Day Trip

     Jane & Michael Stern have crisscrossed America sampling regional favorites and quirky fare.  They enjoy what they do and are good at it.  In addition to appearing weekly on NPR's The Splendid Table they are perhaps best known for their Roadfood books.  That's why I was excited to come across one of Michael's webposts on Oregon Coast Seafood Markets just prior to my attendance at The Bite of Oregon event.  I enthusiastically printed it out and reviewed it carefully.  It would make a perfect day trip for me.  It was a 135 mile, 3 hour ride along Oregon's scenic Route 101 with stops along the way.  

Here is what he had to say about the experience:

     "If you like fish that is dramatically fresh, served at nautical food bars with do-it-yourself service and dispose-your-own cardboard plates, there is no road trip more rewarding than a drive along Oregon's Route 101.  Here you will find dual-purpose establishments that sell fresh seafood and offer extremely casual meals, frequently at a picnic-table setting...take note of the tuna, which is as different from ordinary canned supermarket tuna as Dover sole is from a fish stick."

  I was walking in the door of the downtown Portland car agency just as they opened their doors for the day and was soon on my way to follow Michael's Oregon seafood adventure.  I drove due west to the coast on Route 26 to my first stop at the Ecola Seafoods Restaurant & Market in the seaside town of Cannon Beach.   The scenery was breathtaking with a fog draped Haystack Rock in the distance.  At first I was put off a bit by the name of the market, but soon learned that it was named after a nearby state park and not a dreaded disease.

     The place was bright a cheerful looking when I arrived at 10am.  Their cooler cases were stocked with all manner of fresh looking fish and crustaceans.  

     And the white board listed a number of mouth watering lunch specials.  I enjoyed a conversation with the owner and asked if I was perhaps too early for a taste of their chowder.  She responded that I was indeed just in time to sample their freshly made clam chowder.  I was soon walking back to my place at an indoor picnic table with plastic tray in hand carrying a cardboard cup of chowder and plastic spoon accompanied by one of those cellophane packets of mini-oyster crackers.

     I have to admit that the chowder was extremely mediocre, tasting like something pre-mixed and sold by a wholesaler to retail outlets.  I could tell that the potatoes were machine diced and the clams were minced so small as to be almost invisible.  I was hoping for real cream and butter but sadly tasted neither.

     I left feeling somewhat discouraged but was looking forward to my next stop at the Fish Peddler in Bay City, a mere 47 miles down the road.