101 Things To Do Western Oregon

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Gary and Signe Lawrence are the proud owners of the distinguished Lawrence Gallery, the oldest art gallery in the state of Oregon. The gallery represents the Northwest’s finest artists and features special exhibits by classic masters, such as Salvador Dali, Picasso, Chagall, and more.

The longstanding reputation of the gallery has made “Gary Lawrence” a household word in visual art circles. Through his vision as an artist and entrepreneur, the enduring richness of original art has been brought to more than 50,000 homes and businesses.

The story of the gallery begins in the late 1960s when Lawrence began creating sculptures in metal and bronze. He was the first of twenty-five artists to begin selling work from a home studio in rural Sheridan, Oregon. The success of the studio sales prompted him to open a serious art gallery – not a gift shop.

In 1977, Lawrence Gallery was founded in a century old building located on a stretch of Highway 18, halfway between McMinnville and Sheridan. The building was once a house of ill repute, a country store, and later in the mid 1920s, a community center for the small community of Bellevue. Its presence continues to charm today, with its original fir floors, high ceilings and views of the surrounding fields and vineyards of beautiful Yamhill County.

For almost 40 years, the Lawrence family has made this rural setting in wine country both the epicenter and the Everest of the west coast art scene. Art and Antiques Worldwide Media, LLC, one of the foremost art magazines in the United States, selected Lawrence Gallery as one of only seven best places for building an art collection, and the only gallery chosen on the west coast (most of the others are in New York).

Visitors continually find their way to the gallery while exploring the heart of Oregon’s wine country and traveling along the busiest two lane highway from Portland to the coast. Throughout the year, the gallery offers an outstanding venue to host special events, wedding receptions, and fundraisers as well as monthly and special exhibitions.

Just to be at the gallery is a pleasant experience, where artists and patrons can meet and mix and draw on the Lawrences’ expertise in the acquisition of fine art. Sculptures and water features surround the outside of the building. An outdoor sculpture garden is featured on adjoining property as well as Gary’s recently expanded Northwest Japanese style art studio. He loves to give a tour through the meandering paths and bamboo gardens — a perfect setting for his masterful bronze and metalwork fabrications.

When you visit the gallery you may be greeted by 2 of the most enchanting dogs you could imagine. Salvador Doodle and Molly have a following of their own!

CALL: 503-843-3633

WHERE: 19700 SW Hwy 18 – McMinnville

Google Map

www.lawrencegallery.net

Heading west, at the junction of Highways 38 and 101 you will see the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area offi ce, available for information and permits. To the right (north) is the Umpqua River Bridge spanning the Umpqua River which is second in size to the Willamette River and is navigable by fairly large vesselsas far upstream as Elkton. It is also the state’s largest swing-span bridge and was designed by Conde B. McCullough. To the left (south) is midtown Reedsport where you will find plenty of shopping, several gas stations/convenience stores, restaurants, gift shops and much more. Oregon possesses a wide variety of beautifully colored and grain patterned myrtlewood, and is noted by many as being one of the world’s most beautiful woods.

Downtown, midtown and uptown are connected through beautiful landscaping, wayfi nding signage, and streetscape improvements that add to the community’s character. If you are passing through on your bicycle you can stop at our new Bike Stop Station to rest and learn about the area. If you are traveling with your furry, four-legged best friend be sure to visit our seven acre off-leash Champion Field Dog Park with waste stations, water, and access to Schofield Creek. A small 60 by 100 foot area has been fenced off for use by smaller dogs who are not ready to be off-leash in the larger area. To savor the local cuisine be sure to visit one of the restaurants in midtown for a hearty meal and refreshments. As you cross over the Schofield Bridge (south) and enter uptown Reedsport be sure to stop and explore Lions Park with one of Oregon’s best skateboard and inline skates only parks, because it is an excellent blend of street and tranny. It has a big bowl, an element of pool, a fl uid street section, and of course the funnel. Nearby Highland Pool is open to the public and available for events. A friendly andenjoyable experience awaits you at Forest Hills Golf Course, one of the finest courses on the Oregon Coast. Open to the public and nestled in a beautiful valley in Reedsport, surrounded by many hills, the Oregon Coast wind is not a factor here. This 9-hole course has just the right amount of variety to appeal to every range of golfer, from beginner to expert. And be sure to stop and check out the stores and restaurants before continuing south to Winchester Bay.

So enjoy the spectacular sunsets, harbor lights glistening off the bay in the evenings, some of the best winter storm watching along the Pacific Northwest Coast, beachcombing, crabbing, fishing or just relaxing with a good book and a favorite wine. Enjoy the possibilities, they are nearly endless! For more information, call 541-271-3495 or visit www.reedsportcc.org.

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Come stop in at Laurel Bay’s Garden Center, located three miles north of Florence and just south of the Darlingtonia Botanical Wayside. Walk through the colorful outdoor pottery center, Oregon Coast Pottery, where you’ll fi nd hundreds of quality outdoor pots and statuary. Say “hello” to the koi in the fish pond. Wander the paths on over three acres, and enjoy a botanical paradise. From flowers to Japanese maples, from herbs to rhododendrons and azaleas, there are hundreds of different varieties of landscape trees and shrubs that are suited for many different climate areas in the Pacifi c Northwest. Laurel Bay Gardens carries over 60 varieties of bamboo, including a large selection of clumping bamboo. Have you ever tried an atomic frog ball? Come inside the gift shop and choose from a great selection of Oregon jams, organic shrubs and fruit preserves, along with their famous “atomic frog balls”. Shop for unique gifts such as hand woven myrtlewood baskets made on the Oregon Coast, or try the sea salt soaps. Create your own fairy garden with miniature garden statuary. Pick up a Tillandsia, air plant, for your interior plant spaces. Make a visit to Laurel Bay Gardens, just north of Florence on Hwy 101, where the friendly and knowledgeable staff always looks forward to saying hello!  For more information, call 541-997-5973.

