A Welcome Pana-Sea-Ah

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My wife, Lisa, had been in need of a break for a long time. My work schedule is problematic and leaves her handling child care responsibilities at night during the week, and we hadn’t gotten away alone as a couple since our daughter was born three years ago. Lisa prefers experiences over things when it comes to receiving gifts, so this Christmas I set up an adults only weekend at the Oregon Coast. We took the trip earlier this month.

My first real full-time job out of college was in Newport, Oregon, a coastal hub town. I lived there for more than five years and have retained local knowledge of the Central Oregon Coast. It’s not a booming metropolitan area so the challenge is to find new places to stay and new things to do. I thought that a bed and breakfast would be more interesting than a hotel and went searching for a place we hadn’t previously visited.

What I found was a beautiful home tucked away in a little Depoe Bay neighborhood. The home overlooks the ocean and is just a short walk from Fishing Rock State Park. Kim and Lori are the innkeepers at Pana-Sea-Ah Bed and Breakfast, and I worked with them late last year to put together a little Christmas package for my wife. They delivered an experience above our expectations, which is the overall sentiment of most who visit.

We arrived at the home on a late Friday afternoon. Kim, who has to be one of the warmest people I’ve ever met, greeted us and gave us a tour of the inn. Wine and cookies were waiting for us in the common great room where the view of the ocean was magnificent. Kim took us upstairs to our weekend retreat, the Garden Room. It’s in a corner of the house with a panoramic view of the ocean and reading nooks under the windows, perfect for my wife who loves to read early in the morning. Waiting for us in our room was a bottle of sparkling cider and Dove chocolates. It was wonderful to fall asleep at night with the shades open, hearing the roar of the ocean through cracked windows.

Earlier in the day we started our trip at the coast with lunch in Gleneden Beach at the Side Door Cafe. It was our first time at this little eatery in a renovated warehouse where repurposed materials from Multnomah Public Library and Portland City Hall were used to decorate the restaurant. Following a delicious lunch, we walked next door for massages. Fantastic start to the weekend!

After a wonderful breakfast Saturday morning the rain let up, and we walked down the street to Fishing Rock State Park. There were only a couple other people there and no one else on the beach below. There was plenty of room to explore the small forest and rocks and then stroll home along the beach. After that we headed into the main stretch of Depoe Bay and then Newport for shopping, more shopping and lunch.

For dinner on Saturday Lisa and I went to Tables of Content at the Sylvia Beach Hotel. The hotel is a boutique inn located in the Nye Beach neighborhood where I used to live. Each room has the theme of a famous author: William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jules Verne, Agatha Christie, etc. The restaurant is unique and something of an open secret. I was aware of it while still living on the coast but never tried it. There is only one seating per night, and everyone picks an entree when making reservations earlier in the day. All other food is served family style. There are only a handful of tables, and seating is assigned much like on a cruise ship, meaning parties mix. It’s a fun way to meet and dine with new people. We ate with John and Tibby, a couple from the Willamette Valley, who were guests at the hotel and interesting people. Tibby was in the Navy during the Vietnam era. Based in Iceland, her job was listening for enemy submarines. We couldn’t top that!

After dinner with our new friends Lisa and I drove back to the bed and breakfast through the driving rain for more relaxation at the inn. There were no cookies on Saturday night, but there were brownies! We watched a movie and fell asleep to the ocean once again.

The trip was a panacea (or Pana-Sea-Ah!). Lisa was so relaxed and recharged by the end of the weekend, and we were so grateful for the hospitality and kindness that Kim and Lori showed us. It felt like we were old friends by the time we left on Sunday morning. Their home is a haven, and we promised to return. I’m hoping in the fall…

A few pictures from the weekend:

Midnight in America

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It’s here. Inauguration Day for the 45th president of the United States. Entering high office this afternoon is the first man in the country’s history who has neither served in the military nor in public office — no previous civil service — before assuming the presidency. He’s a mendacious reality TV star and real estate magnate who got himself elected by appealing to the worst of our nature. He also holds the dubious distinction of being the first president-elect to incite foreign powers on Twitter.

