Sylvia, You Little Minx

We awoke to glorious weather for day one of our coastal road trip. After checking out of the hotel, we loaded up the car and began our journey – watching for quaint cafes or Mom & Pop shops along the highway. But we found none. Either they had all closed or there was just a surprising lack of such establishments. (We did, however, pass about 200 McDonalds and Subway restaurants. At least some things are universal.)

When 10 o’clock finally hit, we were both getting desperate for breakfast and opted for a local-to-Oregon restaurant chain called Burgerville. And I can emphatically say it is not just another “burger joint.” It is a fast-food setup but the ingredients are all real and fresh and local. And they use Tillamook cheese! And serve fresh halibut! And have really trendy, artsy gift cards! (Yes, I took a couple for souvenirs.) Our stop also racked up two firsts for me: Burgerville food and eating a cheeseburger for breakfast. At this point I knew our adventure had only begun.

Next we headed to Astoria, one of the most northwest points in Oregon. A logical starting point for a trip down the coast, sure, but somewhat accidental on our part because we took the wrong highway early on and didn’t notice until we were more than halfway to Astoria. But it worked itself out – and hey, without the diversion, we would have missed a sea of young women in tiaras, booked out hotels and jam-packed roads – all there for the annual regatta. It’s a big deal to the Astorians.

Once underway down the coast, we passed the Tillmook factory (we waved but did not stop) and the Hebo Inn – a dive of a restaurant that is famous for being infamous, complete with a huge painted sign on the top of the building that sported two backwards N’s in the word Inn. And if that isn’t an indication, I’m not sure what is.

In the afternoon we reached our destination of Newport and the Sylvia Beach Hotel. Situated right on the coastline, it proudly overlooks the beach and offers a unique blend of amenities. Every room in the hotel is an homage to a famous writer, author or journalist and is decorated in that person’s style or period. For us, we had the Lincoln Steffens room. The iconic piece we had in our room was an old-fashioned typewriter on an antique desk. Although the hotel does not indulge technology (no TVs, phone or internet) it did offer a top-floor library and sitting area, a restaurant that serves one dinner shift per night plus breakfast in the morning, a cute gift shop, balcony views of the ocean and two on-premise cats. One came to visit our room – a large, orange, fluffy one that was very mellow and seemed content simply to stare at me disinterestedly while occasionally rubbing against my legs.

The town of Newport was charming, particularly in the area of shops, galleries and cafes surrounding the hotel. We explored equally between the car and on foot. While out on one of our drives, we encountered a large sign on the side of the road that read, quite simply, “Porn hurts everyone.” It was situated in between an adult book store and a blank plot of land that was to become the future home of The Salvation Army. Appropriate, no? To top it off, when we passed the sign we noticed a man standing underneath it and a women several paces out with a camera. Seems Karen and I were not the only ones who found it amusing.