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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 4, 2016)
4 // COASTWEEKEND.COM Books, gardening, hiking, hobbies, recreation, personalities, travel & more CLOSE TO HOME NORTH TO WILLAPA BAY, SOUTH TO SAN FRANCISCO see Gary Snyder, William Burroughs or Jack Kerouac, but, on the streets, there was plenty In the 1850s, fl eets of sailing ships departed of skin, and all of the tattoos and costumes of San Francisco under fair winds and pushed a counter culture. You don’t have to pay for north. Their destination was Willapa Bay, home entertainment; it’s in view for free. So are the of the sweet and salty bivalve. Each oyster sold homeless, and in great numbers. I felt blessed to for a gold piece in the cafes and better restau- be there and compassionate for the less favored. rants of the booming metropolis. With about Rents are intolerable, but the same story is being 600 miles or 10 days aboard the wooden sloops, told in Portland and Seattle. Drugs and mental travel could turn treacherous. illness are crippling our neighborhoods, big or Assisted by the strong backs of Native Amer- small. icans, James Gilchrist Swan and early pioneers Museums cost $20 to $30. I preferred paying aided in the gathering and delivery of these oys- this to the price of a double martini. The Asian ters. The industry was a bonanza. The relation- Art Museum was my favorite, but I have a ship between tiny outpost and the burgeoning city prejudice: I’m a potter, and the best of stone and bonds us, fair citizens, as distant partners in the clay antiquities decorated the halls and show- love-hate relationship with the oyster. rooms of this spectacular museum. The San Step forward 160 years. Oysterville, the tiny Francisco Museum of Modern Art raised my Washington frontier town blood pressure considerably. founded by I.A. Clark and WE ARE ATTRACTED What a wonderful treasure R.H. Espy, has actually TO BOTH RURAL AND trove, beginning with Post shrunk. Four streets with and galloping URBAN LANDSCAPES. Impressionism taverns, hotel and churches into today. SAN FRANCISCO IS have washed away. Tide and After pastries at the A STUNNING CITY winter storms took them, famous Tartine Bakery, the OF DISPARATE AND De Young Museum never street by street. San Francis- co has blossomed the other PRICELESS VIEWS, pleased me more. What a way. Now a city of over a or, a series of AND A 180-DEGREE collection, million, she attracts, through collections. The museum TURN FROM THE her golden gate, people from features American art from PRISTINE ENVIRONS the 17th century through the all over the world. OF OUR COLUMBIA- 21st, international con- It attracted my wife and me recently, on a four-day temporary art, textiles, and PACIFIC HOME. hiatus. Rather than arriv- JUDGE NOT, I SAY. art from the Americas, the ing aboard a three-masted c, and a show-stop- EACH WAITS WITH Pacifi schooner, we fl ew. A shuttle ping collection of African SEPARATE GIFTS. into town didn’t break the art. Across town, the Legion bank, but this ride was the of Honor showcases a fi ne last of the hot deals. The city is expensive, as are collection of European art. Both are a must. hotel rooms and dining out. Uber is a must, un- I confess. I love cities with fi ne art. San Fran- less you’re silly enough to drive your own rig. cisco has its fair share. It also has a view. Let me The streets are taxing, to say the least. Be that as ask you, is that view any more special than our it may, the city is charming, and the diversity of own Willapa Bay, say from a kayak on Lewis people a rich cornucopia of humanity. Slough at dawn or sunset? Say, walking through We ate Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Italian, a 5,000-year old cedar grove when sunlight French, Northwest and/or combinations of all slashes like golden blades, and all the world the above. Dim sum tickled our palates. Fine feels green and rich and opulent? Those giants Chinese preserved the pocketbook and diverted speak to me in a way no skyscraper can. all but basic table talk. I gobbled down every- What is interesting here, at least to my brand thing in front of me, hardly breathing in be- of thinking, is how we are attracted to both rural tween. North Beach is famous for Café Trieste, and urban landscapes. How each has its appeal. City Lights Bookstore and striptease. We didn’t San Francisco is a stunning city of disparate and By DAVID CAMPICHE I PHOTOS BY DAVID CAMPICHE An interior shot of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. priceless views, and a 180-degree turn from the pristine environs of our Columbia-Pacifi c home. Judge not, I say. Each waits with separate gifts. Who could argue? Back home the tide has turned. It’s fl ooding over the oyster beds off Agate Beach. The water is rising and warm. Slip down to your skivvies and take a plunge. Can’t do that off of Fisher- man’s Wharf. But you can’t get Vietnamese fusion on Long Island either. That is, unless you concoct your own and carry it across the salt water in a picnic basket. On the other hand, you can gather up a few littleneck clams or shuck a fair Willapa oyster. Don’t be greedy. Speaking of Vietnamese fusion, the Slanted Door was fi ne and so were the cocktails, both making the vista of the Golden Gate Bridge even more spectacular. Another favorite is the Fog City Grill. What salads! But what about those oysters. Here, in this lovely urban Mecca, genuine Willapa Bay bivalves still fi nd their way into the gullets of tourists and locals alike. Here, on the streets of this enchanting city. Here, where one night we saw “Carmine” at the opera, a modern version that unfortunately lacked strong voice; a debtor’s opinion. We ate late dinner at 11 o’clock on Bush Street at a hip restaurant called Bouche. Eating late can be fun in a city that never quite sleeps. It can be invigorating because it is a change of pace. Eating at 11 o’clock can be diffi cult in Astoria, the river city, though a fi ne repast is available at Albatross, or at master cocktail magician Rich Ewing’s Inferno Lounge. Back in Oysterville the ghost of Willard An ancient Jomon vase from the Neolithic pe- riod at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. A buddha stone face at the Asian Art Museum. Espy haunts the sweet simple street that tiptoes past the antique church and pioneer school house, and calls out creative juices for a good number of artisans, including the well versed writer Sydney Stevens, niece of the indomitable Willard Espy, and a chip off the old block. What might Sydney be doing on such a fair summer day? Perhaps she is sitting on her back porch with a glass of white wine in her hand. Sitting, drinking and appreciating one of the fi nest landscapes in the western United States. Perhaps she is shaping a missive, or simply remembering her charming uncle who lived in New York City but left his heart in Oysterville.