ramblings of a Seattle travel, food and photography hound
The small town of Elk, CA, population of just over 200, can boast that it has one of the most spectacular collection of sea stacks offshore. To the north on California Highway 1, there is a turnout high above the ocean that offers as dramatic a coastal view as you'll ever see anywhere. Some of the... Continue Reading →
In the middle of the vast redwood empire where the tallest living things on Earth live, a small section of Van Damme State Park just south of Mendocino features a pygmy forest. The trees are so small that their trunks can be only 1/4" in diameter yet be almost a hundred years old. The forest... Continue Reading →
We had hoped to time our arrival to Brookings when the Easter lily fields would be in bloom. At least, that was what we were expecting after reading about the farms. Left to their own devices, they would naturally bloom in July. You're probably wondering like I did, isn't Easter-time their time to flower? It... Continue Reading →
It took one bite of the burrito to realize that the red snapper was faultlessly fresh. My memory doesn't serve me if I'd ever eaten a fish burrito before. I don't normally choose anything with a cream sauce, but the dish was listed as one of the specialties at Pancho's Restaurante. Fortunately, the cream was added with restraint. The entire... Continue Reading →
Along the Oregon coast, seafood restaurants are as numerous as the sea stacks offshore. Mo's is a local seafood restaurant that established a reputation with its clam chowder. There are now six locations, including two in Newport, where Mo's had its beginning. Since my wife and I were driving through Florence, we stopped here for... Continue Reading →
"From the dawn of civilization up to the present, engineers have been busily engaged in ruining this fair earth, and taking all the romance out of it. They have cluttered up God’s fair landscape with hideous little buildings and ugly railroads." Conde McCullough, 1937 One of the striking landscape features of coastal Oregon is the... Continue Reading →
One of the most thrilling shows along the Oregon coast is the Devil's Churn, part of the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. At high tide, or better yet when there is a windstorm, waves of water come crashing through a narrow chasm fractured out of the basalt. As you can imagine, under "ideal" conditions, great plumes... Continue Reading →
The morning was foggy when we drove past Yachats, not unusual for the coastlines of Oregon and northern California. We stopped at Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint to admire the lighthouse, one of nine along the Oregon coast. From the parking area, we could see it perched on Heceta Head, shrouded in fog. Despite... Continue Reading →
I had been under the impression that the only carnivorous plant in the U.S. was the Venus flytrap, which thrives in East Coast wetlands. That's before I learned of another insect-eating plant, Darlingtonia californica, more commonly known as the cobra lily, that is found mostly in boggy, acidic wetlands in southern Oregon and northern California.... Continue Reading →
The best cioppino we had ever eaten was had at Sharks Seafood Bar back in 2009. Not only was there a substantial broth of tomatoes, vegetables and herbs—a recipe which the chef will not divulge—but a generous serving of fresh seafood. A noticeable amount of sweetness, which some may find a trifle much, came through... Continue Reading →
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