Yesterday was a day for reconnecting with old friends, meeting new ones, and even some furry friends! We drove back to Astoria for the Sunday Market, one of Terry’s favorite things to do when we’re in this part of the country.
As it turns out, while we were parking we spotted a small flea market going on in front of a neat place we had not been to before called Vintage Hardware. This was a fun place, part antique mall and part supply store for people restoring old homes.
There were all sorts of hinges, doorknobs, carved mantelpieces and such, as well as fun stuff like these glass fishing floats and this very cool old wooden pulley. I like stuff like this and if we ever have a house I’d like to decorate it with these kind of things.
While we were wandering around the flea market we ran into longtime readers John and Karen Landry. John is a kite flyer too, and when we were here a couple of years ago they came down to Seaside from their RV lot in Ilwaco so we could fly together. It was nice to see them again, and we promised to get together again when we get to the Long Beach Thousand Trails in a few days.
I’m always up for a puppy fix and there were dogs everywhere at the Market. Two I really enjoyed getting to know where a big old boxer named Lucy and a twelve week old German shepherd. Shepherds are my favorite breed of dogs and I have had several over the years.
Terry picked up some produce from one of the vendors, and I stopped to watch this blacksmith doing his thing.
We were just about to leave the Market when a gentleman asked if he could introduce himself to me. It was Jerry Tyler, who reads both this blog and Greg White’s every day. Jerry and his wife Judy live in Olympia, Washington, and when he read in the blog that we were going to be at the Market, they decided to drive the 115 miles to Astoria to check it out and to see if they could spot us. I took my second selfie ever with Jerry. He’s the good looking one. I hope we get to see them again someday in our travels.
Traffic was bumper to bumper all the way back from Astoria to Seaside, typical of Sunday on the coast. We stopped at Del Ray Beach, a few miles from Seaside. Driving the half mile or so from Highway 101 to the beach, we came across a big herd of elk. They were grazing on both sides of the road and pretty much ignored the cars stopping so people could admire them and take pictures.
They were so big they didn’t really have to jump this wooden fence, they just stepped over it like it was nothing.
We got back to the campground with just enough time to drop off the things we had purchased while we were out, make a pit stop, and then leave again to meet Dan and Patty Chance and Nancy Kissack at a place called Bell Buoy. They have a popular seafood market and a small restaurant in an adjacent building. With a four star rating out of 160 reviews, this was a great find. We all ordered fish and chips, and Terry and Nancy added crab cakes. It was all delicious, the fish was light and flakey, everybody praised the coleslaw, and the waffle fries were cooked just right. We’ll definitely go back!
Congratulations to George Osborne, winner of our drawing for an audiobook of Crazy Days in Big Lake, the third book in my Big Lake mystery series. We had 120 entries this time around. Stay tuned, a new contest starts soon.
Thought For The Day – It is when there is nothing you can say or do to help that a friend needs you the most.
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Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!