My old nemesis from the first week of the trip returned--the wind. In Nebraska of course. There were tornadoes not too far from where I was in Colorado, so at least so far I have avoided anything that bad. Otherwise I took the drive pretty easy today. The wind ruined the excellent mileage I've been getting--most of the trip I've been getting 44 mpg but today that didn't happen, naturally once gas prices did in fact hit four bucks at one station.
Well, this entry is mostly to announce I made it to Omaha and am planning on visiting the zoo tomorrow before driving across Iowa. Also, I ate at Red Lobster tonight. When I was a kid that is where we would go for nice meals out and I have very fond memories of the place. The cheddar biscuits make it worthwhile. For most of the trip I tried to find locally owned restaurants, and was mostly successful. But I've succumbed to chain restaurants the last two days. Some of the places I ate at I barely mentioned earlier or didn't mention at all:
Local Ocean Seafoods in Newport: fish caught fresh daily from Newport or nearby. They have great fish tacos.
Georgie's Beachside Grill: It was connected to my hotel in Newport, but had a great ocean view and pretty solid seafood, especially the clam chowder. The places was always full of locals which was good because it wasn't just tourists in there. They have great pancakes and french toast too.
Baked Alaska in Astoria: I had a simple salmon club sandwich that was great, but the best thing here (besides the view of the Columbia River) was the sweet potato salad.
Urban Cafe in Astoria: The crab quesadilla was delicious. The only thing it wasn't that long after this meal I got sick; I guess it depends on the incubation period, but it is possible it was this meal that made me sick. Oh well, it tasted great! I'll just assume it was something else that made me sick. Probably the vast amount of free cheese I ate at Tillamook.
Tequila's Mexican Restaurant in Cortez Colorado: really popular local joint with great food. The pinto beans I ordered instead of refried beans were great, as was the chile relleno. Great salsa too. Highly recommend.
Rosita's in Scottsbluff: I already mentioned this place for the chips and salsa. I should mention not to go here if you are on a diet, but it was great food.
The Thai restaurant I ate at in Portland: I cannot remember the name, it was a little hole in the wall place mostly doing carryout orders, but it was delicious, especially the spring rolls. Also the Thai restaurant in Astoria is outstanding as well.
Out of the brewpubs I visited, Tablerock in Boise and Bridgeport in Portland stand out. I went to Rogue Ales in Newport, but hated the atmosphere. It was smoky--too smoky--and the people in there were all kind of rude. Beer is great though. Maybe I picked a bad day to go there.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Wonderful Bed and Breakfast
I have been staying at Clementine's Bed and Breakfast in Astoria for the last three nights. It is wonderful--amazing breakfasts, great conversations, and a really cute room with a view of Astoria:
I have been staying mostly at Fairfield Inns because I had a bunch of Marriott Rewards points that enabled me to stay for free (why I could afford this trip). But I wanted to treat myself to something different, so I opted for a bed and breakfast. Judith, the hostess, is incredibly generous and has lots of great information on the area, as well as creating amazing breakfasts. It has been really great to talk to the other guests here. The breakfast is communal which encourages conversation, and there is wine in the evening too. I met people from North Carolina, one who was a community college instructor and one a retired United Church of Christ minister; some other bed and breakfast operators--I learned a lot about running these places!; a couple from New Albany Indiana on the honeymoon--talk about a small world, right across the river where I grew up;a couple from Idaho; and some of Judith's relatives.
I've done a lot the past two days, and am now quite weary. I have overeaten, and walked about 5-6 miles every day if not more, which is a good combination, but right now my stomach hurts and my legs are exhausted. Sleep will come easy tonight, especially in this comfortable bed! Tomorrow I'm driving to Boise which is going to be a long drive but it's time to sort of start back.
In Astoria, I visited all the local museums: Flavel House, the Heritage Museum, and the Columbia River Maritime Museum. They were all great in their own way. The Heritage Museum had a good exhibit on the Native American cultures of the area and how the settlement of the area by white men changed their culture forever. However, they also have an exhibit on the Ku Klux Klan which includes a robe and a poster. The Klan ran the government for a couple of years on a platform of anti-Chinese sentiment, so the exhibit does in fact make sense. However, the museum really needs to put in an interpretive panel explaining why it is there, because the way it is now you have no idea unless you ask or the docent tells you--they must have plenty of questions because before I toured the museum, he warned me about that exhibit. It would not require much to put even just a piece of paper explaining the historical significance so you are not standing there wondering if this exhibit is celebrating the Klan, or what.
The Maritime Museum was excellent too. I know nothing about river navigation, but they had some great exhibits on river and bar pilots. The sand bars at the mouth of the Columbia River are known as the Graveyard of the Pacific. I definitely recommend this museum if you are in the area.
Incidentally, the Goonies was filmed here. I think I found the house they used for the family's house.
Every meal here has been outstanding. I recommend this one place called Baked Alaska, which had river views and an amazing sweet potato salad. I also checked out a local brewhouse; there was another one, but I didn't get a chance to visit it and as stated earlier, am too tired for that. This place called the Urban Cafe had a great crab quesadilla. I had Thai food tonight, and have plenty of leftovers to save money tomorrow.
I spent today doing Lewis and Clark stuff at Ft. Clatsop where they camped over the winter, Cape Disappointment, and Ft. Stevens. Cape Disappointment had two lighthouses which I visited, and Ft. Stevens had a civil war era fort, which I had no idea existed. Lincoln was worried about a Confederate attack up here. Ft. Stevens also functioned during World War II and a Japanese submarine attacked the fort. They had a nice exhibit on that.