While I have grave concerns about what will transpire domestically over the next four years, my biggest worry is our foreign policy. It won’t take much for President Twitter Fingers to create an international incident. Considering the advisers from whom he will (presumably) take counsel, there’s additional concern for what could go wrong. No one is truly ready to become president of the United States. The responsibilities are too vast and the burden of the office too heavy. That said the man taking the oath of office today has a temperament that suggests trouble lies ahead. Undoubtedly, any blame for his failures will be placed on others — by him. I’m certain if it’s doing its job the Fourth Estate will be accused often. It’s buck passing not buck stopping in this Oval Office.

Those old Ronald Reagan Morning in America commercials from the 1980s seem quaint now as we enter a combative Midnight in America. The audacity of hope has been dashed by the new sheriff, who has a darkness about him that doesn’t bode well. Judging from the bumpy and often needlessly antagonistic transition following the election, I don’t see how the new president will be more statesman-like now that he’s in the White House.

Not too long ago I read an article by entrepreneur and academic Tobias Stone. He suggests that our election of a populist candidate shouldn’t be viewed in a bubble but in the context of an already volatile world. Consider what’s happening right now: Brexit, nationalism’s rise in Europe (hello again, Marine Le Pen!), Russia’s malfeasance, North Korea’s muscle flexing, China’s rise, Syria’s crisis, the Middle East’s persistent instability… Stone points out that at fairly regular intervals humans enter times of mass destruction but often miss the signs of trouble approaching while dismissing the few observers who see the impending storm. World War I and World War II were our last catastrophic conflicts, costing about 95 million lives. Today pressure is again building in an explosive global keg. Will it subside or will a spark set it off? What happens when an ill-advised trade war launches a global recession? Or with uncertainty around the world and tensions running high, what would it take for a small armed conflict to become regional? A regional conflict to spread farther? Who decides to use a nuclear device? It doesn’t have to be a missile strike. What if it’s a dirty bomb set off in a city? Then what? This obviously goes beyond just the United States. Cool heads are needed in crisis from all, but the new leader of the free world conducts foreign policy in 140 characters or less. There’s not much room for nuance in his weltanschauung.

So what now? The fight against the new president’s cynical view of America and the world has just begun. Protests and marches are planned. A couple weeks ago, Charles M. Blow wrote a piece in The New York Times about holding an anti-inauguration. My anti-inauguration observation will be sleeping through the ceremony and avoiding most media coverage throughout the day. Being a light in the coming darkness takes energy, so I’m sleeping in. That and I simply don’t care to watch the darkness fall with pomp and circumstance on CNN. Be on the right side of history. Be a light with me. We can control that together as an affront to the incoming president’s authoritarian tendencies. He still answers to us, not the other way around. “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”  Fight for what’s true and right. Onward we go.

Snowpocalypse in the Rose City

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In Portland, Oregon we have a well-earned reputation for panic and paralysis when it comes to snow and ice storms. The crazy lines at the grocery store suggest people took the warnings from meteorologists seriously: up to two inches of snow on Saturday, transitioning to freezing rain Sunday. Half an inch of ice accumulation is possible, which will be problematic for roads, trees and powerlines. Before the snow had done more than dust the streets Saturday morning, shops were closing.

There are legitimate reasons for trepidation. Snow and ice are fairly rare winter events here. Our local media often ratchets up the hysteria with endless sidewalk reports when storms do hit. Driving is treacherous. Gravel and de-icer are used with limited effect on roads and freeways. Until this storm the Oregon Department of Transportation has avoided salting roads in the metro area because of environmental concerns. After a particularly bad storm (for Portland!) in December, ODOT announced a new policy to salt state freeways in specific circumstances. As of Friday, however, the agency didn’t have salt on hand.

Best thing to do? Stay off the streets! Our errands for the weekend are completed, and we’re watching the show from inside the warm home fortress. Enjoy the time lapse video I made of Snowpocalypse 2017. No chains or traction devices required:

As an aside, while it’s so cold our faces hurt, my sister is hiking through Argentina where it’s summertime with highs in the upper 80s. She’s sending pictures. How thoughtful. Grrr…