The Crazy Norwegian's and a Stormy Drive

Update: July 18, 2015. I visited The Crazy Norwegian's  yesterday for the first time since this original post was written, since I've been living on the east coast in the interim. It pains me to say this, but I was thoroughly disappointed in the fish & chips, after lusting after them from afar for all these years. The batter was thin, not very dark, rather tasteless, not crisp and fell off the fish. Totally different from my previous experiences here. An anomoly? I don't have a clue. The place was packed with a waiting line by 5pm nevertheless, and I expect much of the menu is still delicious. But  personally, I wouldn't recommend the fish & chips any longer. Sadly!

Some of the best fish & chips I've ever had are to be found at a funky little place in Port Orford called The Crazy Norwegian's.   Since I plan to be moving from Oregon soon, I've been itching to get up there for one last feast before I leave.  I also wanted to go with the friend who led me to this place, and we've been waiting for a sunny day, in the hopes of getting some decent photos off the coast on the drive north.  We've had sunny days, but this time of  year, in the off season, the restaurant is only open Thursday through Sunday and apparently, the sunny days haven't coincided with those days. It's been hard to coordinate.

No sunny weather today, either, despite a promising forecast.  Gray, dreary, super windy. But, I wasn't disappointed once I arrived at the destination.  Tender cod, crisp breading, tangy cole slaw, and an atmosphere that's hard to describe.  You'll just need to see it for yourself.  They have lots more on the menu, but I personally have never made it past the fish & chips.

Yes, a gray and dreary day all around, but the inside was cheery and the food wonderful.

We dawdled a good bit driving north -- not the best day for photography, but we couldn't help ourselves.  These birds -- seagulls and pelicans -- were massed by the hundreds on these piers in Gold Beach and flying in swarms above.

Not pretty critters, but interesting.  Neither of us had ever noticed the red and yellow on these guys before, nor so many of them clustered together in one spot.

We also stopped at Pistol River, just south of Gold Beach, to watch the huge waves that were crashing into all the rocks.  I can't blame these black and white photos on some nefarious activity of my camera.  There was simply no color out there.  Dreary, dreary, dreary.  The wind was so strong, I could barely stay balanced well enough to get these photos with the telephoto.  If the resolution isn't all that great when enlarged, that's the reason why.

These three are all the same rock with wave after wave crashing onto it.  There were lots of waves and lots of rocks, but this one seemed to be putting on the best show consistently.

Since I tend to be a lazy photographer and let the camera run on automatic, I can't set the shutter speed and thus don't get that lovely, crisp water-stopping effect, but still, I like the movement.

Labor Day Roaming

 

My neighbor and I left home at 7am with no particular destination in mind, merely some exploration and photo ops.  Since the day was clear -- no fog or rain or clouds -- we thought to take advantage of that and meander up the coast.  Our first stop was Cape Ferrelo, which is just north of Brookings. My Oregon Geographic Names book doesn't offer much hard evidence regarding the name.  It is presumably named for Bartolome Ferrelo, who was a pilot in the expedition of one Juan Cabrillo, a Portuguese who sailed north up the Pacific Coast from Mexico in 1542.  Apparently, there is nothing to prove that the expedition actually made it this far north, but it is still assumed to be named for him.  From the parking area, one has many options of trails to follow all over the cape, which I believe is about 300' above the beach.  Quite beautiful, especially in the early morning light.  After wandering and exploring all there was to see on the cape and the beach below, we continued our journey north.

Since we had no itinerary, I suggested we stop at my favorite spot near the Thomas Creek Bridge, where a short walk took us to this fabulous promontory.  I've yet to determine a real name for this promontory.  William Sullivan simply refers to it as the North Island Viewpoint.  I absolutely love early mornings like this on the coast, with the play of mist and the contrast of light and dark as the sun creeps up the sky.

Another from the same spot -- with more of the misty moodiness that I love.  Near here the highway crosses Bruces Bones Creek, a name which has always fascinated me.  There is a yarn about this name, which says that in the 1950's a crew was in the area completing a survey for realignment of Highway 101.  At the end of the day Bruce Schilling headed in the wrong direction, had trouble finding his way out of the deep gully, and in the end didn't make it out.  One of the other crew members commented that they would probably find his parched bones when they returned the following spring.  And the name stuck.

