Did you know that Hood River is only an hour from the city of Portland? A quick waterfall-filled drive through the Gorge offers Portlanders a breezy weekend getaway for wine and beer lovers alike. With great wineries, local breweries, quaint bed and breakfast inns and gorgeous views of the Columbia River at practically every turn, you’re sure to enjoy a weekend of fun-filled memories.

Double Mountain Brewery, a locals’ favorite, is located in the heart of downtown and is as well known in Hood River for their gourmet pizzas as they are for their beer brewed on-site. They’re in the midst of an expansion project that will increase the Taproom by 1500 sq feet and the beer production area by 3500 sq feet. This will allow for a new bottling line and automated keg line since Double Mountain has outgrown their original space of the last five years.

Suggested summer brews are the Double Mountain Kolsch and Peche Mode, a seasonal Belgian-style ale made with peaches. Pizzas with unusual and creative toppings alongside beer brewed with love. No one can doubt that this is a match made in heaven.

Just a couple short blocks away is the Full Sail Tasting Room and Pub.

Watching the bottling line through the windows from the street is a bit like watching Laverne & Shirley reruns.

With a big deck that hovers about Hood River’s industrial zone, the views of the Columbia River and surrounding mountains are an excellent way to end an evening– beer in hand, of course. Suggested seasonal summer brews here are the Full Sail LTD 03, a crisp pale-colored pilsner-style lager and the LTD 05, a copper-colored amber ale with Czech Saaz hops.

Make your reservations early for a room with a river view at the Villa Columbia Bed and Breakfast, owned by Boba and VJ Jovanovic.

The home was built 100 years ago and has been tastefully updated with all the modern amenities you expect while on vacation.

All the rooms have fireplaces, TVs, plush robes and jetted tubs to help melt away your stress so you can relax during your visit. From the Columbia River room, you can see river and mountain views from every window, including the one above the tub.

Breakfast is a 3-course meal and dietary restrictions are easily accommodated so you won’t leave hungry. Centrally located on the edge of downtown, you’ll walk by beautiful older homes on your way to the shops, restaurants, breweries and wine tasting rooms. The Villa Columbia is a great home away from home.

At the other end of downtown Hood River, a 10-minute stroll, you’ll find Springhouse Cellars.

All their wine is made on-site from grapes grown no further away than a three-hour drive. With a unique tap system, your wine tastes pour from spigots behind the bar.

Springhouse Cellars believes in being eco-friendly and offers a refillable 1 liter “growlier” to reduce the wine bottles in your weekly recycling bin. Not only do you reduce your carbon footprint by using a growlier, you get an additional 250ml for free.

Springhouse Cellars only makes 2000 cases annually under their label but winemaker Carey Kienitz produces another 2000 cases for neighboring Gorge wineries as well. With a versatile interior space and newly remodeled and expanded bathrooms, the winery can host events of most shapes and sizes.

Their outdoor space, lovingly referred to as the ruins, is one-of-a-kind and often the site of summer wine events, concerts and weddings. In the fall, it doubles as the crush pad for incoming fruit after it’s been harvested, on its way