One of our favorite ways to avoid the August heat is a visit to the Oregon coast. And our favorite spot to do that is Shorewood RV Park in Rockaway Beach. They have a couple of RV sites nestled among the permanent park trailer sites that are right on the beach and we were lucky enough to get one of them for a whole week. The really great thing is that you pull forward into the spot, facing the water, and get this view the whole time.
With no breweries and few restaurants nearby, we were able to take the time to relax, eat at home and enjoy that view. One thing we did find to do, though, was make a couple of visits to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Our interest there was not in the cheese or cheese making but in their ice cream. So we endured the crowds, waited in line and each had double scoops of the creamy goodness – Caramel Toffee Crunch, Coffee Almond Fudge, Oregon Hazelnut and Salted Caramel, Espresso Mocha, and even Vanilla!

One afternoon, after our stop in Tillamook for ice cream, we drove further down US 101 to Pacific City and Pelican Pub & Brewery. We missed the fabulous ocean view due to the cold and drizzly weather but made up for it with a pint of Tsunami Stout and Doryman’s Dark Ale. Between that and spotting several VW buses along the way it made the drive quite worth the effort.

On our previous visit to Astoria two years ago I made a couple of mistakes that I would finally be able to make up for this time. The first stop when we hit town was Danish Maid Bakery. They make the absolutely best apple fritters on the planet and my error last time was talking Karen out of loading up the freezer with them. So with my promise to not say a word about how many she wanted to buy and having made plenty of room in the freezer by eating at home all week we left with a box of eighteen and smiles on our faces. Astoria is home to another place on our best-ever list and that is Bowpicker Fish & Chips. The food line is always long and the only item on their menu is the deep fried, beer-battered Albacore tuna with fries, although there is an option for a whole order (5 pieces) or a half order (3 pieces). My mistake last time was suggesting we split a whole order. Once we tasted just how good it was, though, we weren’t willing to go through the long line again to get more. After having to live with that screw-up for the past two years I wasn’t about to let it happen again. We thoroughly enjoyed our whole orders of fish & chips and not having to share them with anybody!

There is a new brewery in town, since our last trip, and so we made Buoy Beer Co. our next stop. They are in a renovated, historic old building right on the waterfront with a fantastic view of the river. After tasting both the porter and the oatmeal stout, the slight advantage went to the stout and Karen enjoyed that while I opted for a flight of six: pale ale, ESB, red ale, porter, oatmeal stout and IPA – all very good, indeed.

On the way back to Rockaway Beach, Karen read that there was a brewery in Seaside but since we’d already had a full day we decided to skip it. However, when we got to Seaside we found ourselves in quite a bit of traffic due to the highway stripe painting up ahead and when Karen spotted the brewery we made a quick decision and quick right turn, made the block and went inside. The Northwest Red Ale I had and the Deschutes Obsidian Stout that Karen had went well with the plate of pulled pork nachos that we shared. There was still a bit of traffic to contend with most of the way back home but it’s a small price for a fun visit to Astoria.