Something Fishy

There was a distinct change of pace today, opting to not play golf this morning, even though we had an 8:30 available at Sheep Ranch, in favour of touring the Bandon, Coos Bay, Charleston area. It is gorgeous out this morning, and almost a sin not to take advantage of yet another fantastic weather day at Bandon Dunes, but praise the lord, we will not let the evil overcome us, we will stand strong, we will not be drawn astray, this mind bending obsession will not win……….it was really close folks……..but we are actually going out sightseeing…….no golf today.

Nice relaxed start to the day with Jutta boiling up some eggs while I went down the road with my kit to have a shower, but somehow became involved with the search for Francie, a stri-ped (pronunciation) kitten with a pink collar……..the two young girls were really upset……..but after a while I realized their Dad wasn’t even looking worth damn and was standing over by the WC having a smoke………outta here…….

Back at camp we decided to walk to the beach……..Ranger Smith told me it was about a mile from the bottom of Loop B………that’s RV Park talk y”all don’t understand, but it means “just inside Hugh’s tolerance today”………. Did you know that miles are longer than kilometres??

The rugged untouched beach greeted us with a strong steady wind in our face, and loads of cool things to look at, and in particular the massive chunks of driftwood. This stretch of beach must run for miles and miles……from the golf course we have seen many people out here in their cars/trucks going for a drive…….there are access points all along the shore………..but soon it is time to walk back, and we take time to look at the natural untouched areas on either side of the trail, and imagine the vision and balls it took to turn this into the golf mecca it is now………phenomenal.

Back at Plan B, we mount up and head south in the truck, in search of some big rocks we saw just after sunset last night on the way home from Edgewaters. Quick run through town, then climb up to the plateau overlooking town, the ocean, and these really awesome rocks just off shore……..I mean big……look at the pictures. They run for a few miles south of town, so we follow along the coast road stopping at State Parks, wildlife preserves, and viewpoints. Very Interesting and scenic, but eventually we must move along and head back towards town.

We run into the local Farmers Market, do our best to support the local economy, and head down the road to Tony’s Crab Shack………..all this stuff this morning, hiking, looking at rocks, sightseeing, was really all about getting to Tony’s Crab Shack for lunch, and we are here, and it is goooooood. This is one of the best known eateries in town, and apparently is jammed all summer long. If you catch your own crabs, bring them in and they will cook and clean them for you on the spot……charging a small fee of course.

Yeterday’s local caddie Russell told us the best fresh fish could be had at a market just north of us in Charleston……Chucky D’s or something, so we bypassed a really good looking counter with lots of options at the market in Bandon hoping for better up the road. Russell had suggested a couple of other touristy spots, and it was on the way there we spotted Chucky D’s, so stopped in right away…….it sucked the big one…….so new plan, to make it back to Bandon before the market closes. The other view spots we wanted to visit were very nice, but apparently the big show is when the weather is bad, with strong winds, causing waves to crash into the shoreline sending towers of water high in the air……too bad we are on a good weather streak!

Back in town we scored some rockfish and sole at the market…….beautifully fresh and right off the boat……..pit stop at the liquor barn for more vino, and we are cookin’.
I pan fried the fish with a nutty coating mix, also from the market……Jutta fired together one of her amazing salads…….nice bottle of vino (this is how most of my posts end) and tomorrow is another day.