Some photos:
Fog at Cape Disappointment:
Cape Disappointment Lighthouse
Deadman's Cove
Large wave:
Oh I almost forget, there were amazing views from the Astoria Column:
The fog was really eerie, but here is a picture of the Astoria-Megler bridge. According to wikipedia, this is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. I did cross it to get to Cape Disappointment
The view was awesome, but even better were the friendly people at the top. I have no idea why, but the person running the visitor center, a guy that lived up there, and some random tourists were all friendly and wanted to hear about my trip. It was really nice!
I have been staying mostly at Fairfield Inns because I had a bunch of Marriott Rewards points that enabled me to stay for free (why I could afford this trip). But I wanted to treat myself to something different, so I opted for a bed and breakfast. Judith, the hostess, is incredibly generous and has lots of great information on the area, as well as creating amazing breakfasts. It has been really great to talk to the other guests here. The breakfast is communal which encourages conversation, and there is wine in the evening too. I met people from North Carolina, one who was a community college instructor and one a retired United Church of Christ minister; some other bed and breakfast operators--I learned a lot about running these places!; a couple from New Albany Indiana on the honeymoon--talk about a small world, right across the river where I grew up;a couple from Idaho; and some of Judith's relatives.
I've done a lot the past two days, and am now quite weary. I have overeaten, and walked about 5-6 miles every day if not more, which is a good combination, but right now my stomach hurts and my legs are exhausted. Sleep will come easy tonight, especially in this comfortable bed! Tomorrow I'm driving to Boise which is going to be a long drive but it's time to sort of start back.
In Astoria, I visited all the local museums: Flavel House, the Heritage Museum, and the Columbia River Maritime Museum. They were all great in their own way. The Heritage Museum had a good exhibit on the Native American cultures of the area and how the settlement of the area by white men changed their culture forever. However, they also have an exhibit on the Ku Klux Klan which includes a robe and a poster. The Klan ran the government for a couple of years on a platform of anti-Chinese sentiment, so the exhibit does in fact make sense. However, the museum really needs to put in an interpretive panel explaining why it is there, because the way it is now you have no idea unless you ask or the docent tells you--they must have plenty of questions because before I toured the museum, he warned me about that exhibit. It would not require much to put even just a piece of paper explaining the historical significance so you are not standing there wondering if this exhibit is celebrating the Klan, or what.
The Maritime Museum was excellent too. I know nothing about river navigation, but they had some great exhibits on river and bar pilots. The sand bars at the mouth of the Columbia River are known as the Graveyard of the Pacific. I definitely recommend this museum if you are in the area.
Incidentally, the Goonies was filmed here. I think I found the house they used for the family's house.
Every meal here has been outstanding. I recommend this one place called Baked Alaska, which had river views and an amazing sweet potato salad. I also checked out a local brewhouse; there was another one, but I didn't get a chance to visit it and as stated earlier, am too tired for that. This place called the Urban Cafe had a great crab quesadilla. I had Thai food tonight, and have plenty of leftovers to save money tomorrow.
I spent today doing Lewis and Clark stuff at Ft. Clatsop where they camped over the winter, Cape Disappointment, and Ft. Stevens. Cape Disappointment had two lighthouses which I visited, and Ft. Stevens had a civil war era fort, which I had no idea existed. Lincoln was worried about a Confederate attack up here. Ft. Stevens also functioned during World War II and a Japanese submarine attacked the fort. They had a nice exhibit on that.
Some photos:
Fog at Cape Disappointment:
Cape Disappointment Lighthouse
Deadman's Cove
Large wave:
Oh I almost forget, there were amazing views from the Astoria Column:
The fog was really eerie, but here is a picture of the Astoria-Megler bridge. According to wikipedia, this is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. I did cross it to get to Cape Disappointment
The view was awesome, but even better were the friendly people at the top. I have no idea why, but the person running the visitor center, a guy that lived up there, and some random tourists were all friendly and wanted to hear about my trip. It was really nice!
Friday, May 2, 2008
Rosita's
I had an amazing Mexican meal tonight at Rosita's Restaurant in Scottsbluff. For starters, the chips were simply amazing. They are fried up after ordering and are very hot and very tasty:
The salsa was also amazing, with a nice amount of garlic (I love garlic) and also hotter than usual:
I ordered the combination plate and it was incredible. The burrito, tostada, and especially the taco were delicious. The enchilada was good too, just not quite as good as the others:
Also, I am terrible at reviewing food, so go here for a great review:
http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/whereweeat/stern_rositas.shtml
Lastly, I just want to say what a friendly town Scottsbluff has been. For example, I went into Target for modern day trail supplies (hand lotion and chapstick, what luxuries) and at least ten employees offered to help me find what I needed. There is also a nice coffee shop in town where I went and read for a while during the day.
The salsa was also amazing, with a nice amount of garlic (I love garlic) and also hotter than usual:
I ordered the combination plate and it was incredible. The burrito, tostada, and especially the taco were delicious. The enchilada was good too, just not quite as good as the others:
Also, I am terrible at reviewing food, so go here for a great review:
http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/whereweeat/stern_rositas.shtml
Lastly, I just want to say what a friendly town Scottsbluff has been. For example, I went into Target for modern day trail supplies (hand lotion and chapstick, what luxuries) and at least ten employees offered to help me find what I needed. There is also a nice coffee shop in town where I went and read for a while during the day.
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