How to have fun in Seaside and Portland, Oregon

Our room on the top left.

While we were having dinner with friends one night in Madison, they told us their daughter was attending grad school in Eugene, Ore., and they were going to meet her on the Oregon Coast in August for a vacation. "Say, why don't you meet us there?" they suggested. They also mentioned their ocean-front room had a kitchenette and their daughter (who we first met when she was a toddler) was an excellent vegan cook. They had picked the town of Seaside because they liked the name, and I kind of liked the name, too. "We'll see," I answered. Once we got back to Seattle, one thing led to another and we found ourselves with hotel reservations in Seaside. Maybe.

We planned to leave about 1 p.m. for the 3-hour drive, after spending the morning caring for Miss E, but my husband had a sudden bad feeling about the hotel when he realized he'd never received a confirmation. He hastily called the hotel, and they had no record of our reservation, no rooms for Thursday or Friday, and nothing open until Saturday. He reserved for Saturday and Sunday and went to take care of Miss E while I started searching the Internet for a place to stay. Seaside is a very popular place, and not a room was open. I tried nearby towns, but nada. Suddenly a room opened up in Seaside and I grabbed it. It wasn't on the beach with an ocean view balcony like the first hotel, it was in town with a river view balcony ... and a hot tub! With enough hot water to fill it.

Part of the downtown Seaside atmosphere.

My husband describs Seaside as a polite honky-tonk, and that seems about right. Although there were hoards of people, restaurants, bars, touristy shops and amusements like a small-scale train ride, bumper cars, a tilt-a-whirl, a shopping mall with a full-sized carousel and an huge, beehive of a gallery full of old arcade games, it wasn't too rowdy or excessively loud on the street. Just a little bit crazy, and we loved it.

This makes me want to pack up the car and head to the beach in Seaside.

Although our friends were a mere six blocks away, they were in a whole different world of quiet beach and ocean vistas. But for two days, we enjoyed the split personality of the friendly coastal town of Seaside, spending time both on the enormous, serene beach, and in the busting town center. I even found a resale store called Tri-City Spay and Neuter Thrift Shop — right up my alley, with all profits going to spay and neuter rescue dogs and cats. Had to buy something, of course.

The temperature farther inland may have been in the 80s, but that wasn't the case on the coast, where for most of our visit we needed sweatshirts on the beach, but that didn't stop us from having a great time.

Our friends came prepared for cool weather, and ventured into the chilly ocean in wet suits! They said it was amazing, and having a wet suit made all the difference between enjoying the water or freaking out.

Lisa, as our friends had said, was a fabulous cook. I don't know how she did it in the tiny kitchenette, but armed with a copy of Robin Robertson's Quick Fix Vegan for inspiration, she produced two stellar meals. The first was Sicilian-style pasta and the second an amazing lentil and Swiss chard soup.

On the third day of our visit, we moved to the hotel on the beach, completely altering our Seaside ambiance. No more hustle and bustle outside our door, but the change in locale didn't totally alter the nature of our experience. Seaside's aura had a compelling influence on our friend, John, who decided that we had to rent a pedal surrey and ride around town for an hour, like the other crazy tourists. He was right about that.

The fire-builders at work.

We also succumbed to the lure of  building a fire on the beach at night and having a cookout. We cooked potatoes, corn-on-the-cob and tofu pups on sticks.

Our hotel room was on the top floor just kitty-corner to our friends' room one floor below. We could stand on our balconies and make plans. Or see interesting activities like flying radio-controlled helicopters. John, who describes himself as an electronics geek, looks slightly dismayed here because he had just lost control of his helicopter, and it was about to make an unscheduled landing three floors below. John doesn't just play with this stuff — he builds it.

More fire-builders at work — boiling seawater to make salt.

Seaside has a historic 1-1/2 mile-long promenade bordering the edge of the beach. We did quite a bit of walking up and down the Prom, and on one of our walks we visited a historical re-enactment of the Seaside saltworks, which was originally built about 1805 by a group of men from the Lewis and Clark Expedition. We were allowed to take photos with our phones but not use them for any other purpose. Nor were we supposed to discuss anything that wouldn't have been a topic of conversation in the early 19th century.

