About this Blog Portland, Oregon food blog with over seven years worth of recipes, restaurant features and food photos. Dig in!
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By mlb, on March 18th, 2013%
Lincoln City is a long, sprawling town on the central Oregon coast. It has a casino, an outlet mall and continues along Highway 101 for miles. But it also has equal miles of sandy beaches, distinct neighborhoods and a couple of pretty good places to eat. It’s also known for all of the glass art studios that populate the area, as well as being a great location to view pelicans flying over the ocean. The Lincoln City Visitor and Convention Bureau even hides glass floats on the beach for visitors to find in the off season (boo! we did not find one).
Even though I wouldn’t necessarily call Lincoln City quaint, there’s a lot to see and do and it’s not very hard to get off the beaten path and do your own thing — but still easily treat yourself to a new pair of shoes at the Nike outlet.
Whispering Winds Motel
3264 NW Jetty Ave
Lincoln City, Oregon 97367
The first part to this quick, overnight trip was finding a place to stay. On earlier Lincoln City trips, we’ve stayed at both The Coho and Surftides, but I wanted to try some place new, which is . . . → Read More: 24 Hours on the Coast in Lincoln City, Oregon
By mlb, on January 28th, 2013%
I’m a big fan of Astoria, Oregon.
I’m not sure why exactly. Well, I did get married there, so I’m sure that has something to do with it, but the reason we even picked Astoria in the first place is that it’s just a cool little town. It’s a bit rough around the edges (although, less so since cruise ships dock there now) but it’s still very quirky. Beautiful. Strange. And sometimes even sunny. Okay. I guess that’s why.
On this recent trip, we rediscovered a restaurant that we both thought we didn’t like very much and tried a new one that we liked right away.
Baked Alaska
#1 12th Street
Astoria, OR 97103
So yeah, Baked Alaska. We actually first tried it a number of years ago, when we were looking for catering options and had a very disappointing lunch there. We gave it another try this last time we were in town (after not setting foot in the place for about five years) and hey, it was solidly good meal.
We started with calamari, because I have a calamari clause built in to all my dining out activities, and it came with an awesome . . . → Read More: Walking Around & Eating Things in Astoria, Oregon
By mlb, on December 31st, 2012%
What better way to end 2012 than by posting photos from our Thanksgiving trip to Fargo, North Dakota. My mom recently moved back there (where she’s from) after 40 some-odd years of living in Chicago. I remember going to Fargo somewhat regularly while growing up, but I had not been back there for probably 20 years. It was an adventure.
We stayed at the Hotel Donaldson (from now on, referred to as the HoDo), which if you are going to Fargo, is where you need to stay. You will look at the prices and you will think to yourself, “Really?” But my advice to you is to move past that and just do it (especially if you can swing the non-refundable, advanced purchase rate). There are tall ceilings, fluffy beds, exposed brick walls and a lot of art in the walls. A very modern vibe in an historic building charm. And here’s one of my most favorite things — the bathroom towels were super plush and steel grey in color. Non-white hotel towels. That is so unexpectedly awesome. Towel win!
The hotel also has North Dakota’s only AAA 4 diamond restaurant and a pretty nice lounge-bar-type eatery. . . . → Read More: End of 2012 Photos, Part 2: Fargo, ND
By mlb, on December 29th, 2012%
I am taking these last few, precious days of 2012 to post things that I should have posted much, much earlier. This trip to Seattle for instance, happened way back in September but unfortunately, time got away from me. Hopefully, I can do a much better job in 2013. That’s the goal anyway.
But back to September — we headed up to Seattle to see the King Tut exhibit at the Pacific Science Center (hey! the exhibit is there until 1/6/13! But you can no longer take photos), we ate a lovely dinner at Lecosho and we stayed at Hotel Andra. It was just a quick overnight trip but it was a lot of fun. Here are the pictures.
I wish I remembered to take photos of all the informational notes for each item. Fail.
This however, I know is Akhenaten. While in college, I took a whole class on his reign. Monotheism!
A really huge Akhenaten statue. Sun god. Amarna style.
A gold funerary mask. And . . . → Read More: End of 2012 Photos: Seattle
By mlb, on September 11th, 2012%
Over Labor Day weekend jwa and I traveled to Port Townsend, WA for a long weekend. We’ve been going there every so often since we first moved to Portland, way, way back in 2000. The first time we visited, it was for a friend’s wedding (she’s from Port Townsend) and we both just really fell in love with the town. It’s full of crumbly bricks, water views, Victorian Era what-nots and it’s just a very unique place to visit. It’s one of our favorite Pacific Northwest locales.
A few trips ago, we first went to a restaurant called The Fountain Cafe and we finally made a return visit this year. I’m really glad we did — it was the best meal of the trip. If you are ever in that neck of the woods, you should definitely check it out.
The Fountain Cafe
920 Washington Street
Port Townsend, WA 98368
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they have a website, so no link. It’s a small restaurant, so if you go, try to get there early. And here are some pictures from our trip.
A sunny bench outside the Bishop Hotel.
 . . . → Read More: Travels and Photos on the Olympic Peninsula
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