Sister in Law Janet and I took off to the beautiful Oregon Coast last Saturday. Janet had found some deal for us to stay in Lincoln City and we figured we'd make a looonngg weekend of it.
Saturday, June 19th
Up bright and early this morning to head to Lake City to pick up Janet and then we're off to Lincoln City, OR. The plan is to go half way and stay in McMinnville, OR. Along the way we thought we'd stop in Portland for lunch and a little break.
The sun was out and the top was down. It got HOT in Portland, but we survived. After Gladys (my navigation unit) got us slightly lost trying to find a restaurant we were going to have lunch at, we decided to try another restaurant. Downtown Portland was PACKED with people. Everyone out enjoying the sunshine. I had to pee like mad, so we found a public parking lot. Parked. Then the first restaurant we saw we ate at. Turned out to be quite good. Had a Bison burger that had a Bourbon bacon jam on it that was to die for. Little did I know that would be the start of the good food we ate all weekend.
Refreshed and ready to go, back in the car and off to McMinnville. We took the back roads, avoiding the freeway whenever we could. Along the route we saw some beautiful scenery. The Willamette Valley is famous for wine these days, specifically Pinot Noirs. I haven't had very many Pinot Noirs and was looking forward to tasting what Oregon had to offer.
As we drove along the highway we kept seeing winery after winery after winery. I had no idea Oregon had such a wine scene. Turns out there are 800 wineries in the Willamette Valley. That's a lotta wine.
By the time we hit McMinnville we were about to be late for our first wine tasting. See most the wine tasting rooms require reservations - which we found odd, but whatever. We only made one reservation for the first day and figured we'd just wing it.
Our first winery was R. Stuart. They focus on Pinot Noirs - shocking, and some bubbly wines. Janet and I both had two different flights. I chose to have the summer flight which was mostly whites (which I rarely drink) and two bubbly wines. All of them were super crisp and pretty refreshing.
Our next stop was a wine bar that focused on all different types of wineries. Pinot Vina was a fun, comfortable little bar. There was a guy on guitar singing all the tunes from the 70s that I love. And the wine. Oh boy was the wine good.
But wait, we learned something too in the winery. We made a comment about the glasses that had been used in the previous winery and how odd it was its in this winery too. Apparently these wine glasses were created specifically for Pinot Noir in that area. Odd in and of itself. But wait...there's more. They said that a full bottle of wine could fit in these glasses. Neither Janet nor I could believe that. So "Bill" the guy pouring our wine showed us. And I'll be darn if a full bottle of wine didn't fit in that glass, with a little room to spare.
Ahem. Anyhow, I walked away with two bottles of wine from there. The Oregon Coast "collection" has started.
We checked ourselves in to our hotel and then headed out to find dinner. We found a fun little Mexican place and filled our tummies with glorious Mexican food.
Sunday, June 20
Up early-ish and out the door to find breakfast and then some wine to drink. We found ourselves in downtown McMinnville again - I mean, it's where the action is. McMinnville has shut down one of their main roads and allow only pedestrian traffic. It's such a good idea and really helped the tasting rooms, restaurants and other businesses along 3rd Street.
Breakfast was at McMenamins. We had time to kill before our first wine tasting reservation at noon. After breakfast we walked the street to see what McMinnville had to offer. It was sunny and beautiful out again and it was nice to get out and walk.
Our first winery of the day was called Terra Vina. As soon as we sat down the wine pourer told us that if we were looking for Pinot Noirs we would not find them there. They focused on BIG, BOLD red wines. I think I found my heaven. We assured her we'd be fine with whatever Big, Bold wines she poured us.
And boy were we happy. Some delicious wines here. Bought a couple more bottles to bring home. The wine pourer was so fun to talk to. She had 30 years experience and was full of fun stories.
Our next winery was Willamette Valley Winery. None of their wines were overly thrilling. They were just ok. After we drank our flight, the wine steward brought us a taste of their Riesling. It was delicious.
