For our last day in Oregon, we first spent a the morning enjoying the lovely view from China House. But since we probably will not be back to this part of the world for a while, we decided to explore a bit of Port Orford and neighboring areas.
There’s not a whole lot of town here in Port Orford. You might barely notice it if you were driving on Highway 101. The only thing that might catch your attention is the local movie theater and its mural.
But with a little advice from a good guide book, you would also come across Susan’s Chocolates nearby. Susan – she’s the one in the picture below – makes scrumptious truffles and nougats by hand. They’re delicious!
From Port Orford, we headed north to the Seven Devils Recreation Area. I have no idea who give this empty stretch of beach this name or why they did it, but for the dogs it might as well have been Seven Angels. They were in heaven there! John was a little less thrilled because it was cold and windy.
From there we drove a little south to the town of Bandon. John says that a number of years ago we spent an afternoon here riding bicycles and we were quite taken with the town. I only vaguely recall this, but my poor memory is the principal reason for keeping this blog. I was not that enchanted with it on this visit. The dogs definitely gave it four paws down because there was not a bowl of water anywhere.
We then traveled on to the New River ACEC. I have never heard of an ACEC before, but apparently it is a government designation for “Area of Critical Environmental Concern.” The New River supposedly formed in the late 19th century after some flooding. The area was used as pasture for a while, but now it is habitat for many different kinds of birds including the snowy plover. It was pleasant enough hiking through the scrub forest, but the dogs, who have no particular interest in birds, were somewhat bored.
We returned to our delightful rental mansion to drop off the beasts and take a short rest. There are a number of interesting bits of furniture in it. This coffee table is probably the most striking.
We decided to skip cooking this evening and to to the local foodie hangout, Redfish. We called for a reservation but were told they were full. Nevertheless, we showed up and they somehow managed to find a table for us.
The food was excellent, and remarkably cheap. We had our second-best dinner in Oregon (our repast at Avignon in Portland being the best) for a mere 44 dollars. There was entertainment, too. Gary, our landlord was playing jazz guitar at the restaurant this evening. He is the one on the right. He has a strong musical background. He dropped out of architecture school to play guitar with some major bands. He said that He said he owed his success to drugs because he usually found himself with a job when one of the musicians had to go into rehab!
Outside the restaurant is Battle Rock, the scene of resistance from the natives to whites arriving with “land claims” in 1850.
Back at China House, we enjoyed our last sunset.
Tomorrow, it’s back to Los Angeles and the world of work.
