Crab Shack Part 1

 

We slogged through the afternoon-before-Thanksgiving traffic and picked Sam up at the airport (after a UPS miracle in which we needed to leave the house at noon and the delivery which was scheduled for “before noon” actually happened), then drove to our Cannon Beach rental, the historic Captain Kellogg house (1905) currently DBA the Crab Shack. Oh my goodness is it a sweet little house. It sits on Ocean Avenue, which is the gravel drive that runs along the dunes between midtown and downtown, and has huge windows that look out on the ocean and the dunes, and a lovely view of Haystack rock. Inside it has 3 bedrooms, 1 down 2 up. We’ve taken the 1 down because it has the en suite bathroom (although the bed is so close to the wall that you have to turn your feet sideways to get in and out) and Josh and Jen have the other kingsize bed in the front room upstairs, where the view is breathtaking. Sam kindly took the room with the queen bed.

We unpacked and headed over to Castaways for dinner (Castaways is my favorite!, says Sam). As we were leaving I looked back at the picture windows and thought they weren’t level. We decided it was just that the shades weren’t pulled up correctly. Josh and Jen met us there. We did excellent ordering (covering 5 of the 7 entrees) and enjoyed our food and drink very much. Dave’s oaxacan style pork cheeks were the definite winner; I should have gotten the jerk chicken instead of the beef stroganoff.

Back to the house to sample the pies (what if they needed to be replaced?) and watch Garfield Thanksgiving, then time to hang out.I got out the Boynton Hidden Cows puzzle which is way harder than I thought it would be, but we worked on it and got much of it done. Jen is a very good puzzler so we let her do the hard parts.

Our bed has a memory foam mattress. It feels so weird when you sit on it and it just… subsides.

Things we forgot, or thought about but didn’t bring: Dave’s pirate flag, a jacket for Sam, long underwear, the hat Lynn made for Rachel, canned cranberry sauce.

Thanksgiving morning: 

Dave and I were up first, of course, which is another good reason for us being downstairs.  We went out to the living room and turned on the fire, then spent some time looking out the windows. In the light it is obvious that the house is, in fact, on a tilt – the line of the windows isn’t parallel to the horizon. Which explains why most of the doors, including the cabinet doors, have latches on them – it’s not to make it seem more nautical, it’s because none of them would stay closed otherwise.

We had a little breakfast and went for a walk on the beach. We were able to find the beach thanks to the very good directions in the house how-to book: Go out the living room door. Head west. It’s supposed to rain, but it was partly cloudy and very windy. The sun was peeking out from between the clouds on and off, and the tide was about halfway out. No sand report due to the height of the tide. We walked along the beach down to Tolovana with the wind blowing fiercely into our faces. When we turned around it was like having a gentle hand pushing you from behind, which was nice. Meanwhile Sam walked over to Sleepy Monk for some coffee and then got a little lost coming home, but found her way after we sent her the address. We found out later that Josh had seen her walk past, and then when she walked by again he opened the window and called out “Are you looking for this house?”

I want to pause here a moment and talk about the loss of wolves, the apex predator who would normally keep mammals of the order Artiodactyla- the hoofed mammals with an even number of toes on each foot, and the suborder Ruminanti (cud chewers) such as cows, deer, and elk – in check. Because this year we’ve had a tough time with them – the drive to Lava Beds in August, when both cows and deer tried to crash into our car; my car’s unfortunate encounter with one in September, and seeing herds of elk when we stayed at Schooner’s Cove. I mention this because we had a very close encounter with a small herd this morning as they were out for a morning run on the beach. It’s one thing to see them in the distance or from a car; it’s a completely other thing when you’re on the beach and they thunder past.

We got back from our walk and the kids were out on a quest for canned cranberry sauce and ingredients for grandma salad. It turns out that neither the sauce nor the mini-marshmallows for the salad are available in Cannon Beach. Josh says he’ll be ok. The view from the chairs in front of the window is enchanting, and the people (and dog) watching is the best. Dave says I shouldn’t wave at people but I think it’s like being on a boat.