On the Road Again: South Beach Fish Market (Newport, OR)

Alright, one last road post and then you're safe for a bit.  This isn't really the road trip time of year, after all.

After a somewhat disappointing hike around Cape Perpetua (Thor's Well wasn't being very impressive even at high tide, and the youngest member of our entourage tripped on a downhill trail and shredded both her knees), we dropped Miss Golden Rule back at the hotel to relax and listen to the Ocean.  Meanwhile, her kid and I went in search of sustenance.  After a quick stop at Walgreens for first aid supplies, of course.  Across the Yaquina Bay Bridge from Newport is a little unincorporated area known as South Beach, which is where you can find the South Beach Fish Market.  Don't kill yourself plugging it into your GPS, the signage makes it very hard to miss.

On the Road Again: Chalet Restaurant & Bakery (Newport, OR)

Okay, one more road piece, then I'll do a local.  Miss Golden Rule's b-day was turning out kind of bland.  Dinner had been less special than expected, the weather wasn't particularly conducive to hanging out at the beach, and we had no dessert plan locked down.  I had made some unsuccessful inquiries, and it was looking like our best bet at the last minute would be to grab some crappy cupcakes or something from Walmart.  A little smartphone wizardry saved the day.  MGR wanted carrot cake, and I found her some...

On the Road Again: Cafe Mundo (Newport, OR)

Okay, I know I just did a road post and I promised to mix it up a bit, but right now my backlog of road posts is bigger so bear with me.  So, after a brief exploration of Portland's street food scene, we headed off to Newport, probably the closest thing Miss Golden Rule has to a home away from home.  She loves the place.  Me, when I'm not there I can find flaws with it pretty easily.  But when I'm there, I never want to leave.  I blame the hypnotic effects of the Ocean.  Anyway, since it was MGR's birthday, we decided to hit a place she's been curious about for a while now.

Treats and Tragedies on the Road: Oregon Coast Weekend Day 2 (La Maison, Tillamook Creamery Cafe, Local Ocean Seafoods)

Deja freaking vu.  I spent two hours on this post the other day, and when I went to publish it my browser crashed.  Apparently whatever the glitch was that caused the crash was also preventing the auto-save from working, so the entire thing went *poof*.  I guess I could have started over right then when it was fresh in my mind, but I went and bought a bottle of gin instead.  So, this probably won't be as eloquent or verbose as the first time I wrote it since I'm feeling a little impatient at the moment, but then again it's going to be a long post anyway so maybe that's a good thing.  We now return you to my normal blathering.

I go out for breakfast less than any other meal, which is surprising when you consider how much I love breakfast foods.  Of course you can get them at places like IHOP or your friendly neighborhood truck stop all day and all night, but it's just not the same.  Unfortunately I'm just not a morning person...except on vacation, when I tend to rise with the Sun.  There was no debate about where we would be having breakfast; a mutual friend told us we NEEDED to go to a particular place.  That's how it was worded, "you guys need to go".  And I wasn't about to argue with her, because she's taller than me and would just bop me on the head.

Treats and Tragedies on the Road: Oregon Coast Weekend Day 1 (Panera Bread, Nana's Irish Pub)

I know that the out-of-town posts don't resonate with a lot of you the same way that the local ones do.  I guess I don't understand that because it's not lot like I'm constantly posting from Asia, or Europe, or even just the East Coast the way a lot of bloggers do.  I'm a man of limited free time and even more limited financial means, but I'm also a man who likes getting the hell out of Boise as often as possible.  Therefore, I take a lot of short trips that are within a day's drive, and since I love the Pacific Northwest that means I end up in Washington and Oregon a lot.  I guess I can understand that people around here don't spend a lot of time in Seattle per se.  It's a bit of a drive, and the flights ain't as cheap as they used to be.  I know a lot of people who go to Portland fairly often, that drive is shorter and honestly the place feels like Boise's big brother.  Same vibe, more food and entertainment options.  But the Oregon Coast?  Yeah, the convoluted roadways make the drive as long as the one to Seattle, but the rewards are so worth it.  There are so many awesome little towns, cheap little hotels, camping opportunities, and great food.  Not to mention the freaking Ocean.  I don't even like beaches, and I could care less about getting a tan, but there's something about sitting and watching/listening to all that water.  It seriously has the ability to hypnotize me for hours.

And that's how I found myself on yet another road trip with the roommate, back to Newport again.  It's kind of becoming her home away from home.  Personally, I would like to explore some of the neighboring towns more, but she's really fixated on that particular place.  Still, when means are limited and someone is offering to split gas and hotel expenses, I'll usually play along.  Some things never change; we left early, hit Starbucks, and I did most of the driving.  There were a couple of firsts this time, though: for the first time ever, we would not be bringing either of her kids along for the ride.  I love those two, but the idea of grown-up only time was intriguing (and to be honest, their mother needed it).  Also, the roommate set the ENTIRE dining agenda for the day.  First stop?  Panera Bread in Tualatin, which was our last stop on our trip back from the Coast last year.

Memorial Day Weekend 2014: Day 3 - Newport, Tualatin, and back to Portland (Fishtails Cafe, Panera Bread, and more Voodoo Doughnut)

My alarm went off at 6 am.  Not exactly the most sensible thing for someone spending a single, relaxing night by the ocean, but I didn't know if the morning crowds were as bad as the evening ones at the local restaurants.  I love breakfast food, and don't go out for it anywhere near as often as I would like because, well, I loathe getting up early.  Yet here I was, doing it on my vacation, and all because someone on my Facebook page happened to mention an eatery that I had already been kind of interested in while I was griping about my disappointing dinner the previous night.

Welcome to South Beach...

Memorial Day Weekend 2014: Day 2 - Portland and Newport (HK Café, Ocean Bleu at Gino's, Nana's Irish Pub)

Sunday morning was kind of a blur.  We got up, got ourselves together, went to look around the awesome Safeway Sis and I had spotted the day before (yes, I get geeky about nice grocery stores), get some coffee, then we checked out of the hotel and headed off to break my three year dim sum fast (I'm not counting the handful of selections available here or the occasional Asian market freezer purchases).

On my first trip to Portland as an adult back in 2010, I did a lot of research on the available dim sum places.  The big contenders at that time were Wong's King and Ocean City.  I ended up choosing Wong's King, loved the experience, went back again the following year, and it would have made sense to go back there on this trip as well.  But of course, I'm me.