The Hunt for Smoked Fish

When we checked into the campground on Wednesday, we asked where can we go to get smoked fish?  She told us to ride about 20 miles south on Rte 101 (along the coast) and go to a town called Reedsport and there we will find smoked shops along the water front.  We needed to do grocery shopping so our plan was to look around this town of Florence, then go find the fish.

Sorta of.  We are right at the northern most boundary of the Oregon Sand Dunes, a National Recreation Area, so took a little drive into that area and decided that we will come back and spend a day there.  We  want to see the ATVs running around, and of course, walk over the dunes to see the ocean.

From there we drove south to Reedsport looking for the smoked fish shops.  As we were driving along we saw where the sand dunes have creeped down to the road - looks like they have to really monitor this.  In Reedsport we drove around and found Umpqua Discovery Center, an educational and very informative place where you can learn the history and culture of the area.  Very, very well done.  Amazing that this little town has something like this.  There were murals on every wall and you swear that you were looking at photographs.  A local artist hand painted all the walls with scenes of river life, ocean with big ships coming into port, views of the town that showed store fronts, another mural of sand dunes and the animals and fauna that are there, another mural of the forest with those animals and trees and flowers, and on and on.   The center was constructed in a loop and as you went from one are of information it would flow into the next, 16 different points of interest. We came into a room that was decorated as if we were sitting at the water's edge and it was the theater with different movies you could watch.  We chose to see the one about the seashore and it was 40 minutes long - well done, produced by PBS, narrated by actor Martin Sheen.  It was so good we chose to listen to the weather movie.  Asked the woman at the front desk about the center - she said that schools have trips here - sometimes there are 80 kids at one time.  They have many things to keep the kids busy - like scavenger hunts, exams where they have to find something in the exhibits, plays.  Were not allowed to take pictures.   Here's the link to the center   www.umpquadiscoverycenter.com

The same lady suggested we go 4 miles down the road to Winchester Bay and look for the Coast Guard Station and near there are fresh fish places you could buy.  During the drive I said this is what I think Oregon should look like - lots of trees, misty, very lush.  We were driving along the ocean all this time. As we came into Winchester Bay we noticed that there were at least a 500 RVs (exaggerated)  dry camping at the marina - we could see their generators out, many sitting by them just visiting.  And the main road roped off - found the fish place, and while there asked what was going on.  Told us starting today through Sunday was the Kool Coastal Nights Car show - over 1000 classic cars on display - and you would not be able to drive anywhere in this town.  Now we understand why campgrounds were full around here!  And great timing on our part to avoid that crowd.  Just hope the weather is good for them.