Back during the spring, it was my family's annual road trip down to Oregon, USA! This time our itinerary was a little different. Since my niece has gotten a bit older, we decided to deviate away from spending all our time shopping in Portland and instead head out west towards the coast to see new places and create new memories!
"By the way," you ask, "where is day 1 of the road trip?" Well, I decided to start with day 2 because nothing particularly interesting happened on day 1 as it was mostly us on the road making our way down south.
Ok, there were SOME interesting things, like seeing a military tank driving beside you down the highway @_@ We also had a late lunch trying different food carts in downtown Portland.
Now, back to day 2. After having breakfast at our usual haunt, St. Honore Boulangerie, we drove west to Tillamook to visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory.
The cheese factory was a family friendly place with a gift shop, and exhibits explaining the history of their factory and the importance of cheese making to the community. In fact, the ship on display outside was a replica of the exact ship that the cheese-makers sailed on through the Columbia River to distribute cheese to communities around Oregon.
There wasn't much cheese-making action going on that day... The factory workers were just packaging up large blocks of cheddar while we were there in the early afternoon.
I think the most exciting event was sampling all the different kinds of cheddar cheese! There were the common mild, medium, and sharp cheddars, and there were also cheddar cheese curds (very squeaky, but kind of on the salty side) and jalapeno cheddar cheese for trying. As the line-up was quite short, we went around and sampled 3 times LOL...
Deep Fried Cheese Curds - Battered and fried, served with chipotle ranch sauce
Even though we had more than our fair share of cheese samples, we did order some items from the cafeteria for a late lunch. W really wanted to try their deep fried cheese curds. I found them too salty (just like the ones from the sample line) and dense after frying. W didn't mind though, he ate the majority of them.
The Tillamooker - Medium cheddar on sourdough, served with a side of tater tots
I went with the classic grilled cheese sandwich. The bread was crunchy and savoury (but very oily due to all the butter) while the cheese was perfectly oozy and stringy after hitting the grill. I think the perfect pair for a grilled cheese sandwich would be a nice cup of tomato soup, not tater tots, but oh well...
Smooth Sailing - Penne noodles topped with creamy Sharp and Medium Cheddar cheese sauce
To appease my niece and bro-in-law, my sister ordered a mac n' cheese for sharing...except it was penne and cheese =P I didn't like how the cheese sauce was ladled on top of the pasta rather than incorporating them all together... It didn't scream real mac n' cheese to me somehow.
Oregon Hazelnut & Salted Caramel Ice Cream
We couldn't leave without having their ice cream! We were all cheesed out from lunch so having something sweet was a nice way to end the meal. After looking at all their flavours for probably the fourth time, I finally decided on their Oregon Hazelnut and Salted Caramel. So glad I chose this one! There were crunchy hazelnuts embedded in the creamy ice cream and was full of hazelnut aroma! The salted caramel provided a slightly salty contrast to the sweet cream. The texture of the ice cream was also spot on...so thick and creamy! So so good!!
From Tillamook, we made our way up the Oregon Coast Highway to the little resort town of Seaside. With the weather being so nice we, of course, made a couple pit stops along the way to stroll along the beaches and shorelines. I love being by the water, it's so calming and beautiful.
By early evening, we arrived just in time to watch the sun setting down the horizon along the beach and take in the evening light while we walked along the main promenade. Seaside wasn't just a typical small-town ocean-side resort and tourist location.
This was the final landing spot of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in November of 1805. Beginning in St. Louis, Missouri, Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lietenant William Clark led a team of volunteers, crossing the western part of the United States to explore and map the newly acquired territory. A little bit of history lesson for you there!
Norma's Seafood & Steak
20 North Columbia Street
Seaside, OR
We randomly chose a place to have dinner since we were not that familiar with the area. A short walk from the promenade was Norma's Seafood & Steak Restaurant. Being in a touristy town, we had to wait a while for our table. Highly recommended to make reservations if you do come to Seaside for dinner.
Norma's Clam Chowder
Since the evening became quite chilly, we started off with a bowl of clam chowder to warm our tummies. This one was pretty good! It was thick and creamy with small chunks of soft potatoes and lots of clam bits inside the soup.
Pork Chops - 10 oz. porterhouse cut, bone-in, broiled and served medium to medium-well with no sugar added applesauce
Going family style, we ordered a bunch of entrees to share between the 6 of us. We had grilled bone-in pork chops with a side of coleslaw. It was supposed to come with applesauce as the condiment but they had forgotten it when they brought out the pork chops. However, even with the applesauce, we found the pork chops bland and overcooked...
Fish & Chips Combo - Cod, Albacore, Salmon, Halibut
This was a bevy of fish and chips! Covering up all the fries were 2 pieces each of cod, Albacore tuna, salmon, and halibut. I found the batter a bit thick but the fish was fried up nicely. I liked the white fish (the cod and halibut) more than the tuna and salmon pieces as it was a little more juicier and the meat softer. This combo also came with coleslaw and tartare sauce for dipping.
We also had the Captain's Platter, consisting of salmon, prawns, halibut, calamari, scallops, oysters, and razor clams cooked in a buttery garlic sauce, and a Seafood Fettuccine to round out the meal. I just forgot to document these dishes with photos... The pasta was typical and average but the seafood medley was delicious!
Although the drive back to Portland was long and arduous (1.5 hours back in pitch black darkness @_@), it was worth checking out a new place with incredible views and interesting history.
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