A couple of weeks ago Mrs. DanGarion and I trekked to Oregon to enjoy cooler weather and the green scenery. While there we did our best to check out some restaurants that one would never find in Orange County, California. But first I wanted to share this awesome view we had from our campsite on Timothy Lake right next to Mount Hood.
While in Salem we ate at small airport restaurant in the town of Independence, I highly suggest finding a cool little airport to have a meal out on the patio and watch the small planes land and takeoff. There wasn’t a lot of activity at the airport and the food average at the Star Duster Cafe but the views of planes are what you are really paying for. I ordered the Prime Rib Hash, which if menu didn’t say I would have thought was just a generic cut of beef (no pictures). I’d come back to Star Duster Cafe and try some of their other items. Mrs. DanGarion a BLT which was just the typical type of BLT nothing fancy. We had our dogs with us so it was nice to be able to sit out on the patio with them.
A couple of days later we found ourselves traveling down the Oregon Coast and staying a night in Lincoln City, Oregon. After a full day of driving we were starving and looking for something to fill our stomachs at 8:45 PM. If you know anything about the Oregon Coast (and mid September) once the kids are back in school summer is officially over, so a number of places close earlier since there are fewer people around. Fortunately we were able to find an awesome hole in the wall pizza joint called Humble Pie Pizzaria. Finding Humble Pie was one of the best finds of our trip. We got there just before they closed and ordered a large pepperoni pizza. As we were waiting another customer ordered a cream puff and when Mrs. DanGarion and I saw it we looked at each other and insisted on getting one of them too. The pizza was great, with just the right amount of crisp on the crust to please us both, a slightly sweet sauce, and a good amount of pepperoni. The cream puff was huge, like the size of a brain huge. The puff had the perfect ratio of salt to play on the amazing home-made cream inside. The cream puff was so big we weren’t even able to finish half of it.
Next we continued our trip down the Oregon Coast and found ourselves hungry for lunch as we approached Winchester Bay, Oregon and saw a sign for a Windy Bay Sourdough Bakery that served sandwiches. I had a $5 Footlong Baguette Sandwich, with turkey and Tilamook Cheese. Mrs. DanGarion had a Sourdough Bagel Sandwich. We agreed both sandwiches were good and basic. Nothing over the top and the sourdough wasn’t overpowering, in fact we would have liked it to have a little more sour to it. But the star of the visit was their Cinnamon Rolls. I wish I had got a picture of the roll, but let’s just say I think the size they normally sell are 12″x6″. The only picture I can find of them is a small picture on their website, but take my word for it, the rolls are HUGE and it was the best Cinnamon Roll I’ve ever had.
We had a great time in Oregon, so great of a time we are contemplating moving there someday, it’s a beautiful state and they have actual weather, something we tend to lack here in Southern California. I highly suggest checking out Western Oregon.
But wait, there is one more place we visited as we traveled back home. One the last day of our vacation we made a special detour to devour our favorite fish and chips at Li’l Hut in Morro Bay. It’s a Mrs. DanGarion family tradition to get the fish and chips that she got me hooked on as well. It’s the perfect fried food to hold you over for the 5 more hours of driving you will have to get back to Orange County.
