Booby Watchers Flock to Coos Bay

Best. Headline. EVER. That was posted on the naturaloregon.org website and on twitter. If that can't bring a girl back to her blog, then nothing can. Now lets just confess right now, its funny; we all try to be grown ups and pretend we can handle headlines like that, but come on. In my press releases and notices to people I try to be serious, but in the office and among friends, the jokes were flying.

The Booby actually refers to the Brown Booby, a rare bird sighting that occurred on October 29 in Coos Bay; apparently what makes this even more exciting was that the bird doesn't belong here, its a tropical bird that you'd have to visit the likes of the Galapagos Islands to see.

Now mind you, I personally am not a birdwatcher, not even a little bit. One of the dumbest moments I had was when I sent a photo of a bird to Russ from the Audubon society to try and find out what kind of bird it was, he responded back, you're joking right? Turns out it was a crow.

But back to the Booby - even a bird-idiot like me can appreciate that over 200 birdwatchers came running this past weekend to try and get a view of this lost little gal. And a press junkie like me loves seeing the numerous stories about Coos Bay. Thanks to some great email alerts from Russ Namitz we were able to post the very first photo taken of a living Brown Booby in Oregon far ahead of any of the traditional media outlets.

And in case you were wondering what my favorite behind the scenes joke was: I forwarded an email from Russ about the Booby alert; a friend responded back: "Are you sure they weren't referring to you in the Booby sighting email? I could see how you could get confused."

Small town profits from Murder of favorite son!

After last year's notorious murder and kidnapping of Charleston's favorite son, Charlie; this small quaint fishing village along the Southern Oregon Coast struggled to recover from the shocking crime. What started as a simple prank, led to Charlie being hacked up by a chainsaw after the two youths who took him got scared by the national media attention that was caused. 

Now, a year later, the town of Charleston, Oregon has seemed to move on, and in a shocking turn of events, have decided to PROFIT from Charlie's murder. Locals and visitors alike are aghast at this morbid turn of events. For the mere cost of $2, pieces of Charlie have been hacked up even further and canned and are available at Charleytown Market. To make matters worse, the pieces of Charlie are actually SELLING. 

According to Charlie Senior, the family has been devastated. "The least they could do is give some of the money to the family, for gods sakes I could use a new hat, or a new pair of glasses; but do you think we got anything? NOTHING I tell you. Nothing. There should be laws against this."

We must warn you, the photos we are about to show are gruesome, please brace yourself before looking below ...

The Great Coos to Coos Fish to Desk Competition

Remember that episode of the Brady Bunch where Peter meets his look alike and they proceeded to exchange lives? Well that's sort of how I felt at the governor's conference upon meeting what must be my long lost cousin. Okay.. so we don't look alike, but we are both named Katherin(e); I live in Coos County, Oregon; she in Coos County, New Hampshire. We both love twitter and we're both fiercely proud of where we come from.

She's got me on the smarts department I'm sure, but those that know me, know I can make up for a lot with my sheer stubbornness and my gift for never knowing better.

This East meets West collision is surely unnatural and can lead to nothing but fun. Katie Paine has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged us to a Fish to Desk Challenge.

So what is this you ask? Its a competition to see who can start at their desk, and catch the first fish. Simple right?

Well this is where we need your help... what should the rules of this first fish to desk challenge? (I say first because I'm sure both of our competitive natures could never let it stop at just one!)

Should we limit it to just one fishermen?
Or can anyone with a pole and a video camera participate?
Can it be from any workplace in the county, or do we limit it to just one city?
What time of year? Any other ground rules we should consider?

Give your input, we'd love to hear!

I'm just a love machine...

This has been an interesting week for me. Because of some of the fun i've been having on twitter, and some of the relationships i've developed with other tourism folks, i've had a lot of love thrown my way.

A tweet from Anne at Visit Chicagoland was one of my favorite compliments: @TravelCoosBay has a way of making people want to visit the area.

It reminded me of something my dear old boss used to say: Just do what you love, and the rest will follow. I get it, I totally get it; because I LOVE my communities, the towns of Coos Bay, North Bend & Charleston are all just a little different, a little quirky, and all equally as charming as the next. I love the people here, I love our little stretch of the coast, how beautiful it is, how I can let my dogs run free and even at the busiest times of year, walk just a little way and feel like the beach is all mine. I love that our part of the coast isn't lined with back to back houses, that the kids at Dutch Bros know me by name, that I have the fish market's phone number memorized, and that when a visitor asks how the crabbing is today, I can just call the grocery store in Charleston and they always have an answer.

It's my hope that people who follow me on twitter, or read this blog, or who talk to other folks from my area get just a tiny glimpse of all this, that it makes them want to come and fall just a little bit in love as well.

I just finished reading a blog at the Oregon 150 website from Todd Davidson, CEO of Travel Oregon; he says it best of course (that's why they make him CEO!)

"For all of her (Oregon's) diverse natural beauty, amazing culinary offerings, abundant outdoor recreation, dynamic urban centers, cherished rural communities and sweeping scenic vistas found along backroads throughout the state - to appreciative Japanese students, to the grateful tears of a New Yorker, and to millions of visitors who travel to Oregon each year on vacation from across the country and around the world - it is Oregonians themselves that are our greatest asset."

Doctor Doctor...

So last week I was extremely excited to be hosting Ron Horton, a travel writer from PDX Magazine to show off our area. Ron seemed like exactly the type of writer I love, adventurous, outdoorsy, easy going, and a dog lover. Even better he didn't know the South Coast so it was the perfect opportunity to bowl him over and ensure the type of article that would lure all those wonderful Portland residents to our neck of the coast.

I had an outstanding day planned for him. He was traveling with his dog "Truck" who was also part of the story. He was going to spend the night at the Mill Casino; my favorite dog sitter Carol Shaw was going to pick up "Truck" (ha - okay, that was funny) at the hotel so I could take him out for a fun morning of riding ATV's in the sand dunes; a picnic on the docks, then he and Truck would head down the Cape Arago Loop to enjoy our fantastic hiking trails and beaches. 

And then... the dog sitter got the flu; the don't bother trying to man-up type of flu; the do not lift your head off the pillow or operate heavy machinery type of flu. AND it rained; and I don't mean nice friendly Oregon Coast rain, go away in an hour type of rain. I mean rain and wind like lock yourself in the house and don't leave for nothing type of rain, rain that fell like it was never going to stop rain, rain and wind that would shred an umbrella type of rain. Not exactly ATV'ing weather, or hiking weather, or running Truck on the beach weather, or outdoor picnic weather.

So what to do? I took the advice of our last travel writer that visited, Nancy Brown. I left Ron & Truck to relax in their hotel room and hopefully write about the wonderful dinner he had the night before at the Hilltop House in North Bend. Ran to Empire Cafe to pick up fresh baked bread, met Ron at Fishermen's Wharf and got our crab and some crab crackers to go; and we proceeded to head out to the Storm watching Hut at Shore Acres. As luck would have it; there were volunteers from the Whale Spoken Here Program there and even at a small space heater plugged in. We proceeded to dig into our crabs and watch the waves from the sanctity of the hut. 

Turned out; it was a great way to spend the day. Dungeness crab is really the cure all for everything.  Ron & Truck finished out the day by driving the Cape Arago Loop and made their way back home.

And wouldn't you know it...the next day was one of the most beautiful and sunny days yet. Of course it was. So the moral of the story....

Always spend an extra day if you can...and eat more crab!

In the words of Nancy Brown...What a trip!

We recently hosted Travel Writer Nancy Brown for a 3 1/2 day taste of our area. As I went over each day with her, I actually started getting jealous...not to toot our own horn, but we put together one heck of a fun schedule for her.

I'm going to list all her activities here, as she did them, feel free to copy her schedule or just get inspired by one or two ideas. At the bottom I'll list all the contact information to simplify your life.

I also want to take this opportunity to say to those who doubted, I was right...we really do have the best crab sandwich according to our expert and new favorite writer. Read on to find out where...

Day 1

Fly from San Francisco (SFO) to North Bend (OTH), arrive 2:15pm

Stop by Enterprise Counter at airport to pick up car. Be sure to ask the employees about things to do, they are full of fun suggestions.

Check into This Olde House Bed & Breakfast

Dinner at Hilltop House Restaurant

(please note, GPS directions to Hilltop House are incorrect. Drive North on Hwy 101 past bridge, just past Bay Bridge Motel, turn right, and another immediate right, you'll see signs that say Clausen oysters)

Day 2

Breakfast at This Olde House

Morning touring the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area at Spinreel Dunebuggy & ATV rentals.

Lunch to sample the Crab Melt Sandwich at the Plankhouse Restaurant inside the Mill Casino Hotel.

Check into Mill Casino Hotel in one of their luxury suites, with soaking tub and balcony.

Afternoon guided tour to Gold & Silver Falls with nature guide Marty Giles of Wavecrest Discoveries.

Dinner at Porta Restaurant

Day 3

Breakfast at the Mill Casino

Walking tour of downtown shops

Pick up lunch at Empire Cafe, bread and bottle of wine

Picnic at Bastendorff Beach

Slow afternoon touring the Cape Arago Loop

Check into Loft by the Lighthouse

(leave yourself plenty of downtime to enjoy private access to a little known beach)

Dinner at Oyster Cove Restaurant

Day 4

Breakfast and lazy morning

Late lunch at Portside Restaurant

Stop by Fishermen's at Dock D in Charleston to pick up Dungeness Crab. They will prepack in a carry-on ice chest. Pick up Canned Tuna to take home as well.

Stop by Empire Cafe to pick up bread to take home. Yes its that good!

Stop by Cranberry Sweets to pick up gifts for family

Return to airport by 4:15, return car to Enterprise

Fly to SFO at 5:08pm

RESOURCES

www.OregonsAdventureCoast.com

This Olde House B&B

202 Alder Avenue, Coos Bay

541.267.5224

www.thisoldehouse.com

Hilltop Restaurant & Lounge

93405 Willsey Lane, North Bend

541.756.4160

Spinreel Dune Buggy & Rentals, Inc

67045 Spinreel Road, North Bend

541.759.3313

www.ridetheoregondunes.com

Plankhouse Restaurant and the Mill Casino Hotel

3201 Tremont Avenue, North Bend

541.756.8800 or 800.953.4800

www.themillcasino.com

Wavecrest Discoveries

541.267.4027

www.wavecrestdiscoveries.com

Porta Restaurant

1802 Virginia Ave, North Bend

541.756.4900

www.portarestaurant.com

Empire Cafe

525 Newmark Ave, Coos Bay

541.888.5221

Loft by the Lighthouse

On Lighthouse Beach, Charleston

541.888.8386

www.loftbythelighthouse.com

Oyster Cove Restaurant

63346 Boat Basin Road, Charleston

541.888.0703

www.oystercovegrillebar.com

Fishermen's Wharf

D Docks, Charleston Boat Basin

541.888.TUNA

Cranberry Sweets

1005 Newmark Ave, Coos Bay

541.888.9824 or 800.527.5748

www.cranberrysweets.com

Quite possibly the best description of Coos Bay area I've ever read

so today, i had fun playing on twitter and ran across 2 fun gentlemen who are doing a road trip to the west coast. 

You can read their story here: 

A new post on the 'entrapment' of two honest, decent bloggers in Vice Bay 

The best part of all this, we had local folks send emails and I came across one of the best, most honest descriptions I've seen from a local vacation rental owner.

So my blog today, is actually the words of Annie Comfort from Annie's Cottage

Lee,

The absolute, number one reason to visit Coos Bay is it's authenticity. This town is real, it's charming, it's non commercial and it's rugged. When you go to the beach....you go to the beach and that is all. You are not inundated with flashy billboards beckoning you to stop and buy buy buy. Here you are surrounded by trees, sand, water, fresh air and real people who are here for the same things. 

In Coos Bay, the grandest and newest homes stand right next to the oldest and simplest abodes. Delightful fine dining can be found here in unexpected places. Artists, Musicians, Poets, Engineers, and Dreamers all come here to join the Loggers and the Fishermen to retire and get away from it all...and it's no big deal. 

Here you will find the very rich and the very poor, it's just who we are. You don't have to dress up to go anywhere here, but no one will mind if you do. You can wear the cowboy hat, the baseball hat or the bandana and you will get the same 'hello'. 

We grow up here, we move away, and we come back. It's what we do, and we'd love to have you visit us.

Sincerely,

Annie Comfort of Annie's Cottage