Oregon Coast — Page 11

Dave Goes: Astoria, Oregon

February 17, 2010 by Dave Knows 1 Comment

Astoria‘s charm is in its history and urban form. The oldest permanent U.S. settlement west of the Rockies, next year Astoria celebrates its bicentennial. The downtown is compact and walkable, and though not exactly bustling, there are a couple book stores, several cafes, and quite a few restaurants and bars.

Heather and I have visited Astoria several times over the last couple years. Our first road trip together included a stop at the Astoria Column. Later that same year we drove out from Portland to visit the Fort George Brewery and Public House. Last fall we paid homage to the 1400 block of Duane Street, my favorite block in Astoria. And last summer we spent a weekend in Astoria to take in the Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival.

Last weekend we visited again. Valentines Day is our anniversary, so to celebrate we sprung for a suite at our favorite place to stay in Astoria, the Commodore Hotel. The room prices are surprisingly reasonable, and the hotel is right downtown, putting all the restaurants, cafes, bars, museums, and shops at our doorstep.

View from our room at The Commodore

On Saturday morning after coffee at the Blue Scorcher, we went for a walk. We discovered, just up the hill from the cafe, a replica of Fort Astoria.

Fort Astoria

Friday night we’d enjoyed several stouts at Fort George Brewery. February is Stout Month. Badda Bing, a Flanders-style cherry stout was my favorite. The Murky Pearl, a true oyster stout (i.e. brewed with oysters!) was curious, but not fishy. And a bourbon barrel Cavatica stout was impressive. The next day, after checking out the fort replica around back, we toured the brewery and sampled an IPA and a Porter straight out of the zwickel as part of the state-wide Zwickelmania.

Tour of Fort George Brewery

After the brewery visit we stopped by the Shallon Winery (recommended to us by Sláinte Mhaith in a blog comment last year!). I insist you add a visit to the winery, and the man who runs it, Paul van der Veldt, to your next trip to Astoria. Make sure you have about a half hour for the brief winery tour (the winery is very small) and the tasting (which is unlike any wine tasting you’ve ever experienced). Read more about our visit to Shallon Winery at Mile73.com: Astoria: The Most Wicked Place On Earth

Sunday the sun finally broke out. I hadn’t been to Fort Clatsop since a field trip in grade school, so we paid a visit. Apparently now the fort is part of something called the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park.

Heather at Fort Clatsop

After defending the fort for a while, we followed the Netul River Trail to a purported old canoe landing.

Netul Landing

The weekend was complete.

And visit Mile73.com for more photos and stories of our weekend adventure!

Pixieland Memories

January 4, 2010 by Dave Knows 11 Comments

Pixieland was a short-lived amusement park on the coast inspired by a longstanding destination restaurant in Lincoln City called the Pixie Kitchen. The whimsical restaurant, with a funhouse mirrors entryway and an internal courtyard occupied by colorful mechanical pixie characters, opened in the 1930s and closed in the mid-80s. The amusement park had a much shorter life span, opening in 1969 and closing a few years into the early 70s (and now its remnants are disappearing into reclaimed wetlands).

I have exactly two Pixie related early childhood memories.

Radio Gretchen mentioned recently at OurPDX that the Pixie Kitchen held magic for her as a child. What the Pixie Kitchen had in store for me as a child was my first food poisoning. I had ordered some type of child-sized fried fish platter and ended up retching it all up a few hours later at a motel with my family as cold chills wracked my body. I couldn’t be in the same room with clam strips or popcorn shrimp for years after. Any time we drove by the restaurant in future family travels, I shuddered and looked away.

Don’t worry, there’s no reverse peristalsis, that I can recall, in my next memory.

This one involves Pixieland, though I have zero recollection of The Franz Bread Rest Hut, Darigold Barn, or Little Toot, as dutifully, and playfully, documented at PDXHistory.com.

It’s not even really a memory, it’s a photograph. A photograph of my dad, my oldest sister, and me at Pixieland.

Dad, Boni, me, and some other people I don't know at Pixieland!