 

We stopped for a moment at the Cape Sebastian parking lot to check out the sweeping views in all directions.  I was clearly still fascinated by the morning light and mist.  While we're on the subject of place names, Cape Sebastian was apparently named for another long-ago exploration of this coast, this time by Sebastian Vizcaino in 1603.  Again, it's not certain if this is the cape he mentioned, because like the other explorer his latitude readings were not terribly accurate, but it was named for him in 1869 nonetheless.

In Gold Beach we drove along the north shore of the Rogue River and found this rather fascinating little city of cat condos.  Note the size of the seagull, for perspective.  Apparently, people have built these little homes for the local feral cat population.  Some have food dishes inside.  So clever!  Gold Beach, by the way, is named straightforwardly -- gold was discovered in the sands of Curry County in the early 1850s, so the name is quite appropriate.  Apparently, there were hundreds of placer miners along this beach in pioneer days.  And, although stories abound, the Rogue River was named by the original French settlers presumably because the local indians were a cantankerous bunch.  

The Rogue in this area is teeming with wildlife.  We saw a seal, cormorants and the river near the bridge was a regular traffic jam of salmon fishermen.  The season is short and they're making the most of it. I found the water dynamics here fascinating -- as you can see, the tide is fighting its way in rather forcefully in the distance, but on the shore nearer us the river flow of fresh water was working its way out.

We continued north by way of what we later discovered was the Old Coast Highway. Quite a lovely drive along the water for several miles before reconnecting with the new highway, and leading quite unexpectedly to Otter Point State Park which offers hiking trails and this lovely vista.  Our mind was on food and we were headed to Port Orford for some fish & chips at The Crazy Norwegian's, so we didn't dawdle here.  I didn't take a photo of the food, but this is the second time I've been to this place and aside from being funky and fun, that crazy Norwegian also serves what may be the best fish & chips I've found.  There's a lot to be said for that.

As we drove through Gold Beach on our return trip, I spotted this and we stopped to look.  My friend says it's one of the most photographed sights on the Oregon coast, so I don't know how I've missed it before.  She was the Mary D. Hume, built in Gold Beach in 1881 for use as a coastal freighter.  Her history is long, as she served on this coast and up into Alaska until 1978 giving her the record for length of service on this coast.  She was 97' long, served as a freighter for 10 years, then a whaler, then a tug.

Wild Rivers Coast Wine, Art & Music Festival

I took a little break from exploring the great outdoors today and drove to Gold Beach for this annual festival. What a beautiful day! Warm, sunny, crystal clear and breathtakingly splendid as I drove the 25 miles north along the coast.

As you can see, I arrived way too early, but it gave me a chance to scope it all out, take a few photos before the crowds arrived. Eventually I set about getting into the swing of things, tasting a little wine, having some lunch and listening to a bit of jazz. By the time I left, the place was hopping with people.

Lunch -- a luscious fish taco that left me wanting another....

Jazz. This was the "Word of Mouth" Live Jazz Quartet and I must say, they put out some pretty cool tunes.

And wine..... red, red wine, for me.

OK, I admit it -- clearly my focus was on the wine, not the arts and crafts, and while I couldn't try a wine from each of the 16 wineries, I tried several and can highly recommend these three wines from these two wineries. I apologize for the out-of-focus label (honestly, not the result of too many tastes of the red inside), but both these Cliff Creek wines were superb, as was the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Spangler, above. The Cliff Creek cab was sold out but he had a bottle for tasting and I'll be looking forward to the release of their 2006 vintage sometime in the future. Their Claret is a delightful, perfectly balanced Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. the Spangler cab was so yummy I took it outside to linger over for awhile. I'd buy any of these three wines, any day. Since I had to drive back to Brookings, I didn't taste any of the other wines from either winery but I expect they would be equally as well-made.

Southern Oregon wines are not as well-known as the Willamette Valley wines, but because of the rather extreme climate differences, they are able to grow warm-weather grapes that simply don't flourish in the Willamette Valley. I expect that within a few years these wines will be much better-known.

Back to the great outdoors next time!