my absolute favorites). Not only will there be fantastic people watching along the way, the brewery eye-candy ain’t so bad either 😉

Bad Decisions

And by bad, I mean GREAT decisions. If you haven’t yet been to the Slammer Tavern, you haven’t truly lived. You and your lady friends 100% need to end your night out here. I always say that the Slammer is where “Sober Saturday nights go to die,” mostly because drinks are ridiculously strong and insanely cheap. And don’t even get me started on the music. You’ll be dancing to JaRule and Britney Spears by midnight, Jay-Z and Elvis by 1am, and playing Skee ball by 1:30am with a group of strangers and loving your life so much, you won’t ever want to leave. Lucky for your liver, you will have to at some point.

Happy Galentine’s Day!

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#ThursdayToursPDX is a collaborative series between Portland, OR bloggers {Erin} Bakery Bingo + {Meredith} Martha Chartreuse. In a city filled with amazing restaurants, artisan experiences, and fantastic tastemakers the inside scoop is a must. We will be asking our friends and fellow bloggers for their recommendations and tips for all the City of Roses has to offer.