Overnighter to Corvallis, Oregon

Downtown Corvallis, Oregon.

This weekend we are on a sports-cation road trip following the USC Women's Basketball team to Oregon. We drove from Bellingham to  Oregon State University in Corvallis. We come here quite often for sports events and love the vibrancy of this college town.

We checked into the Hilton Garden Inn on the south side of campus. This is a great place to stay because it is right next to the softball, football and basketball venues. Be sure to get early reservations for big sports events.

We went to the Willamette Riverfront Park to check on the river level (way high) before heading over to the Oregon State University campus to watch the basketball game. 

The Women of Troy fought a hard game, but bowed to the power of the OSU team for the second year in a row.

The Hilton has a nice restaurant, but we like to go downtown to eat. We've eaten at Sky High Brewing several times, but this trip we decided to try Block 15, another brew pub.   They have excellent pub food, and I do love a fresh brew.

You can walk the mile and a quarter fairly easily, and check out the Oregon State University campus on the way. We were blown away with the excellent beer, great food (ribs for me and a buffalo burger for Wayne), and the outstanding service Matt gave us in the "Game Room."  We liked this seating better than the main restaurant.

Pale and red ales at Block 15 Brewery.

It was smaller, quieter, and had two TVs showing games on the Pac12 Network. For Wayne to say it may have been the best restaurant meal he'd ever had, that's saying something. We'll be back for sure!

Kayaking the Willamette River.

Just past the restaurant is the Willamette River with a Riverfront Commemorative Park, perfect for a stroll or relaxing on a bench.

We launched our kayak near here to travel down the Willamette to Salem 2011. It's an easy river when the water level is lower.

The Broken Yolk breakfast spot in Corvallis.

On the way out of town, we stopped at our favourite breakfast spot, The Broken Yolk Cafe. It's modern on the outside, but funky inside. The food's plentiful, reasonably priced, and tasty.

Our recommendations: cinnamon buns, juevos rancheros, and the Beaver combi-Nation (a play on words for the OSU mascot). A great way to end an overnighter in Corvallis. -- Margy