Brookings – Back and Forth

Brookings

Interesting facts about Brookings: It is six miles north of the California border on Highway 101 and is bounded by the Chetco River and the Brookings Harbor to the south. Brookings helps to produce 100% of the lily bulbs grown in North America.  The town was established by John E. Brookings, cousin to Robert Brookings of the Brookings Institute. It is a popular place for retirees who enjoy the mild climate, beautiful coastline and many recreational amenities.

We arrived in Brookings around l2 noon and decided to stop in town and have lunch.  Shawn had read about a restaurant called the Black Trumpet Bistro and we found it along the 101 which goes through Brookings.  It is run by a mother and son.  The son waited on us and was very friendly and told us he was originally from California.  The food was delicious!  I had a portobello sandwich and Shawn had the caprese chicken sandwich. It was one of our favorite restaurants along the coast.

After lunch we located our hotel, the Beachfront Inn, and were able to check in early.  Our room faced the ocean and tons of driftwood on the beach.  We got our cameras and set off for a walk in and around the many pieces of driftwood that littered the beach.

In the evening, we went to a nearby restaurant called Catalyst Seafood and had fried calamari which Shawn said was greasy but tasted good, as well as fish tacos which were huge and scrumptious. The best I have ever eaten!  We took our left overs to the hotel but never had a chance to eat them. As we watched the sun go down, we noticed a family almost below us, building a fire and having their dinner.  Later on, we could see a man playing a guitar. I guess there was plenty of firewood on the beach and it looked like that is what some families did in the evenings on the beach. We ended our night by standing on the balcony taking pictures of the sun going down.

We had to get up very early the next morning as we were going up the coast toward Florence and from there would take highway 126 across to Eugene, stay for one night and then head up to Forest Grove, outside of Portland to visit my sister.

Next posting: Eugene, Forest Grove and mostly about Astoria