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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 17, 2018)
22 // COASTWEEKEND.COM Continued from Page 4 The list COURTESY FRIENDS OF CAPE FALCON MARINE RESERVE AND HAYSTACK ROCK AWARENESS PROGRAM Come and count pelicans from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 19, at Cape Falcon Marine Reserve. Make sure you satisfy the bird count CAPE FALCON — It’s the time of year for North Coast Pelican lovers to unite! The West Coast Audubon network and local partners are conducting biannual cit- izen science brown pelican surveys. Join Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve and Haystack Rock Awareness Program 4 to 7 p.m. Satur- day, May 19, in counting these distinct coastal birds. The local counting site will be at the rocky island pelican roosting sites in the Cape Falcon Marine Re- serve, just off the communi- ty of Falcon Cove between Manzanita and Cannon Beach. No experience necessary, just a passion for pelicans! For details and directions to the survey site, contact us by email at capefalcon- mr@gmail.com or keyser@ ci.cannon-beach.or.us by phone at 541-231-8041. Find out more about the survey at ca.audubon.org/ brownpelicansurvey. This website includes a survey protocol with instructions on how to do the count and where to enter your data. Data collected is being used to help better understand distribution and abundance of brown pelicans and track shifts in population structure. And speaking of the now, here are some fa- vorite moments, sites and adventures with food and alcohol and an enlightened sense of fun. World War II Muse- um: My wife Laurie’s un- cle was in reconnaissance with the 3rd Army under Gen. Patton and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Won’t talk much about it. At 96, he prefers the light- er moments. The museum left little out. And don’t we owe so much to these brave men and women who participated in the Big War. The exhibit brought me to my knees. Don’t miss, and please send our youth. They must see and come to respect. This is the American legacy. NOMA, The New Orleans Museum of Art: The permanent exhibit at this pleasant museum opens with small trea- sures. A rare El Greco, for example. One exhibit of contemporary Japanese ce- ramics felt close to home. The sensitivities of these Japanese potters and artists define modern art through the medium of clay. As a ceramist, the exhibit touched my soul. The Joint: best barbe- cue around. The brisket was cooked to perfection Trail’s End Art Association Upcoming Events: Just for the Fun of It! music from the 60’s and 70’s North Coast Chorale featuring Rev. Tim from KMUN Performing Arts Center (PAC) Franklin & 16th Friday, May 18 at 7pm Sunday, May 20 at 2pm Tickets at $10 JUNE 2 Gearhart Art Walk from 2-5pm JUNE 15-17 Kath Macaulay Sketchbook Workshop JULY 16-20 656 A St. Kidz Kamp - Ages 7-12, 9am-1pm Gearhart, OR JULY 4 503-717-9458 Independence Day Celebration Visit website for details: JULY 7 trailsendart.org Gearhart Art Walk from 2-5pm DAVID CAMPICHE PHOTO Jazz at the Spotted Cat Music Club on Frenchmen Street in a homemade contraption as big as a large chicken coup, 240 degrees for 12 hours. Try the mouthwatering ribs. Easy neighborhood environs with simple talk, blue jeans and friendly faces. Uriah guided us to authentic neighborhood restaurants. This one was a bullseye. Tujague’s: What’s not to savor in this early 19th centu- ry restaurant? Wild mushroom gnocchi, Louisiana lump crab, shrimp and grits — a bite of heaven! Tourist Central: The Cen- tral Grocery (original home of the muffuletta) and beignets at Café du Monde. When all you serve is coffee and beignets 24 hours a day, you had better be good at it. They are! Steamboat Natchez: This was unexpected. Hulsey warned us. “Don’t miss this one.” He was right. Take the night cruise. Bring a muffulet- ta. Drink a double bourbon. And watch the river slip into a mid-spring night’s dream. My father played a Dixieland banjo and listened to a vinyl recording of the Dukes of Dixieland. The fifth genera- tion was playing on the upper deck. Talk about nostalgia. Café Sbisa: 1899, formal, elegant and superb. I went predictable and spooned a bowl of gumbo followed by Court Boullion (a spicy seafood stew). The wine was pinot noir from Oregon. Laurie’s pork tenderloin was seared to perfection. Uriah sampled a veal and crab mas- terpiece. Yum! Prices in this food city are extremely fair. The near and the far Uriah’s home cooking: Kindness and generosity illuminate the best in human beings. Uriah Hulsey defines his raison d’etre simply. “I like what I do. I like to make the world brighter.” He held true to form. New Orleans is not Close to Home. What was, is his relationship with brightness. The chef spends time between the two cities and therefore enables him (and us) to link what is best in American culture. Be that the brightness that wraps us in higher moments — call that a sense of fun. Call it art! Paint that with the power of food and sublime moments like watching the sunset fall over the Mississippi River from the bow of the Natchez with the fading background of New Orleans and all those brilliant city lights and the smell of Gulf water and the sound of Dixieland jazz from the Dukes of Dixieland and — lastly but not insignifi- cantly — the respite from our busy lives. Astoria cultures that same feeling. Has the same joie de vivre. Hurley transcends both cities. When he ambles into Tujague’s and orders a good bourbon and an entrée called Gulf Puppy Drum Pontchar- train, he lights up the place with his personality and his sense of being. His spirit invades the district. Soon he is in conversation with strang- ers, or a shrewd bartender named Madge. His refresh- ing persona shifts across the space between Astoria to New Orleans and he seduces the world into a steadier and lovely pace. “I just f------ love my life,” he says. And as he talks and sips and munches, the sun falls over the bayou. Two thousand miles away, that same sun begins its decent over the Pacific Ocean. How happy we were in this southern city! And let the good times roll: Laissez les bon temps rouler. CW
