Rockaway Beach, Oregon

It’s hard to beat the Oregon Coast for a wonderful summer weekend getaway, and the first weekend in August is about as much of a good weather guarantee as you can hope for.  We had a picture perfect weekend at Rockaway Beach, Oregon to celebrate my sister’s birthday.

Rockaway Beach is about 50 miles south of Astoria (at the mouth of the Columbia River), and 15 miles north of Tillamook, Oregon.  It is literally a wide spot in the road, and cannot even boast a stop light.  The beach is typically Oregon; wide, grey and dog friendly.  Just a few shops make up the business district, plus one train stop on the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad.  http://www.oregoncoastscenic.org/

My sister rented a house for the weekend and we brought the food and wine.  I was in charge of the birthday dinner and had brought a side of fresh caught King Salmon.  I really wanted to find a local farmer’s market for some fresh vegetable, so we drove south to Tillamook to have a look around.  Tillamook is known for it’s cheddar cheese, and the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Tillamook is known for its cheese, and the cheese factory

The cows that produce the milk that makes the cheese

Driving around the back country roads we stumbled upon exactly what I was looking for;  an organic, farm fresh, honor system vegetable stand.  With fresh peas in my possession ($3) we headed north again to start the dinner prep.

Roadside organic vegetable stand.

Farm fresh organic veggies.

The honor system.

Dinner was grilled King Salmon on sliced red potatoes and onion, asparagus, fresh peas, topped with Dungeness Crab.  It was great.  We enjoyed this with a selection of fine Oregon Pinot Noirs.

King Salmon grilling over briquettes. I’m not a fan of gas grills.

Organic farm stand peas

Grilled King Salmon, red potato slices, aspargus and Dungeness crab.

The 5 Oregon Pinots we enjoyed; Montinore Vineyards, Elk Cove, Laurel Ridge, Freja and Coelho.

Between the group of us we brought five different Oregon Pinot Noirs:  a 2014 Montinore Estate Pinot, a 2014 Elk Cove Vineyards Pinot, a 2013 Laurel Ridge Reserve Pinot (by far the best value), Freja Pinot, and a 2013 Coelho Winery Pinot.  My sister scooped the Laurel Ridge Reserve from a grocery outlet for $10, listed for $38 on the website.  It was very tasty, and an incredible value.  The Montinore and the Elk Cove were between $25 and $30 bottle, and very good.

Four legged guest Moxie shows interest in the birthday cake

Walks on the beach are a big part of any beach weekend.  Oregon beaches are all open to dogs, a very nice change from Florida.  My sister’s new best friend Scooter enjoyed the weekend.  She found Scooter through Pixie Project.    http://www.pixieproject.org/

Scooter on Rockaway Beach

Another Oregon wine, King Estate Pinot Gris.