A mizzly afternoon seemed like a fine time to watch an artisan ply his craft so I drove over to The Alder House. The studio sits in a wild meadow on the southern edge of the Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It seems an inspiring place to create art as there is beauty both inside and outside the building.

The day of my visit Treasure was the glassblower on duty, capably assisted by his wife Michelle. Both were welcoming and patient with my barrage of questions. (Hey, in my defense, I’m a very curious person.) I was so captivated by the transformation of molten blobs of glass that I stayed to watch multiple pieces.

Glassblowing has been a big part of Lincoln City for decades (The Alder House opened in 1971). I imagine in the early years some of the glass art was inspired by the Japanese glass fishing floats that washed ashore. The North Lincoln County Historical Museum has a huge display of glass floats of all sizes that were found on local beaches.

The Japanese glass floats are highly prized by collectors but are rarely found any more since most floats are now made of other materials, like plastic. Some coastal towns have cashed in on the craze by placing locally-made glass floats on their beaches. Lincoln City has elevated the concept with their Finders Keepers campaign; during winter and spring they place around 3,000 colorful orbs on the beaches.

The last drop for the season was Memorial Day weekend, so I’ll have to wait until mid-October for my chance to find one. Perhaps I’ll find one made by Treasure, since he’s one of several local glassblowers that create the orbs for the city. A glass float by Treasure would be something to treasure!

Rose, in progress

Rose, changing color as it starts to cool

Blowing a sphere

Shaping with wet newspaper

Shaping a ball of glass

Adding colorful, raised spiral

Adding frit

Blowing and shaping a vase

Reheating vase rim

Trimming vase rim

Adding vase rim

Treasure and Michelle working the ovens

Spent Crucible of glass

Alder House Sign

A few weeks back I scratched my itch to wander by driving the Three Capes Scenic Route. This used to be branded as the Three Capes Loop but a section of road north of Cape Meares collapsed in a landslide in 2013 and ODOT doesn’t have the funds necessary to rebuild it. Thankfully, I have my memories from driving the route in years past.

Since I was heading up from the south, my first cape was Cape Kiwanda by Pacific City. Next up was Cape Lookout but before I reached it a small sign by the road announced that the Jacobsen Salt Company was open. Ever curious, I pulled in to check it out. In the small gift shop I learned that Ben Jacobsen started the company in 2011 by pumping up water from Netarts Bay at high tide.

As they proudly proclaim, they are the first salt works on the Oregon Coast since the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805. There’s quite a bit of effort involved in reducing seawater to fluffy, white flakes. In the early days of civilization, salt was a precious commodity and if you’d like a fascinating, in-depth look at this mineral that we keep on our tables I highly recommend reading Salt by Mark Kurlanksy.

My last stop was the lighthouse at the Cape Meares Scenic State Viewpoint. Though decommissioned in 1963, the lighthouse (built in 1889) has been carefully restored. The lighthouse’s revolving Fresnel lens produced a specific “characteristic“: 30 seconds of white light followed by a five second red flash. On good nights, the light could be seen 21 nautical miles away.

It was warm up by the lens during my tour courtesy of a sunny afternoon, imagine the intense heat back when the light was powered by burning oil! Overall, it was a lovely way to spend a day.

Jacobsen Salt Co Sign

Boiling Vats for Salt

Cape Meares Light

Nesting Colony Islands

Thimbleberry Flower

Lighthouse Interior Detail

Lighthouse Stairs

Wheels for Rotating the Lens

Signature Red Lens

Looking into Fresnel Lens

Shortest Lighthouse in Oregon

No Jakes Sign

Speaking of the moon reminded me of La Luna, a Pixar short from 2011. I love this sweet story and I think you’ll enjoy it, too.

The middle of the month I headed down to Newport to check out the visiting tall ships. Both the Hawaiian Chieftain and the Lady Washington were in port for a short stay. As an admitted Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl fan I just had to tour the HMS Interceptor (Lady Washington’s screen name).

Biggest takeaway? Even though she is a full-scale replica of an actual brig with the same name (one that, incidentally, opened the black pearl trade with Asia), she’s small!

Other sights from the bay: the Never Again #9, sorting bins for Dungeness Crab, extra-long Sea Lion whiskers, rope flotsam, rocks at low tide, green waves.