Day 16: Morning at Sylvia Beach Hotel and on to Oregon’s wine country

Miles driven to-date: 4,829
States visited to-date: 17

Where do I even begin? Today was an amazing day. It’s been hard to rank each of our experiences so far, but this was up there!

We first had a delicious breakfast at our hotel and then took a long walk on the beach right outside of our room. It was quite windy and chilly, but made us appreciate the fireplace in the room even more!

There were lots of these clear jellyfish washed up on the beach.

The beach was also lined with these amazing dunes.

Sadly, it was time to get back on the road so we drove the 80 miles or so into Willamette Valley, Oregon which is about 20 miles southeast of Portland. This area is known for its wineries and we were excited to do some sampling. We decided to begin the afternoon by heading to Argyle, which produced the first Oregon wine to be served at the White House. We noticed right away that the grounds of the vineyard were beautiful and there were flowers everywhere. The wines were tasty and of course we bought a bottle (that became the theme as we went to other places; we were so glad to have the minivan so we could store all of these souvenirs!).

We sampled wine at Rex Hill and Erath, two other local vineyards. Each had its own distinct flavor of wine as well as uniquely designed gardens. In fact, this whole area had amazing flora. While I wasn’t able to capture a photo, you’ll have to believe me when I say that even the Taco Bell had gorgeous flower beds!

Steve had reserved a room at another B&B from his “1,000 Things to Do Before You Die” ~ the Wine Country Farm Bed & Breakfast. It might have been the nicest place we’ve ever stayed.

Guests were free to roam about the grounds and admire the many beautiful nooks and crannies. The gazebo above was just one of places where we could relax and enjoy our books or a glass of wine (or both!).

Thankfully, the place had wireless web so you can see Steve checking his email on the back porch in the photo below. It was hard to concentrate on cyberspace given the beautiful views of the grapes, though.

The B&B produces its own wine so we tried their varieties and then had a complimentary glass. Our room was incredibly comfortable and it felt like being in someone’s (nice) home. We thought one or two of you might appreciate this hammock which was just outside of our room:

It’s hard to describe how perfect the climate was, but it reminded me of a really nice summer day at our Erie cottage – the air had that clean, fresh smell and the way the sun shone through the trees was gorgeous. The owner of the B&B told us that the soil in the part of Oregon is some of the most fertile in the world which helps to explain the abundance of plants everywhere. She mentioned that the huge plant company Monrovia (which some of you may be familiar with since it apparently supplies greenhouses along the East Coast) produces so much right in their small town that they employ about 500 locals for their 1,000 acres! Everywhere we looked we saw beautiful arrangements. We were also constantly amazed by the views of the breathtaking vineyards all around us.

All of that wine tasting had really tired us out so we took a nice siesta and then got ready for dinner. Being in the middle of wine country, we figured it made sense to eat at . . . a brewery. Steve had read about some Oregon restaurants called McMenamins which were opened by a couple of creative guys. They converted several old buildings (hotels, schoolhouses, etc.) into restaurants / brewpubs / hotels/ movie theatres and we enjoyed a great meal on the rooftop of a renovated 1920’s-era hotel. During dinner, we talked about how we were amazed by Oregon. It felt like a wonderful place to live ~ the cost of living seemed much more reasonable than in Boston, Portland is nearby, the list of outdoor activities is endless, and the people were great. We even went so far as to discuss trying to find summer internships in Portland next year! Admittedly, it’s easy to fall in love with a place during a trip like this but something about this area just felt right to us (provided our families would move out here too, of course). By the time we left dinner, the temperature outside had cooled considerably and we saw some beautiful stars on the way back to our comfortable bed.