Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Oregon, where we make the scene. My apologies for the cheap Shakespeare reference, but we did rent two households on our recent vacation, our first foray into the world of VRBO. I wonder, at some point in the future, if VRBO will find its way into other parts of speech: “Yeah, I totally VRBOed” “Hey, let’s get VRBOish next week” ”Dude! That VRBOs! Anyway, the VRBO portion of our trip preparation was very easy and the interaction with the owners was a pleasure. Once we got underway I became much more interested in the initials IPA than VRBO. Tuesday we had an early, but easy flight, not much traffic getting to LAX by 5:15AM. Our plane left a little late, but I was asleep so I didn’t know. We landed, picked up our rented Nissan Sentra and drove to the NW Portland household we would call home for the first part of our trip. The house is quite lovely and has been beautifully remodeled while maintaining the character befitting a home built in the year that Theodore Roosevelt became the first president to ride in an automobile. We didn’t take advantage of the full modern kitchen or fireplace during our stay, but we did spend a lot of time in the wonderful reading/sun room that is all windows and skylights. After settling in we strolled to Ken’s Artesian Bakery for pastry and Stumptown coffee (me) and picked up a loaf of Ken’s incredible bread. We enjoyed a bit more time at the house then walked downtown checking out potential lunch spots. After nixing a few, we ended up at Tilt. I had a Breakside Brewery IPA and a meaty burger, Patricia had a veggie version and we split an enormous order of fries. They have homemade pie, but after all that lunch we couldn’t do it. Maybe some other time we will just go for Ristretto Roasters coffee (me) and pie. I like pie. Following lunch we hit Powell’s amazing bookstore where we limited ourselves to books we could carry on the trip and pack for the eventual flight home. We spent the remainder of the afternoon enjoying our reading room and listening to the light rain falling on the skylights. Later we walked to Cha Taqueria and Bar for sopes and papas taquitos. Wednesday-after a light snack and a cup of Stumptown Hairbender (me) at our house, we went across the river to shop at a wonderful industrial antique store called The Grand Marketplace, an amazing Goodwill store, and Stars Antiques that has now spread to three buildings. After shopping, we had a late lunch at the Laurelwood Public House in Sellwood. Patricia had a falafel; I enjoyed a Laurelwood Megafauna Imperial IPA and a salmon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. After our meal, we took a scenic drive around Portland’s east side including a stop at Lauretta Jeans for a slice of homemade pie; peach blueberry for him and tart cherry for her plus a couple of biscuits for tomorrow’s breakfast. After pie, we headed back to the house for a relaxing afternoon. I enjoyed reading a James Lee Burke mystery and may have nodded off for a bit too. In the evening we took a nice walk and ended up at Dick’s Kitchen where Patricia had grilled cheese and I had 10 Barrel Apocalypse IPA and an elk burger. It was ok, but next time I’ll go for the Rotarian. Just wanted to see if you were still with me. Thursday we snacked on Lauretta Jean’s stellar biscuits and more Stumptown coffee (me). Then we drove to Washington Park to see the expansive Rose Test garden and the beautiful Japanese garden followed by a trip to see the Pittock Mansion, one time home of Henry and Georgiana Pittock and kin. Eventually the home was purchased by the city and has been restored and opened for tours. After a light lunch at Thai Smile we walked downtown to an estate jewelry store then back to our reading room. Later, I met family friend and bike enthusiast, Grace Campbell, for dinner and conversation at Ken’s Artisan Pizza. We had delicious salads and pizzas and I enjoyed whatever IPA was on tap. Friday was Patricia’s birthday. We began with Byways Café breakfast and Stumptown coffee (me). Then we packed, bid our city home a fond farewell, and headed off to our second household with a fun stop at the Sauvie Island Pumpkin Patch for some supplies to take to our beach cabin followed by a nice drive through the rain to Astoria. We walked, shopped and had a nice lunch at T. Paul’s Urban Café; chowder, shrimp quesadilla, and Fort George Vortex IPA for me and a Green Goddess Sandwich for the birthday girl. Astoria is filled with Lewis and Clark history, I have always been a Clark fan, Lewis is ok, but when Clark gives the speech telling us ‘K’s are funny I always crack up. He’s great in that doctor sketch too. After lunch we did a little more shopping then made the drive down the coast to our cabin near Arch Cape, just a few miles south of Cannon Beach. Our host, Gordon, was in from Seattle doing some work on the Internet access and gave us a nice tour and some history of the cabin and property that has been in his family since just after WWII. We had a peaceful evening enjoying the fantastic ocean view and I snacked on whatever we had around and enjoyed a Terminal Gravity Brewing IPA. Maybe two. Saturday, we spent the morning watching the waves, enjoying the beautiful scenery, and sipping on World Cup Roasters Jungle Java (me), then drove to Cannon Beach for some fun shopping and walking around followed by lunch at The Lumber Yard. We did a bit more shopping and walking and I stopped in for a glass of Goodlife brewery’s Descender IPA at Cannon Beach Hardware and Public House, the Screw and Brew. I’m not making this up. Upon our return, we both settled in to read and watch the sunset from our deck. Sunday, we ate spinach, onion, and cheese; mini-frittatas and roasted breakfast potatoes, again with the World whatever coffee (you know who). After breakfast we went to Hug Point for a nice beach walk and some tide-pool viewing then drove South passing through several cute, small towns and stopped for a while in Wheeler where Patricia looked in antique and vintage art deco fixture shops and I walked over to the bay to watch the salmon fishermen. Apparently, I was the proverbial banana in the boat. I didn’t see a single fish on. After some more pretty scenery driving south, we turned back and made our way to Wanda’s Café in Nehalem which sounds a lot like a word Jerry Lewis might have used in a movie. And while I’m on that subject, it is my belief that every pharmaceutical company that sells joint supplements containing Glucosamine and Chondroitin should be required to have Jerry say the work Chondroitin each time it is used in their commercials. Back to Wanda’s—this place is only open for breakfast and lunch and closes at 2pm. My turkey sandwich and chowder were excellent as was Patricia’s veggie sandwich. The food was fresh, the bread tasty and the service was terrific. For dessert we shared a slice of home made pumpkin pie that was delicious with a cup of Sleepy Monk coffee (uh-huh). From there we returned to enjoy the final evening in our cabin. We were treated to a beautiful sunset, fantastic stars and a quiet lovely time. Monday morning we did some cleaning up, nibbling on breakfast with more of the World yada-yada coffee (yeah, you bet) and tried to prepare ourselves for travel home. After finishing our chores and spending a bit more time enjoying our fantastic view, we drove into Cannon Beach to drop off the recycling then motored on up highway 26 to Portland. There was a bit of extra time before we had to think about driving to the airport so we went for a walk, shopped at Powell’s for a while and had a tasty pasta lunch at Grassa restaurant. Before long it was time to go. It went too fast and wasn’t long enough, but I’m sure glad we did it. A sincere thank you to our household hosts, we really enjoyed our time in your homes. We very well may be VRBOing again in the future. Thanks also to friends who made suggestions and gave us some good ideas about spending time in Oregon. We hope to return soon. And a special thank you to our wonderful house sitter and our neighbors who took care of everything at home while we traveled. For never was a story without woe. Than this of IPAs and our VRBO.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 17:37:37 +0000
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