eats & interests seattle

The rain has officially crashed our summer party. But with this weather, who knows, the sun may be back by the end of the week. Either way you want to look at it, have you taken your end-of-summer, start-of-autumn weekend getaway yet? If not, have I got the place for you.

McMenamins Edgefield (www.mcmenamins.com/edgefield)

You may have been to a McMenamins before — they’re all over Oregon and Washington — but I can guarantee you haven’t had the full, intended McMenamins experience unless you’ve stayed at Edgefield. Edgefield is in Troutdale, OR, just 15 minutes or so outside of Portland and in the middle of beautiful Oregon nature. And it’s not as big of a splurge as you might think — rooms are below the cost of a city hotel and drinks aren’t unreasonable.

First, let me just inventory all of what Edgefield has to offer:

• 1 Hotel
• 4 Restaurants
• 6 bars/pubs, including a cigar & whiskey shed and a pool hall
• 1 golf course
• Winery, Distillery, and Brewery
• 1 Spa, including soaking pool
• Movie theater
• Herb & vegetable gardens
• Amphitheater where concerts take place year round

Yep — all those numbers are accurate. There is no lack of food, beer, wine & spirits at Edgefield, and your goal should be to partake in as much of it as you can… responsibly, of course.

Here are my recommendations for an awesome weekend at Edgefield. First off, book early! Edgefield books up weeks, if not months in advance, especially for weekends. Plan something mid-week if you want to go right away, or think ahead if you’re going for a weekend.

Take Friday off and get there in the early afternoon. This will give you enough time to check in, take in the adorable room you’ve been placed in (and read it’s amusing story, which will be written on the wall), and start to take everything in. Edgefield use to be a poor farm during the Depression era, and things, while having been converted, have also been preserved. You could probably spend a decent amount of time walking just around the hotel learning more about the property’s history and looking at the funny artwork scattered on all the walls, pipes, and everywhere else.

Settle on a later dinner, and take a few hours to walk around the grounds, exploring the gardens and converted sheds and buildings that house various glass or ceramic arts as well as specialty bars. My favorite part of the night was sitting outside the distillery in front of the fire with a perfect gin & tonic, watching the sun set over the golf course with the Boyfriend. Romantic, right? I know!

Then take your pick of restaurants, eat dinner, and spend the rest of the night casually bar hopping around the grounds. But before you go to bed, don’t forget to call Ruby’s Spa and schedule a pedicure, massage, or some other lux treatment! And my insider advice for the heated soaking pool: go early — when they open even. No one else is around and you have the whole relaxing pool to yourself for as long as you want before you head back to the hotel for breakfast.

Spend day two wine tasting, trying out some golf (with drink in hand, if you like — yes, it’s like Vegas and there are no container laws on the grounds), or just lounging on the hotel balcony reading a book. You could also take some time to wander a bit more, discovering pieces of art and other cooky things you didn’t have time for the night before, or didn’t even know were there.

Rain, shine, or snow, Edgefield is an awesome spot for even a short vacation. There’s no way you won’t come away from it relaxed and inspired. And who would say no to either of those things?

Go ahead, browse through the pictures they have on their site, or look at the thousands of picture of McMenamins Edgefield on Flickr. Here’s another one of my fave’s — this is in the distillery bar, where, before I left, I picked up a bottle of Edgefield’s Professor’s Gin, distilled just feet away, to take home with me!

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What are some of your favorite things to do in Seattle or nearby for a weekend escape?