May 2019 – Port Orford OR
This place may be cold and wet, but the vegetation certainly
loves it. You can almost watch stuff grow. We had to get the rangers to bring
over a chainsaw to remove limbs that we wouldn’t clear when we left, limbs we
easily missed when we arrived.
The (relatively) warm weather certainly brought more
visitors. Kayeanne became good at traffic management. As you can
imagine, the narrow, winding stairs in the lighthouse quickly became
congested, and the constricted spaces in the watch level and the lens room
really limits how many people can be in the tower at once. In addition to
telling the story of the light keepers duties in the work room, she now had to control
the flow up the tower. I could only handle five at a time in the lens room, which
limited visitors to just a few minutes to take in the view, ask questions and
take a couple of pictures. Firm diplomacy was often required.
We had been waiting impatiently for May 1, opening day for the Port Orford Coast Guard Lifeboat Station Museum. While it doesn’t have the wow-factor of the lighthouse, we really enjoyed our visit. Opened in 1934, the station served the coast for over 30 years. Don't miss it if you visit this area. The Cape Blanco Heritage Society does a great job preserving the site and giving tours. The site is also a state park, and has hiking trails to the beach and several picnic facilities.
The Hughes House also opened the first of May. It was built in 1898 by Patrick Hughes to house his large family. The house was so
well built by a local architect and builder that it remains solid over 120
years later. It even has running water, and possibly the first flush toilets in
southern Oregon, Ireland Cape Blanco
State Park
 |
| Battle Rock |
We celebrated our anniversary at the Redfish restaurant in Port Orford. We wanted a special evening and a memorable dinner to mark 34 years of marital bliss, and it didn’t disappoint. The food was outstanding and the setting is remarkable. The site overlooks the coast at Battle Rock and Port Orford
Head State
Park
Bandon is about 25 miles north of Port Orford. It is a much
larger town with a fully established tourist industry. It isn’t too tacky,
though, so we enjoyed visiting it a few times. Don’t miss Tony’s Crab Shack. The fish tacos
are the best that we've eaten in a long time. They make their own taco
sauce by cooking down the fish bones and adding secret spices. They don’t sell
the sauce and they won’t discuss the recipe; I know, I asked.
For dessert, walk a couple of blocks to the Coastal Mist chocolate shop. Leave good sense and restraint at the door. They
make everything on site and it’s all delicious. I like chocolate and have eaten
a lot of it. This place comes close to the one we found in  |
| The food at The Spoon in Langlois is great, too |
Docent work clearly agrees with us. We enjoy camp hosting;
we are looking forward to doing it at Nehalem Bay
State Park
We also made new friends. Ray and Leslie moved in next door
on May 1 as they transitioned from camp hosts at the state park to lighthouse
hosts. We managed to fit in a couple of camp fires between the wind and rain, and
discovered that we had a lot to talk about. They are practicing Dudeists, the first religion I have ever heard
of that makes any sense at all. I hope they make it to Benson this winter.
At the end of the month we woke up Ripley and headed off to Thompson’s
Mills State Heritage Site near Corvallis to
learn all we can about the flour mill business in the 19th century in Willamette Valley
I read a couple of books this month that I really liked:
Splitting an Order by Ted Kooser
(poetry)
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
More soon,
Bob
