Tuesday, September 11, 2018

9/8 Bandon, OR, Cranberry Festival

I came here because I like Bandon and the nearby Bullard's Beach State Park, not because of the cranberry festival.  However, when I ordered some bakery good to pick up and freeze on Saturday, I found out about the festival.  That presented problems because the main part of the old town would be blocked off ,and I would need to park a long way away and ride my bike.  That actually worked out fairly well.  I found a place to park along a quiet street, got my bike off the back, and off I went.


I intercepted the local parade and had to ride alongside it.  Lot of space, but danger in riding along a parade is that you get hit with a lot of candy!  It seems like everyone riding on a float or walking alongside had a bucket of candy.  Lot of the kids watching the parade also had buckets to store what they picked up.

The high school, local clubs, and a lot of local businesses participated, so for a very small town, it was a very long parade.  I took a shortcut down to the old town area.  

However, the parade took a left a block further along and then went down the hill and through the old town area, so I got to see the front part of the parade.  This is the high school band.  Sorry for the lens cover in the right corner--it sometimes sticks. 

The old town area is along the harbor and is filled with tourist things like shops and restaurants. 

This is my favorite street of the two main streets in old town because it has a great bakery at the end.  And a very nice bookstore which carries a lot of little things you can use for stocking stuffers. 


 The building at the end is the farmer's market.  Lots of handmade crafts and vegetables and such.  I bought some prune plums and tomatoes.

This is the parking lot where I usually park my motorhome when I come here, but it was filled with another group of stalls.  It normally has four or five longer parking spots designated specifically for RVs.  

The harbor has a boat launching platform and lots of places to tie up boats.  There are a row of restaurants and fishing supply shops near here where you can buy or rent crab pots.  The other day I had bought a cup of excellent clam chowder, so picked up a whole quart on my way to where I had locked my bike.  Will refrigerate or freeze it. 

The harbor also has a lot of carved wood sculptures.  Nice place to go for a walk. 

Lot of interesting carved wood benches, also. 
 

This is the entrance to the harbor. 

Bullard's Beach State Park is on the other side of the harbor, and you can see the lighthouse that is on park property.  It is manned by state park volunteers, so you can even go inside it.   
Bandon is one of the small towns along U.S. 101 that most people just drive through without going down to the older area and harbor.  Personally, it is one of my favorite towns along the Washington and Oregon Coast, and I strongly recommend you take an hour of your drive and go through the arches to the old town area!  Park along the harbor and walk around, and then stop at one of the small seafood restaurants, and eat outside or in.  

Then, stop at the store that sells various gel candies, the bakery, the book store, and the toy store, at the least! Here is a list of shops I like:
There are several little seafood shops along the harbor boardwalk, but I got the clam chowder from The Bandon Fish Market.  https://www.bandonfishmarket.com/

And, if you can do this on a sunny day, that is a real bonus!!   

No comments:

Post a Comment