Bandon | Gold Beach
Gold Beach, Oregon - It was a cloudy
morning. It did not rain, and the mosquitoes were out to bid us goodbye as
we unhooked and hitched up to head south on one of the prettiest drives in
America - Highway 101 in Oregon.
Our first stop was Bandon. (There is a huge empty gravel parking lot behind
the closed factory - perfect place to park your RV. Shops and restaurants
are all within easy walking distance.) The Tillamook Creamery has purchased,
and closed, the Bandon Cheese factory - but it is still possible to have a
great time in Bandon-by-the-Sea. If you have $5 you can buy a
platter-o-fiesta at La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant. No kidding, for some
reason this dock-front eatery still serves-up 16 lunch specials on big
platters for only $5. Five dollars! Once seated, the server immediately
brings a basket of warm tortilla chips and really spicy-hot salsa to your
table. Then you must decide which of the $5 lunch plates you wish to eat.
Service is quick, the waiters are incredibly friendly and of good humor. La
Fiesta is a great place if you need a break from seafood on the central
Oregon coast.
Light Lunch: Chicken Taco and Enchilada at La Fiesta in Bandon, Oregon
An
after-lunch stroll towards Old Town brings you to
Cranberry Sweets,
a famous Coos Bay confectioner known for their Cranberry-Walnut jellies.
(Even Rachael Ray has been here!) Cranberry Sweets have two shops - one
here, and another in Coos Bay. The Bandon shop is filled with great kitchen
gift items and all sorts of cranberry soaps and candles - but the focus of
this company is candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. You will find cranberry jelly
candies, cranberry jam, cranberry truffles, cranberry-flavored coffee beans,
nut brittles, licorices, chocolates, key lime jellies, lemon meringue pie
candies and cranberry jellies formed inside dark or milk chocolates. A gift
from Cranberry Sweets will make a memorable Oregon souvenir.
The roughed Oregon coastline
The drive along Highway 101 today was spectacular as usual,
with constant vistas of ocean, jagged rock islands, spouting whales and
frolicking sea lions. (We did not see very many people.) When we arrived to
Gold Beach, we took a left up the Rogue River for six miles to the
Four Seasons RV
Resort - DT's choice. It seemed a bit dodgy as we pulled into (er...
down... into) the compound, but the caretakers were so friendly (we
interrupted their card game and wine at 3 pm!) we immediately felt right
at-home. They effortlessly guided our big bus into the teeniest of
campsites, set us up our dinner reservations tomorrow and arranged for a
jet-boat tour on Friday - all within five minutes of turning-off our engine.
Our RV faces directly over the Rogue River with a perfect view of the
fishing activity below and the nesting Osprey above!
Our home for a few days
Tonight
for dinner, we drove into Gold Beach to dine at Spinners. It is one of those
white tablecloth places and a bit up-scale. They have a view of the ocean,
but you have to look over the trailer park below first. Spinners is famous
for their crab cakes, cedar-plank salmon and whiskey steaks. They also serve
nice rolls, baked with thyme, basil, dill and black pepper. DT had the
steak. He saw it coming from the kitchen and said it was the size of
Australia. He was right. Most of his nearly 2-inch-thick hunk-o-beef is in
the fridge now. I had the cedar-plank salmon - served with a pinot noir
sauce. It was good (but again) I thought it was a bit over-cooked and just
don't get why you would put a pinot noir sauce on a piece of salmon. The
salmon had a delicious smoky flavor due to the cedar plank, which was quite
enjoyable. We ordered our dinners with the house-made smashed garlic
potatoes. Lovely! Service was quite good too and the hostess was a
knock-out!
RV Park:
Four Seasons RV
Resort