Travel Bits and Pieces

 

5/29/22 Maytown rest area in Washington, where we stopped for a 
picnic lunch.

Although we didn’t travel far, and the locations were not new to us, this was only our second trip since the Before Times (our first was last September to Ocean Shores), so it felt special. It was a relaxing, rejuvenating week. The beach was familiar, but we had new experiences on either end of Cannon Beach: Staying in two McMenamins hotels in historic buildings, one in Portland and one in Centralia, Wash. Nicely appointed with original antiques and reproductions, they are fun buildings to visit, but the interiors are dark and sometimes difficult to sketch. I did sketch a lamp in each, however, since fanciful, ornate lighting seems to be a McMenamins thing.

This last post is a catch-all of bits and pieces that didn’t fit into the previous posts. I don’t have many stories here, but I put a few comments in the cutlines (including my hotel recommendations). I also included a few photos from the two McMenamins hotels (which I had to brighten digitally quite a bit to compensate for the dim lighting everywhere).

5/30/22 lamp in our room at McMenamins
Kennedy School, Portland

5/30/22 Cannon Beach sunset

5/31 and 6/1/22 Cannon Beach sunsets

A variety of Cannon Beach bits sketched during the week

6/3/22 lamp in our room at McMenamins Olympic Club
Hotel, Centralia

6/4/22 view from our room at the Olympic Club

A haiku painted on the wall was part of the lovely decor in our Kennedy School Hotel room. We loved this hotel and highly recommend it!

Hallway art at Kennedy School

An original blackboard in our Kennedy School room
invites guests to write and doodle. How could I resist?

The chifferobe in our Kennedy School room.

Other McMenamins hotels offer basic Bic pens as room giveaways. The Kennedy School has a more appropriate souvenir that I was thrilled to take home!

Some of the many lamps decorating the Kennedy
School's Courtyard Restaurant.

Guest rooms in McMenamins Olympic Club Hotel
do not have bathrooms. Instead, guests use "shared
private" baths and WCs down the hall. Imagining
a bank of stalls like a public restroom, I was skeptical
of the "shared private" oxymoron, but they 
were actually fine. Each bathroom was, indeed, private,
 and cleaned and attended to very regularly.

Hallway on the Olympic Club guest floor.

Lamp in our Olympic Club room.

Our room was dedicated to Joe Robinson, a local entrepreneur who "gave material expression to his faith in the future of Centralia" by building the Olympic Club Hotel in 1913. Although the shared baths and toilets were down the hall, each room had its own sink. The Olympic Club Hotel is fun to visit, but I do NOT recommend staying here. The Amtrak and freight trains visible from the hotel run all night long, whistling loudly as they approach the nearby station. Kitchen, bar and billiard room noises from downstairs went late into the night, too. I heard it all through the earplugs that were conveniently but uselessly provided.