WHERE: 88493 Highway 101 – 3 miles north of Florence

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www.laurelbaygardens.com

In Oregon’s Tillamook County, Highway 101 can be a noisy road, with an especially urgent tone during the height of tourist season. But at the south end of Bay City, there’s a green hideaway where well-made trails allow visitors to leave the highway noise behind — where a parking area offers a portal to the sweet serenity of a rich, soul-nourishing tidal forest along beautiful Tillamook Bay.

That hideaway is the 200-acre Kilchis Point Reserve, where handicapped-accessible trails wind through a wonderland of spruce, alder, hemlock, salal and other native plants, where moss and ferns adorn the forest like nature’s prom decorations, and where the sounds of civilization are replaced by the songs of birds. “I’ve had people cry, come out here and cry about the beauty of it,” said Gary Albright, director of the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, which owns the reserve. “It really is something that touches people’s hearts.”

The land, which grew back into forest after last being logged around 1960, got its start as a reserve in 2002. That was when museum board chair Phyllis Wustenberg’s family — the Watt family of Bay City — made a donation that brought nearly 140 acres into the reserve. The Port of Garibaldi donated 25 acres, other owners donated pieces of land, and the museum bought some smaller parcels and leased 14 acres from the county.

“And then it sat until 2010,” Albright said, while the project went through the process of seeking permits from a wide range of agencies, clearing the high bar that is necessary for any
development in wetlands.

When the last permit was finally in place, changes came with increasing speed. The property has undergone a massive removal of invasive species such as Scotch broom, with native plants regaining their rightful place in the ecosystem. The trails, marked with interpretive signs that educate visitors about flora, fauna, and native and pioneer history, have been finished. Sturdy bridges of Port Orford cedar cross wet areas to keep visitors out of the mud without the need for chemically treated lumber. At the far end of the reserve, a wheelchair ramp leads to a roofed birdwatching platform near the shore of Tillamook Bay.

Kilchis Point — where the Kilchis River flows into the bay — has a rich Native American history. “There were seven tribal communities around the bay, and the largest on the Oregon coast was the 2,200 Indians at Kilchis Point,” Albright said. “You didn’t even have to go hunting. All you could eat was right there. … It was just a plentiful and wonderful area.” But the Tillamook band living there was devastated by diseases after initial contacts with white explorers. By the time the area’s first white settler, Joe Champion, arrived in 1851, the settlement’s population was already down to about 40. (Article written by Scott Gilbert.)

Fishermen’s Wharf in Charleston, Oregon, is a whole experience for seafood lovers, and those who enjoy the picturesque scenery that the Charleston Harbor and Marina have to offer. Located at the foot of “D” Dock, you can walk down the plank to the dock where all the action is and talk to local fishermen who’ve been fishing here for years, some for generations. Charleston irenowned for the variety of fresh-caught seafood, like sweet Dungeness crab, and several varieties of bottom fish caught seasonally throughout the year, along with salmon, tuna and halibut, found in the deeper coastline waters. Ask the folks at Fishermen’s Wharf about the 250 gallon live tank, where you’ll see various seasonal live fish or Dungeness crab. Learn about the latest technology and procedures that preserve the catch in a frozen state, and challenges anyone to tell the difference from that “just-caught” seafood taste. Bring the family and have a picnic at the picnic tables! Watch the boats coming and going… you may even see some sea lions! Fishermen’s Wharf is located at 63534 Kingfisher Rd., “D” Dock in Charleston.

For more information call (541) 888-8862.

www.fishermenswharforegon.com

Ideally located in the heart of Pacific City, Green Acres beach rides actually ride into Bob Straub State Park. The 484-acre park is dedicated to horseback riding and home to the largest Haystack Rock on the Oregon Coast.
Because of the steep dunes and spectacular views, it is a popular destination for horse owners from all over the state. Their location is a two minutes horseback ride to the Ocean and Beach.

Call 541-921-6289 or 541-603-1768 for more information.

www.beach-rides.com

In an age of automation and mechanization, there is Debbie D’s. Tucked away in Tillamook County, she creates sausage using much the same process used by her pioneer ancestors in the 1800′s. Using superb quality, lean, ground Oregon beef, flavored with hand-blended fresh herbs, and her great grandfather’s, grandfather’s and great uncle’s recipe’s she has made a very special sausage line. Low in fat and sodium, with a minimum of preservatives, this is a sausage for the health conscious diets of today. With the exception of Teriyaki Beef Stick, all products are made with no M.S.G. They are lightly smoked in small batches to preserve their unique fresh qualities. Select a variety of products from hot and spicy to a very today teriyaki. Try chubs and sticks, links, or their notorious “cow pies”. Jerky is delicious and not just beef.

Also try the salmon jerky. Salmon is their specialty. Smoked salmon with the Debbie D label is spectacular in both flavor and texture. Debbie D’s will happily fill your orders in their retail store, or by mail. They ship all over
the US, or just next door. See their ad on this page or stop in and meet Debbie.

You can also visit their website at www.debbiedssausage.com, or call 503-842-2622.