A VERY late lunch, or early dinner at a Mexican place and we were off to the coast.
Monday, June 21st
We stayed at a place called the Shalishan Resort. Great room. It's on the south side of Lincoln City closer to Gleneden Beach. It was a nice, woodsy place to stay.
Our first stop today was breakfast. We took our time getting out of the room in the morning so it was a LATE breakfast. We stopped at a place called Otis Cafe. It was one of the top 10 breakfast places in Lincoln City so we thought we'd give it a try.
Y'all...it was so good. HOMEMADE chicken fried steak, not that frozen crap people pass off as "chicken fried steak". But the best part was the unique breads they made. Your toast options were not the normal white, wheat etc. No. They were HOMEMADE Molasses or Pumpkin or Sourdough. They said we could split the toast so do a half and half. I originally said I'd do the Molasses and Sourdough then got the stink eye from Janet so switched to the Pumpkin. It did not disappoint. In fact, I bought a loaf and brought it home. Also bought a bag of their housemade seasoning that was on the table. I can see it on just about anything.
After breakfast we hit the road. North towards Tillamook for ice cream was the plan for the day.
The Oregon coast is beautiful The road was windy and the sun was out. It was a great day.
We stopped at Tillamook to see a guy about ice cream. The place was packed. We swung around the big line for people wanting to see the factory and bellied right on up to order ice cream. We had our picks in mind, and yet...when we got to the front of the line I spotted a CHOCOLATE FLIGHT! WHA??? So we switched and went with that one. It contained our favorites; Chocolate & Peanut Butter, Udderly Chocolate, and Mudslide. MMMM
After polishing that off, we went in search of photograph cheese curds (I should mention I did a photo scavenger hunt for this trip - Tillamook Mudslide Ice cream and me eating it was one of the items). Once inside the store, Janet realized we could waltz on up to the "tour" which was a do it yourself type. So we peeked into how cheese is made.
After Tillamook, we kept heading North. Our main goal was really nothing. We ended up at Canon Beach though. Stopping for any view points and cute little towns along the way. We took some photos in front of Haystack Rock and wrote our name in the sand. From there we hopped back in the car and headed back to Lincoln City.
On our way back down we stopped at two wineries; the Nehalem Bay Winery and the Blue Heron Wine and French Cheese stop. The latter was super misleading. I thought I'd get wine with french cheese. Not true. You got wine to taste and if you wanted, you could buy some cheese.
Because we had a late breakfast, we skipped lunch. I had a hankering for fish and chips. We found this fun little restaurant called Pub & Fish. Super fast service and REALLY good fish and chips.
Tuesday, June 22nd
Today we headed South towards Newport. This part of the Oregon Coast is absolutely gorgeous. We stopped in Depoe Bay to buy taffy for Sherrie and while there walked in and out of all the fun shops there.
Further down the coast we stopped at Cape Foulweather and watched for whales. Saw none, but did see some beautiful beach landscape.
Slightly down from Cape Foulweather we took a road to Otter Rock. It was a one way, windy road through thick trees. It was beautiful. It spit us out at a look out and the Devil's Punchbowl. It's a rock formation that when the waves hit it inside it, they churn like the devil.
We tasted wine at a small winery called the Flying Dutchman Winery. Mostly gross wine, but their cab was tasty.
Back in the car we headed a bit further south to the Sea Lion Caves just to see them. Turns out there's a fee to see them. Nope. Not that interested.
We ate dinner at the resort. Janet had $75 credit to use so we figured why not. It was surprisingly good. The best part really was dessert. It was a Stout Brownie. Oh man...they warmed it up and it was all ooey and gooey...so good.
Wednesday, June 23rd
Homeward bound. We wanted to get an early start today to get home. We hit Starbucks on the way out of Lincoln City. We drove up to Astoria and then over to I5 on the Oregon side.
All in all it was a fun weekend. Tons of good food and laughter. The Oregon Coast is beautiful and a place I'd love to see again.
