Tag: family

We celebrated Xmas Eve Eve early this year.  Normally, we celebrate on 12/23 (the Eve of Christmas Eve) but moving it up allowed us to have more things to chat about.  When we have three days in a row of hanging out with the fam, we’ve exhausted all conversation.

We celebrated with the traditional soups and bread.  And Mom brought along this fun decorating kit purchased at Trader Joe’s.

I made these white chocolate peppermint covered brownies for dessert, which were delicious.

Our decorated sweaters.They were great fun.  Good choice, mom!

It was the usual gathering:  BroMAunts, Matt and myself getting together for an afternoon meal and a game of challenge croquet.  There was pie.  And this beautiful flower arrangement.

So we’ve got this rain thing happening in my part of Oregon, you might have heard.  And we do things in the rain, because if you don’t do things in the rain, you don’t get to do much for nine months of the year.  But man, was it a miserable spring day when we set out on our journey.  The kind with dark skies and pouring rain and everything just sopping wet.  The kind of day where you can be sitting warm and dry in a car and still feel chilly.

Our aim was to drive to Lincoln City, get our passport stamp there, then head up 101 to Gearheart and grab our stamps there, then head home on 26.  We brought along episodes of Season 1 of the Serial Podcast to keep us company.

This is after the rain had lightened up. I wanted to grab a picture when it looked really terrible, but I was busy driving.

One nice things about rainy days, you get some great rainbows.  I saw two full rainbows and another partial.

Our first destination.  McMenamins Lighthouse Brewpub is another strip mall McMenamins, this one located in Lincoln City. 

Unlike most restaurants, this one had a photo hunt.  It wasn’t too hard though.

In fact, it was to the right of the clue. Here, Matt poses with the picture.

We completed that passport goal.  Aside from driving to Lincoln City, this was the easiest one so far, requiring only one stamp.

Matt chose the crab fondue appetizer.

I went with the bowl of clam chowder.  And I got two bags of oyster crackers!

Though it was a strip mall McMenamins, I liked how the second floor made me feel like I was tucked away in a crow’s nest.  

Our weather improved a ton and we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, where I bought my traditional bag of squeaky cheese.  The factory was producing 40 pound blocks of cheese.

This is a terrible picture, information-wise, as well as compositionally.

We stopped at the viewpoint at Tillamook Bay.  There was a lot of wind going on.

Our next stop was a quick hike to Short Sands beach in Oswald West State Park.  The waves were crashing like mad.

Matt and I had visited this summer, when the tide was out and there was a good amount of sand.  This time, the tide was in and we discovered just how short the sand at Short Sands Beach can be.  The wind was intense–it pushed us off the beach when we turned to go.

We stopped at Gearheart Hotel to get our stamps and prizes.  This was the answer to the photo clue.  Unique to McMenamins hotels, this location had interperative text on nearly every photo.  This made finding the correct photo a challenge.  Luckily for me, a guy in the Pot Bunker Bar told me where it was.

Matt and Linda pose outside the hotel.

Though Matt could have gotten a second leather drink cosy, he opted for the pint glass and pin, as did I.

Matt’s mom Linda is visiting and she bought us tickets for another fabulous Forktown Food Tour.

Our first stop was the Picnic House.

Here’s the food plan for the day.  Doesn’t it sound fabulous?

At Picnic House we had a great beet salad as well as a very good sample of wine.  I loved the beet/panko crumb topping to the salad.  They take beet juice and mix it with panko, then roast it.  Very good.

I also learned that the Picnic House was the entrance to the original Heathman Hotel.  When the owners found what was behind the drywall, they revamped their restaurant concept and their goal is to bring the picnic indoors.  Thus, they have a lot of moss in their decor.  They also use old lithograph plates, which are fun to look at.

Here you can see the original tile floor and the grand staircase. I’d eaten here before, and enjoyed it, so it was even more fun to get the story behind the restaurant’s origin.

Our next stop was the Dump Truck, so we could sample some dumplings.  We also learned about Portland food cart culture.  The guy in the picture was not part of our tour, but was super excited to show off the Dump Truck’s dumplings to his friends.

Here is Mr. Ma’s Special (pork dumpling) and the Down to Earth (the vegan selection).  They were both quite good, and I’m not a huge fan of dumplings.

Our next stop was Verde Cocina, which has a location near Matt’s work and so he eats there often.  He really enjoys their specials.  We had enchilada with mole sauce, guacamole and vegetables, plus a margarita, all of which were delightful.  And I don’t usually drink margaritas.

Next was Lardo, another of my favorites.  We were treated to a pork meatball banh mi and Lardo fries.  Lardo started as a food cart and became a brick and mortar establishment.  You can also (and I have) eat at Grassa, which is the handcrafted pasta establishment.

Next was Cacao, where we sampled two different single origin chocolates as well as Cacao’s famous drinking chocolate.  Which was amazing.  So amazing that at least one person from almost every group on the tour purchased drinking chocolate to take home.

Our last stop was Petunia’s Pie and Pastries where we sampled a marionberry bar as well as a salted caramel bar.  All items sold at Petunia’s are gluten-free and vegan.

It was a great food tour.  Thanks Linda!