beaches, bubbles, and shepherd’s pie

29Apr08

last weekend in newport/nye beach was amazing. the oregon coast is almost rainy and cool, even if it is warm or even hot in portland. having grown up here i never expect it to be nice at the beach. i never pack shorts or a swim suit. that’s for california or florida, not oregon. well, it wasn’t shorts weather, but it didn’t rain! it was in the sixties and sunny and so pleasant.

we arrived on friday evening and checked into our hotel. we stayed at the Sylvia Beach Hotel in nye beach. it is a literary themed place and we stayed in the edgar allen poe room. there were collections of his books on the dresser along with taxidermied ravens. it was very poe, down to the axe hanging above our heads as we slept:

the pit and the pendulum anyone?

the next day we went into newport to check out the Rogue Brewery and the aquarium. both were great. then we returned back to the hotel for some reading. i took Julie & Julia by Julie Powell with me. it was a fun, easy read that inspired me to get back in the kitchen as soon as we returned home.

after our reading session we went to an irish pub in nye beach, nona’s i think, and had dinner.

the shepherd’s pie was so good and the soda bread had to have been made there. it was so fresh. i have made sheperd’s pie before and i think the next time i will make the potato topping like this one, slightly chunky with the skins still on. it was a good texture with the rest of the dish.

after our delicious meal we took a walk on the beach and stumbled upon people ‘blowing’ these gigantic bubbles.

the kids below would jump up and try to pop it, eventually succeeding, where they would then get drenched with the soap from the popping bubble.

all in all it was a good mix of relaxation, quality time, and sight seeing. yea for the oregon coast!

Filed under: my life   |  1 Comment
Tags: axe, bubbles, edgar allen poe, guinness, harp, julie and julia, julie powell, newport oregon, nona's, nye beach oregon, oregon coast aquarium, rogue brewery, shepherd's pie, sylvia beach hotel