Occasionally I am required to work on a weekend. When that happens I try to make something enjoyable out of the experience. I was invited (or rather volunteered by our west coast sales rep) to speak at the Oregon Pest Control Association meeting in Seaside Oregon on Saturday September 19th. My speaking time slot was from 8:30 am to 10:45 am and I was speaking for 2 hours on the topic of Transitional Pests (bugs like box elder bugs, cluster flies, and the infamous Marmorated Stink Bug.)
Because the event was on a weekend I invited Susie to join me for a quick getaway to the coast. In addition to attending the meeting I arranged for us to visit Steve and Kris Taff in Longview Washington to watch BYU play UCLA in football on Saturday evening.
We flew to Portland on Friday afternoon arriving around 4 pm. We picked up the rental car and made our way out into Friday evening rush hour traffic through downtown Portland. It took us about an hour to make our way out of Portland and then another 90 minutes to drive to the coast to Seaside, a small town on the Oregon coast about 15 miles south of the Columbia River Inlet.
The conference was held at the Best Western Ocean View Hotel. We arrived about 6:30 and checked in. Due to all the driving I'd done this week my right ankle was very sore and the thought of driving or walking to find a place to eat was painful. We were going to eat in the hotel restaurant but our sales rep texted me and advised that there were much better places to eat in town. I checked the map and decided I could walk a few blocks into town to have a good meal.
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| Lewis and Clark statue on Broadway in Seaside, OR |
We ate at Doogers Seafood Restaurant on Broadway. We were surprised by all the high school aged youth walking around the town. After dinner we observed a group of teenagers trying to sneak out of their hotel room window but they couldn't get the screen off. We were also surprised to see several groups gathered on the beach partying around fires.
After my talk in the morning Susie and I packed up our room and headed north towards Astoria. We were surprised as we got near the Columbia river bridge to see a large ocean going cruise ship docked just outside of town. We were looking for a place to eat in Astoria. Susie came up with an interesting fish and chips place called the "
Bowpicker". The reviews were great so we decided to go for it. As we drove through downtown Astoria we were surprised to see hundreds of senior citizens sight seeing until we realized they were from the cruise ship.
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| Long lines at the Bowpicker. We waited 25 minutes to order our meal |
The Bowpicker is a boat parked by a parking lot that serves nothing but fish and chips. They serve albacore tuna fish and french fries. You can get the order in two sizes and you can order a side of fries. The reviews said that there were always long lines and they were right. According to the cook they are always busy except for Monday and Tuesday, when they are closed.
We ordered a whole order (5 pieces of fish) with chips and two sodas. We ate on a table across the street from the boat and were pestered by seagulls and pigeons for fries. The fish was as good as the reviews said and we really enjoyed our meal.
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| While waiting in line we read the history of Bow Cutter fishing boats. |
After lunch we walked around the town to look at the stores and to pass some time as we weren't expected in Longview until 5 pm. We started south about 2 pm. Our destination was Westport where we were going to catch the ferry across the river to the Washington side.
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| We were two minutes late for the ferry. |
We arrived in Westport just as the ferry left the dock. The next boat wasn't due to depart for an hour. We decided to enjoy the hour waiting in the perfect weather by the riverside. We fisited, I walked around and watched the fishermen, and we read our scriptures. Susie took advantage of the opportunity to take a short nap.
Finally the boat arrived and we were on our way. The ferry ride was only 15 minutes but it was a nice adventure. We arrived in Longview around 4:30 and spent some time driving around trying to find some flowers to take to the Taffs. They took us to dinner at a restaurant called the Hop N Grape, a smokehouse pub that sells artisan beers and wines and also sells all the supplies you need to brew your own beer. The food was great and we had a wonderful time visiting.
We returned to the Taffs to watch the BYU football game only to be disappointed that Fox was showing the end of a baseball game that lasted through the first quarter. It was a great game but the magic finally ended as BYU lost 23 to 24. The game ended late and we didn't get to our hotel until 11:45 pm. We were back up at 5:15 am to get to the airport for our 7 am flight. We were back home in Provo by 11:30 with plenty of time before church. It was a very enjoyable, if short getaway.
