City by the Bay

     Bay City is a picturesque little town along the Oregon coast.  It is just about a mile and a half square with a population of around twelve hundred people with an elevation of merely 17 feet above sea level.


     I arrived there, turning off Route 101, at noon and pulled in to the parking lot of what appeared to be a fish processing plant.  Sure enough, the large sign on the side of the corrugated metal building confirmed the fact.  There in bold lettering was the name of the enterprise, Pacific Oyster.

     But at one corner of the building was a glass enclosed vestibule with a hand painted outline of two fish.  That was the entrance to their retail store/restaurant, The Fish Peddler.  I watched as locals made their way in to wait in line to order from the lunch menu and followed.  There were lots of freshly caught delicacies of the sea available in the cooler cases and a cheerful, if not attentive, staff waiting on customers. 

      I was shown a small table by the window and handed a menu to peruse.  What caught my eye was a delightful sounding combination of crab and shrimp topped with melted cheese.  So I ordered it and anticipated the taste of two of my favorite sea foods.

     Unfortunately, what I received was a disappointing duo of tiny tasteless shrimp and canned crab meat buried under a glop of melted cheddar cheese.  The flavor of the cheese was so strong that it completely overwhelmed any possibility of tasting the delicate flavors of the crab and shrimp, if they indeed had any.  But the fries were good...


     Once again disappointed I headed south along scenic Oregon Route 101 for an hour and a half to the next stop, Newport.