Cancel the Day Off – Holy Toledo

I said there would be no Tuesday blog entry. But here’s one anyone. It was originally supposed to be a rainy day, but it turned out quite nice after some morning drizzle. Elaine did the laundry early, and we decided to do a few things.

First it was off to Toledo, Oregon, just six miles inland from Newport, so a total of about eighteen miles from the condo. Toledo is a little town known for its antique shops. It seems to be slowly dying. One antique shop closed its doors for good just a few weeks ago. And Bear Mountain Sports closed its only store to become an internet only purveyor of sports equipment. But there are lots of shops selling antiques and artsy stuff along Main Street (which is all of three blocks long).   The town is festooned with pretty flowers, and we had a pleasant walk up and down, visiting the local craft shop where we had a delightful chap with the woman who runs the place. Toledo is also the home of Georgia Pacific’s logging operations in Oregon. Watch the (less than exciting) video of the GP freight train going by filled with nothing but wood chips.

CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR LARGER VIEWS

Then we headed back to Newport for another lunch at Local Ocean. I had a cup of spicy shrimp stew followed by pan friend local oysters on a bed of spinach. Elaine had the grilled rockfish sandwich with poblano peppers.

We then went to the Newport Visual Arts Center where they had three different exhibitions of works by local artists. Frankly the artists should seek other work as their exhibited works were not at all inspiring.

We then visited the Lookout at Cape Foulweather to check the gift shop and get  a picture of its beautiful view.

Then it was back to the condo for naps, reading, and cocktails on the balcony as we watched a heavy fog roll in. Looking to the south we can normally see three capes, but slowly, one by one, they disappeared in the fog.  Dinner was at home: burgers, potatoes, and spinach.

It may rain some tomorrow (Wednesday) as we await the late afternoon arrival our friends from home, Barb and Kris, who fly into Portland on Southwest. They will spend two nights with us before moving on to Cannon Beach to the north for their original weekend escape.