That’s my dad on the left, my sister Boni next to him, and some other people I don’t know on the right. I’m the bundled up grump in the stroller.

Not surprisingly I have no memory of that day. I look about a year old in that photo, no? So that would have been in 1972 or 1973.

So, despite the fact my Pixieland memory is not something I actually recall, I prefer it to my more immediate memories of Pixie Kitchen. I’m sad they’re both gone, but I am relieved that nowadays I can keep my lunch down when passing through Lincoln City.

Dave Goes: The best block in Astoria

November 9, 2009 by Dave Knows 2 Comments

The 1400 block of Duane Street (my favorite block in Astoria) houses both Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe and the Fort George Brewery Man (and woman) can’t live on storm watching alone.

Saturday morning Heather and I drove up 101 to Astoria. My favorite block in my favorite town on the coast is the 1400 block of Duane Street, which houses both the Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe and the Fort George Brewery.

I ordered the Americano on my first visit to the Blue Scorcher months ago, out of fear their normal coffee wouldn’t be up to snuff (I’m eternally disappointed with the coffee at coffee shops). And that dry Americano was one of the best Americanos I have ever experienced. It was rich and aromatic and tasted like coffee should taste. Was it a fluke? The Americano I experienced this past Saturday was not quite as good as the first one, but it was still damn good (though to be fair I did not order it dry this time). I’m still afraid to order the coffee though . . .

We wandered around town for a bit after finishing the paper and our coffees, and then settled in at the Fort George Brewery (right next door to the Blue Scorcher) for lunch.

Fort George brews fantastic beers and serves respectable pub fair, but one menu item is particularly notable: the house made sausages. Less greasy and salty than you’d expect (they taste almost healthy), and especially delicious. The flavors of fennel and oregano; roasted garlic, basil, and white wine; and mushrooms (the sausage du jour was flavored with bolete mushrooms) really come through (and stick with you all day!).

FortGeorgeSausage

Due to previous experience, we knew the shared sausage sampler appetizer was enough for both of us.

Heather enjoyed a Cavatica Stout, while I savored both the fall flavored Drunkin’ Pumpkin, and a fantastic Belgian Trippel.

FortGeorgeBeer

All in all a very pleasant few hours at my favorite block in Astoria on a stormy Oregon coast Saturday.

Dave Goes: Storm watching at Cannon Beach

November 8, 2009 by Dave Knows 2 Comments

As luck would have it the weekend we chose to make a trip to the coast featured prime storm watching. The forecast called for wind, rain, huge surf, and bonus thunderstorms!

stormy

The weather delivered on all levels. The water periodically reached the sea grass and rocks, huge logs rolled to and fro on the beach, the ocean churn produced copious amounts of froth and foam.

Foam

And as you can see, Heather and I risked our lives to secure the footage below for our dear readers:

Read more about Foam Dodging On the Coast at Mile73.

July 31: Tillamook Cheese celebrates 100 years

July 30, 2009 by Dave Knows 5 Comments

The Tillamook County Creamery Association was established by dairy farmers in 1909, making this year the 100th anniversary of Tillamook Cheese.

To celebrate this auspicious anniversary, the folks from Tillamook are throwing their 100th Anniversary Celebration at Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square Friday, July 31st from 10am to 4pm.

Tillamook’s mascots, Tillie the cow and Loafy, will be there scaring the kids, and Tillamook ice cream cones will be available for a small donation to Union Gospel Mission. From 11am to 3pm they’ll even be frying up some grilled cheese sandwich “bites” for the crowd. From noon to 4pm experts will be demonstrating how to pair wine and beer with Tillamook cheeses, and cheese curds will be available (which you usually have to travel to the coast for).

Speaking of the coast, if you don’t get enough cheese Friday, head down to the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Tillamook Saturday, August 1st for another 100th anniversary celebration. From 10am to 6pm they’ll be serving up ice cream, grilled cheese sandwiches, etc. There will be live entertainment and a petting zoo too.

Unfortunately, though, no cheese eating contests at either the Portland or Tillamook event.

* Photo courtesy Mile73.com!

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