We didn't spend all of our time in Seaside, as there were interesting nearby towns to explore. Cannon Beach is known for the impressive 235-ft. Haystack Rock, which is only accessible during low tide. At low tide you can access the tide pools to see glorious examples of sea life.

Starfish and sea anemones clinging to Haystack Rock.

We headed there very early one morning so we could view the amazing, colorful star fish, sea anemones, etc. that cling to the rock or live in the tide pools. I had my camera with me but had neglected to notice my card was nearly full, and this was the only shot I got before I had to start deleting photos, so I could take a few more pictures.

In addition to the underwater creatures, there were tons of seagulls. Here you see a juvenal seagull who hasn't yet learned that he's supposed to be afraid of people.

Since I was unable to take photos with my usual abandon, I ended up being in them, instead.

One morning, we spent a couple of hours in the nearby town of Manzanita. As we approached the beach, we could see a huge crowd gathered near the water's edge. What was it, I wondered — a beached whale?  — sharks? an injured swimmer? Upon entering Manzanita, it was clear that this was a subtler, more upscale village than Seaside, but not so upscale that they wouldn't host the annual festival of Muttzanita, complete with a dog parade, dog fashion and talent show, doggy spa and more. The first part of the festival takes place on the beach, hence the crowd. 100% of the proceeds go to United Paws and the Rotary Club, so I'm happy to wear the Muttzanita t-shirt I got talked into buying by a very serious volunteer. Who wouldn't want their own Muttzanita t-shirt?

Not just in Manzanita, but everywhere we went on the coast, the welcome mat was out for dogs. They were welcome at the hotels, on the beach, the Prom — every place we visited was filled with dog-love. It was nice.

We went back to Manzanita the next night for vegan Mexican food from Left Coast Siesta. Everyone else had burritos, but I had a giant taco salad in a huge fluted corn tortilla. I thoroughly enjoyed it both for dinner and the next day for lunch.

This is a partial view of the condiment (i.e. hot sauce) table.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, I made friends with a seagull who came every day to peer at me from the overhanging roof.

I'm sure he was trying to enroll me in some sort of food donation program, but I didn't have any fish to offer. I placed a piece of carrot on a chair but he never expressed interest in that. Not a vegan, I guess.

You can see groups of people with their fires.

One last sunset.

And one last morning on the beach — a beautiful, warm (!) morning. We went out very early so we could walk along the beach at low tide. The beach is so wide at low tide it feels like you're miles from the town. We had a wonderful walk, and even found a few sand dollars for souvenirs, then sat on the beach for a while working up the courage to leave such a beautiful and relaxing place.

After four great nights in Seaside, we headed to Portland. I was on a mission to eat at Blossoming Lotus and a couple of food trucks — Homegrown Smoker and Native Bowl. I'd eaten at Blossoming Lotus when I attended Vida Vegan Con, but I'd missed the food carts, and wanted to atone for that.

For lunch, my husband and I headed to the Homegrown Smoker food cart, and we shared an enormous platter of smoked soy curls, tempeh ribs, sweet potato fries and chipotle slaw. The two of us enjoyed every gluten-free bite, but I sincerely hope no single person attempts to eat this alone.

We had our farewell dinner with John, Yvette and Lisa at Blossoming Lotus. Although I tried to order something I hadn't had before, I couldn't stop myself from ordering Crispy Thai Barbecue Salad. I think I can move on to something else next time (now that I know what I know about barbecued soy curls — future post).

My husband had (I think) Wok Tossed Tofu and Greens. Both of us were content. The other popular dish at the table was Vindaloo Masala. No complaints about Blossoming Lotus on this trip.

John, Yvette and Lisa departed early the next morning, but Ken and I had one more food truck to visit. We went to Native Bowl, and loved our very fresh and crunchy lunches. Honestly, I don't remember which bowls we ordered, but I think any of the choices would be fabulous.

Much to our surprise, Homegrown Smoker has a second food truck location right by Native Bowl, and I'm embarrassed to admit that we bought another big platter of Smoker food to take back to Seattle for dinner. This greatly amused our Homegrown host.

Well, that's all I've got. Maybe I should have saved it for vegan mofo. At one photo per day I could have gone the whole month instead of just one day. :)

Now head over to Helen's blog for a great take on Portland vs. Portland. (Nope. Not a typo.)