Eleven and the Coast

At cape lookout

We'd been wanting to visit this place for awhile and meet with the brewer/owner--and seeing a good couple of days without a work shift or house showings we packed up the car and headed to the coast.

Not a bad way to spend the summer solstice.

 








It had been about 9 years since we'd headed to this spot together and it was funny to recreate a similar scene. We even found the same bottle of wine (different vintage) to enjoy on the beach.


We didn't exactly make a "leaving Oregon" list, but we are definitely picking up on places that we've loved in our time here. Nothing wrong with a little sand in the shoes.

Eleven

A lovely view on our walking food tour

walking food tour - plus cops!

I find that my personal Oregon list-making is centered a lot around places that I want to go eat and drink (and be merry...for example). We did a bit of walking tour of town on the eve of our anniversary (no. 11 for wedding and 15 overall) and then settled in on our anniversary proper for an amazing five-course, wine-paired menu at a place we'd often thought of going to but booking a table was always a 30-45 day in advance experience (we took advantage of the fine weather and popped in at opening for non-reservable patio seating). It was exquisite. Also, one of the menu items is now a strong contender (up there with chili-fried ants) for "most unusual" item I've consumed--cow thymus, or cow throat, interestingly enough in the culinary world called "sweetbreads" (sorry, no pictures). It was chicken-fried, which added to our confusion about what the hell we were eating...fry bread? chicken? I don't eat chicken anymore and considered abstaining from the course entirely, but instead I got to puzzle over it. It reminded me of what the puree of chicken parts that goes into nuggets tastes like. The waiter was almost gleeful when he told us what it actually was--I imagine that the shock value goes a long way toward making the night enjoyable for the wait-staff. Either way, new, interesting and now identifiable.

Sunset in the Old Mill, last stop on our walking food tour

At green lakes

We've made a number of plans to keep being outside and exploring activities and places we'd always wanted to while also revisiting others. The July calendar is starting to look like a 3-4 day cycle of: pack car, travel/camp/hike/eat food/enjoy/travel, unpack car, go to grocery store, pet/feed/water cats, repeat. There's something a bit strange in traveling a bunch before setting out on the cross-country drive, but perhaps we can think of it in a "saddle time" kind of way...