Portland Notes: Mar. 16, 2007

Make sure you are wearing green tomorrow as you head out to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day Portland style. The Oregonian has some great ideas on ways to enjoy your favorite green beer drinking holiday.
Speaking of beer, many Portlanders seem to have a love-hate relationship with our local McMenamins brew pub chain. Some find the beer and food average while others can’t seem to get enough. The local beer blog Beervana has a nice write up on some of its favorite Mcmenamins locations in and around Portland.
If beer (green or otherwise) isn’t enough to quench your need for drinking this weekend then head on down to the Dundee Hills wine region - they are having their second annual passport tour. It’s a great way to get into some wineries which only open their doors to visitors a few days out of the year.
Sports more of your thing? The closest thing we have to professional hockey, the Portland Winterhawks, wrap up the at home portion of their very lackluster season with two in town games this weekend.
Portland seems to have been placed on a few more best of lists. This time around we’ve gotten high marks for being one of the best cities for gay and lesbian people to live in the United States as well as having overall energetic lifestyles.
Ever been to the smallest park in Portland? Mill Ends Park, which measures just two feet by two feet, had apparently been sitting in a planter while Naito Parkway was getting some work done to it. The park has now been returned to its home. (green beer lovers take note - this park became a city park on St. Patrick’s Day in 1976.)
Frequent fliers of US Airways will be happy to note the airline is adding “nonstop summer service between Portland International Airport and Charlotte/Douglas International Airport on May 28.” This will provide US Airways customers better access to the airline’s hub in North Carolina.
Portland got a really nice write-up in the New York Times travel section for kid friendly offerings.