Gearhart Hotel & Sand Trap Pub

Location: Carye & I took a trip to Gearhart Hotel & Sand Trap Pub on the coast. I've stayed here before the Project and remembered enjoying it. This time, the weather was very similar, but I had company!

Fellow travelers: Carye Bye, an artist who is always up to explore strange & wonderful places.

Favorite light: As soon as we walked in the door, Carye realized she knew the artist who made these stained glass lamps: her friend Mary Tapogna! So of course they are (all) my favorite light for this location. (But yes, the first one is quite spectacular.)

Favorite art: I have a confession: I don't even like golf. And there's a lot of golf-themed art at this location.  But I do like anything that encourages curious questions, so I liked this art:

And if golf required more funny hats like this, I might enjoy it more:

And if you're going to have golf balls in your art, transform them into thistles, yes:

I also loved the glass art at this location: the focus lens window dividers (like the ones at the Old Church in Wilsonville!) and the stained glass.

 

And finally: Hehn! This location is when I realized that yes, Hehn is probably my favorite McMenamins artist. Or at least, when I see his style I immediately know it is a McMenamins painting. I love his use of symbolism and surrealism.

Food: Carye bought me pasta & a milkshake for dinner! In the morning we ordered room service and watched the golfers tee off. I thought I might have the crab cakes but ended up saving them for Lincoln City (spoilers!).

Passport stamps: Sand Trap Pub, Gearhart hotel, Pot Bunker Bar. The Pot Bunker bar wasn't open the day we arrived so I was afraid I was going to miss it on this trip, but fortunately it was open the next day.

The photo clue & response were tough: there's a lot of history to comb through in the downstairs area. One of the other patrons was getting very frustrated.

Because I completed a new Passport page, I was eligible for a "Livingstone's Choice." I picked a Sand Trap golf towel to give to my dad for Father's Day.

Lodging: Instead of staying two nights, we stayed overnight in a room w/ a balcony. I think that was a good choice, especially the next morning as we watched the golfers below us as we ate breakfast:

Other items of note:

• It turns out McMenamins doesn't actually own this location! They lease it from the condo place, which is owned by Columbia sportswear.
• This location isn't on the beach (though apparently former versions of this hotel were), but the beach is only a block away. This is one of those strange spots in Oregon where you can actually drive on the beach, which seems totally ridiculous to me. But I tried it, anyway.

Explorations:

• Carye & I stopped by Camp18 on the way out, which I have never done. But we spent much longer there than I ever would have expected be cause there was so much to see, including a water tower to climb and a little trail by the river.

• We spent the next day in Seaside exploring the end of the Oregon Trail, carousels, mini golf, kites, shark rides, a strange game of table tennis, and playing Fascination at the arcade.