Seattle-San Jose Road Trip
We
drove south from there—101 was winding in and out of coast, and we were
stopping at scenic viewpoints but not actually walking down onto any of the
beaches because it was just too cold. Yes, it was still around 68 or so, with
a very brisk, cold north wind. We decided we’d been warmer in Alaska
last summer.
We went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport—it had a nice tunnel, with fish views both above and below, plus a fun crustacean exhibit, and cute sea lions and otters, but overall it was very kid-crowded and hard to navigate (weird layout/signs/map). Still, it was a fun stop. Below left, you see a jellyfish from the aquarium. Below right, a lovely "Salmon Personals" display, meant to educate children about salmon's lifecycles. With my crazy love of salmon, though, I was enchanted.
In
the car we nibbled on java fudge (vanilla-coffee swirl, smooth and delicious)
from the Tillamook Creamery and more smoked salmon lollipops.
We drove south to the Sea Lion Caves eleven miles north of Florence, Oregon—my guidebook said they stayed open until 6:30, but when I called at 5:00 from aquarium, they said they normally close at 5:30 but if we drove straight there they’d make sure they stayed open for us. As it was, we got there 5:45 and went in, and we weren’t at all rushed. It was indeed impressive—the largest natural sea cave in world, and the only contiguous 48-state home to stellar sea lions. Some California sea lions come up for the summer too and join the, but the bigger stellars (from Alaska) don’t seem to mind. There were nice views, a nice movie, and an interesting pet-shop smell in the caves, but we were freezing. The man at the sea cave said the temperature in Portland is what the wind speed feels like here, and we weren’t really arguing with that.
Above left, a view getting close to the sea cave when driving down the coast. Above rght, inside the cave, with sea lions draped rather uncomfortably across rocks. Below left, another view inside the cave, and below right, a view of a local lighthouse (supposedly one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world--we were just doing our part to help that along) from just outside the cave's back entrance.
We left the cave at 6:45 and drove south to Florence for the night, which is a very cute small town. We stayed at the Villa West—mini fridges, horrible pillows but okay everything else, HBO, and internet access, all for $43 plus tax
For dinner we poked our heads into lots of seafood restaurants, but nothing grabbed us until we got to the local Mo’s, a mini-chain based out of Newport on the Oregon coast. We had a pretty view of the river and bridge, and the service was very good.
Our server brought us a healthy cup of bay shrimp just because we asked what they were like (little, pink, local, and sweet, in short). Robert’s crab melt was fabulous—super juicy and delicious with Oregon Dungeness crab and Tillamook cheddar. It came with a side of clam chowder, but Robert wanted oyster stew with local oysters, so they let him pay the difference. The stew had good, good oysters, though not quite as good as at lunch. I ordered a salmon special—Oregon Chinook salmon with hollandaise sauce and bay shrimp. That came with a salad, and my choices were house green salad, cabbage salad, or coleslaw. I ordered the cabbage salad upon finding out what it was: shredded cabbage, bay shrimp, and ranch dressing on the side—a perfect combination, and lots and lots of bay shrimp!
After dinner we went across the very quiet, nearly completely empty small-town street for ice cream—we had a very good homemade raspberry cheesecake mini-sundae just to try it, but we didn’t finish it because we were full. The ice cream shop also had 126 different flavors of saltwater taffy—a company out of Portland makes them the old-fashioned way and ships them down the coast. I went a little crazy, hand-picking a mixed bag that included pumpkin, buttered popcorn, champagne strawberry, and everything else that sounded good. This, the most expensive bag of taffy we’ve ever bought, totaled $6.50. Sadly, then, biting into them, it was like all my carefully selected ones had morphed into flavors we hated—cinnamon, banana, bubblegum, etc.—even though we knew we hadn’t chosen any of those. After four mishaps, we decided that our palates had had enough for one day, so we left off eating the taffy and saved it for tomorrow. Robert, never a taffy fan, was only too happy.
We were back at the hotel by 9:30—we watched some HBO and a movie on the computer, used the web, and were asleep by 11:00
Oregon, Part 2 (Wednesday)
We
ate cheese curds and marionberry smoothies in our room for breakfast and were
out of the house by 9:00. Robert’s always a little difficult to get
up and out in the mornings, especially on vacation. Me, although I’m
hardly a morning person, I just get so excited about the things we’re
going to do and see that I’m up early and ready on vacation days. Then
I get to spend two hours waiting around for him. . . .
This morning we decided we were going to try an espresso shack—it really is just like Alaska the way they’re dotted around. We chose randomly one of two warring ones in the same parking lot and got a steamed milk w/hazelnut syrup.
Our first stop was a designated elk-viewing spot that my guidebooks kept insisting is a must-see. No elk appeared, not even with binoculars, so we drove on to the Oregon Dunes ranger station and exhibit area, and then with a few dunes walks planned, we headed into Winchester Bay for a little snack (elevenses, perhaps). First we stopped at an oyster processing plan which was way smaller than Bay City’s, but near the now-familiar pile of oyster shells. We had two oysters on the half-shell there, and we interacted with some Arizonan tourists who had never eaten oysters before except cooked, out of a can. Next we went to a cannery for a smoked salmon stick, but I was somewhat disappointed that there was no cannery tour, as the guidebook had promised, and the salmon was good, but not the greatest. (Above right, one of the many scenic Oregon beaches we drove past but found it too cold to walk out on.)
We went on a scenic dunes drive (to Umpqua Dunes) and then on a dunes walk—a light mile-long hike, half on hard-packed dirt, half on loose sand, through the weird mixture of dunes and forest that comprise the dunes here. Below left, you see a pool of fresh water in the middle of the dunes, which isn't uncommon here; below center, you see a huge densely forested dune (popular with the ATV-crowd); below right, Robert struggles to the top of a sandy patch when walking.
The sandy part of the walk was a little sad, because I had said I thought I needed my hiking boots, and Robert said no, you’ll be fine in the Crocs. Well, I was fine, if “fine” means having sand pour in and out of my shoes the whole way—rather disturbing, to say the least. Still, it was great to walk in the sun (it was the warmest it’s been since Portland here) and to see up close the ecosystem we’d read about. (From the ranger station earlier we had learned a lot about the ecology of the area, including the introduction of European beach grass in the 1930s that completely changed the ecosystem. Those crazy 1930s!)
Next we drove straight to Bandon to eat—we thought about crabbing, but didn’t, basically because we didn’t want to stand out near the water and freeze (yes, it was chilly and windy again—we huddled in our sweatshirts as we ate at an outdoor crab shack).
Robert had a whole Dungeness crab for $12.90 from one stand near the water (an excellent deal because pre-cooked whole crabs were $18, though they would reheat it for you, but somehow he got them to sell him a live crab for $10.90 and then cook it for $2 fresh—it was delicious, of course. We also shared six grilled oysters (cooked in a grill basket) with a lime-cilantro sauce, and a shrimp-crabmeat-cream cheese croissant for $6.50 from a stand next door.
Before leaving Bandon, we admired all the “No puffin[s]” signs (really, “no smoking”), and we bought cranberry walnut fudge to eat in the car.
Our next stop was the Great American Smokehouse in Brookings, where we tasted five kinds of smoked fish and then got smoked salmon and smoked Chinook salmon collars: we sat down by the side of the road in a patch of grass to eat the collar, which was fabulously rich and moist, possibly the best smoked salmon I’ve ever had. Also in Brookings, we gassed up before leaving Oregon (after all, it’s full-serve, just like New Jersey, and still cheaper than California).