Bandon | Gold Beach
Wednesday 31 May 2006: 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
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