Event date: August 13th 2022

Anyone who knows George knows that hot sauce is a very important part of his world, so when I saw that there was a whole festival of hot sauce here, I knew we had to check it out.

It was another baking hot Portland summer day, and with so many events on at once, the parking at OMSI was madness. After dropping me off to wait at the gates, it took George another half hour to park and walk over.

Once we were in, we decided to start with something to eat before the lines got too big. I have only ever had one chili dog, and these looked like they were an accessible size, so that’s what we decided to choose.

I was pleasantly surprised: these were really delicious rolls, sausages, and the chili on top was mild but tasty. I couldn’t eat the whole thing (American portions!), but I really wanted to! Beez Neez is definitely a fair name for a food truck that makes food this good. If I see them again, I will definitely be up for it! And I really appreciated the covered seating for eating it in the shade. Just writing about it makes me want another one!

As I am not much of a hot sauce person, we decided that George was going to be the one to make most of the decisions, so I sat in the shade and watched the people go by, while he queued, tasted, and purchased.

I watched my first eating competition, and my first live wrestling show, and tried a few mild sauce samples myself. We got the most amazing selection of deliciousness to add to our meals as marinades, condiments, and dressings.

We tried to buy a hat and that, combined with the tent cover helped stave off the heatstroke, and my poor, burning tongue calmed down eventually. But kids – WEAR SUNSCREEN. We forgot, and boy, did we pay for it, especially me, with my lockdown tan. Portland days all seem to start grey, which is misleading, because the temperatures have all been heatwave-hot.

And here’s a mildly spicy video to garnish your reading: