This is a series of posts about our Southern Oregon Coast road trip in November, you can start here if you would like.
We turned off of HWY 101 on the Southern Oregon Coast and onto 2nd Street of Bandon, Oregon, a little after noon on Thanksgiving Day with the intent of just giving it a glance before continuing on our way towards Humbug Mountain State Park. Bandon turned out to offer much more than we had anticipated from yummy treats to a hike among sea stacks on the beach.
We had briefly visited Bandon in 2020 on our way to tree houses in Cave Junction, Oregon with the most notable attraction being a display of art made up of materials from plastics washed up from the ocean. Here is what it looked like and if you follow my on Instagram, you know that the Belle Barbie we picked up on that trip (also beach litter) enjoyed posing with her fellow upcycled treasures. Can you spot her?
Anyway, as we drove down “Old Town” Bandon it was obvious that the display had been removed and this was now considered valuable real estate. We (and Barbie) were wondering where had all the art gone? Where was Henry The Fish??
Instead of turning directly back up on to 101, we decided to turn towards the water and 1st Street. The sidewalks were deserted and businesses closed but there were more restaurants and shops than we remembered from last time. In a few blocks, a large blue warehouse caught our eye. It was surprisingly open and there were people!
Although hard to tell what exactly was being sold and if it was just fresh caught fish we would be out of luck on this trip as we had brought minimal cooking supplies, we pulled into the gravel parking lot to check it out.
The first thing we noticed when we got out of the car was that we had found Henry The Fish! He had thankfully just been moved to a new home. Belle Barbie had a chat with him before we headed inside the market.
Then we made our way across the parking lot and it turned out the market was a part of something called the Wild Rivers Coast Food Trail! Food and trail? I’m in!
The entrance took us through a market area with both fresh foods like vegetables, meats and seafood but also non-perishables like canned sardines, jerky, chips and candy.
The sign outside had listed deli items including what promised to be gluten free chowder so I asked at the counter. The person behind the counter confirmed it was so I just had to try it. It came in a $10 size and a $20 size so we bought the $10 with the intent to share it.
Continuing further into the warehouse we were met with another surprise, more art! The Washed Ashore program had several installations and a corner where they held workshops. The art pieces were different than the ones we had seen in our last visit so it was a new experience for us. All of them are assembled with garbage you would find washed up on beaches up and down the coast.
It is bittersweet to think about all of our waste that ends up in the ocean but yet these folks have opted to use it as a learning opportunity.
As we were walking around, I couldn’t help but notice a woman also admiring the art but with the most delicious looking Bloody Mary in her hand. I am not normally a Bloody Mary person but it had vegetables and bacon so how could I not admire? I had to ask her where she got it and she pointed us to another corner of the warehouse and said she was on her second one.
It turns out that the Bloody Mary is a thing here because I couldn’t help but notice that multiple people were sipping on them as we made our way over to Warehouse Coffee Cafe. We just ordered one to share and because we had our chowder we didn’t order anything else although the menu had some tasty looking options.
We sat for a while enjoying the chowder (which was rich and creamy) and the drink, noticing what else was happening in the warehouse. There were some vendors selling plants and photography while the football game played on several big screens and sun streamed through windows high on the walls above us.
There was a sign naming the establishment Bandon Fisheries Warehouse and we were so pleased by all that we had found inside, especially on Thanksgiving. We stayed a little less than an hour before leaving for the car. On the way out there were more indications of how popular the Bloody Marys are, you can buy the mixer in large jars and as you see in the picture above, asparagus can be had, too.
As we pulled out the parking lot, I opted to turn right on 1st Street and away from HWY 101 as there was a sign that said something like “scenic loop” so who wouldn’t want to follow that? The road took us out to the Coquille Point viewing area at the jetty that we could see while at the Coquille Lighthouse earlier in the day but we didn’t stay. As we followed the scenic drive signs further, they took us through residential areas along Bandon Loop Road so I wasn’t sure if we had chosen wisely but pulling in at a sign (8th street?) that pointed “beach” we parked at a tiny lot overlooking the ocean and sea stacks!
Descending stairs, we made our way down to the beach and walked south along the shore. This is a part of both the Oregon Coast Trail and Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge area so I imagine it is a favorite stretch.
The tidepools and jutting rocks were teeming with sea life.
Eventually there was a spot where you could scramble a bit in between the towering rock formations to another section of beach.
It was a warm day and the sea lions were out sunning themselves!
It looked like there were various places along the drive where you could drop down to the sand from the homes and rentals above. We had no idea this was here from our last trip down 101, I was so glad we had pulled into Bandon.
Retracing our steps, we continued our drive south from Bandon with one more stop at Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint. It is fascinating what the human brain will do to project the imagination onto natural features.
Eventually the Bandon Scenic Drive plopped us out on HWY 101 south of Bandon and we turned right for Humbug Mountain State Park. Arriving shortly before sunset, I have to admit I did not take many pictures this evening. After finding our site and then moving to another due to the crowd across from us (the camp host was super accommodating), we walked further into the closed off section of campground to find out where the Humbug Mountain trailhead was for our hike in the morning and then further to where a campground trail led under 101 and down to a sunset walk on the beach. All without my phone AKA camera.
Once back at camp and after purchasing firewood, we had our dinner of leftover turkey salad (turkey I cooked earlier in the week, mayo and cranberries) with tea and a warm campfire to finish the day. The temperatures were again dropping below freezing and it was not long before we were snuggled in our sleeping bags resting up for whatever tomorrow would bring.
You can learn more about the Wild Rivers Coast Food Trail here, they have a digital passport and itineraries. We did visit a few more places on the food trail during our trip but hope to return at some point to explore more. Yes, we may have stopped by Bandon and the market again on our way home! And if you are interested in Belle Barbie’s adventures on our 2020 trip, you can check them out on Instagram here. Someday I’ll make a post featuring her, someday.
Our next day’s adventures happens at Humbug Mountain Views, Pacific Sushi & Grill and Ralphie At Nature’s Coastal Holiday Festival of Lights.
These days while car camping, I am using an 18L electric cooler plugged into the car to keep foods cold. I also use a Goal Zero Yeti 200 power bank to keep it running when the car is not and have an old plastic container inside filled with water and frozen as an ice block to save on energy.
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I really enjoyed reading about your time in Bandon area. The husband of a friend of mine grew up there and has a second house there now. We had always talked about visiting them there. My husband loves golf and I guess there are some good courses there. Anyway, sadly my friend passed on, but maybe we will still check out that area some day.
I did see a few golf courses and you can tell the area is building up to draw in the vacationing crowd. I don’t remember it being near as developed when we were there in 2020 or when I drove through 10 years before that on the way to camping in South Lake Tahoe. I am sorry to hear about your friend, making a trip there would be a great way to remember them. 🙂