A Midsummer Coastal Escape

From our ferry, watching a ferry cruise past us as we head to San Juan Island.

Central Oregon is hot in July and wildfires are burning throughout the state, but then hundreds of places in the US are hot and battling wildfires. Fires have become a part of life in the west. Climate change. Global warming.

To break up the summer, get out of the heat, and visit some family, R and I headed to the Oregon coast and then made our way to the San Juan Islands to cycle and finally on to Victoria, BC. I’ve learned that when we are on the road, I must pack some food which I did for the first day or so and that as we move from place to place, I need a list of restaurants that serve safe, gluten-free food.

How’d we do? We stayed two nights in Astoria, Oregon where I safely ate at the Bridgewater Bistro  (www.bridgewaterbistro.com) though apparently I was so hungry I failed to snap photos. The Bridgewater Bistro offers excellent seafood, including delicious gluten-free fish cakes and gluten-free bread (extra charge for the bread).

From Astoria, we headed to the Swinomish Casino & Lodge in Anacortes, a nice place to stay when one is booked the next day on an early ferry to the San Juan Islands.

The lodge, located about 20 minutes from the ferry port, has an excellent, though pricey restaurant, 13Moons. I ordered a salad, beautifully grilled halibut with fresh vegetables and we enjoyed a view of Swinomish Channel while eating dinner.

Pricey, fresh delicious halibut. 

Off we were the next day on an early ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, a place known for its seafood and easy living.  Who knew we’d find a great restaurant with lots of gluten-free, plant based options in this island community. Mike’s Cafe and Wine Bar (mikescafeandwinebar.com) offers an excellent menu for people like me. Both times we ate at Mike’s I ordered sweet potato tacos, yummy tacos of seasoned potato wedges, black beans, corn, and vegan sour cream. Yum. Really, you cannot believe how good these tacos are.

Unbelievable sweet potato tacos. Looking forward to making these at home…..

Our other favorite at Mike’s was the Thai Crunch Salad, a combination of cabbage, onion, and edamame tossed with peanut sauce and peanuts. Heavenly.

We also enjoyed huge, fresh prawns at the Cask & Schooner.  The service was good and the servers knowledgable about celiac.

After several days of cycling and eating on the islands, we headed by ferry to Victoria, BC. Truly, it is probably difficult to have a bad meal in Victoria, whether you are a gluten- free, veganish-pescatarian or not. Some faves were Cafe México (cafemexico.com) were I ate superb salmon tacos and vegetarian black beans and The Tapa Bar (tapabar.ca) a place we shared prawns, both spicy and garlic, prepared with a Spanish flare and washed down with delicious Tempranillo.

We loved the Tapa Bar and these spicy prawns. And the wine wasn’t bad, either.

On our last night in Victoria, we enjoyed a more intimate meal, this time with our aunt (my side) and uncle who, as always, treated us royally. That evening included wine, sautéed scallops, a view of Vic harbor and lots of catching up and chat about travel and life. Best meal of the trip.

My beautiful aunt Toots, 83 years young.