relaxedGiven Lisa's injured foot, we were very grateful to get a room on the ground floor. It overlooks the estuary of the Necanicum River that bisects the city of Seaside. The convention center is across the river from our hotel, and we look down on the small rental-watercraft area on the river.
After moving our stuff to the room and making sure there was nothing urgent on the e-mail, we walked a short distance down and across the street to Holladay Drug (Holladay being the name of the street in front of the hotel) and bought a wrap bandage and oversize socks for Lisa. Although the swelling in her toe has gone down, it still significantly hampers her mobility. Returning to the hotel, Lisa shed the shoe on that foot and fashioned a sort of walking cast from the socks and bandages. She found this much easier on which to walk and far less painful on her poor toe.
They roll the sidewalks up here in Seaside pretty early -- before the sun sets, at this time of the year with twilight lasting past 9 PM -- so we needed to get dinner much earlier than is usual for us. Fortunately, right out the back door near our room is the Lil' Bayou Restaurant, which serves a mix of Cajun-style and not-so-Cajun dishes. We need both because while I adore Cajun food, Lisa can't stand much in the way of spices. So I ended up having to add hot pepper sauce to my crawfish etouffee (which was otherwise good), while Lisa enjoyed the Holladay chicken, a specialty of the house.
This was also Kuma Bear's birthday dinner. I'll let Kuma describe that part, including a picture of him. No fresh salmon for Bears, though.
We didn't have desert, although we briefly considered it, because one of our treats coming out here is Zinger's Ice Cream, about which more in a minute. We slowly made our way down Broadway -- Lisa can walk, but not quickly, and having one foot in a shoe and the other wrapped in bandages makes her wobble -- to the Lewis and Clark Monument. Normally we would have gone out on the beach for a walk, and it was a great evening for it -- no wind, calm seas, and just about the right temperature -- but it's not indicated with Lisa's mobility impairment. We looped around the monument and went back to downtown Seaside's arcade, which once was wonderful but is today a ghost of its former shelf. All of the games appear to be in poor condition. Knowing that the pinball machines in Long Beach will be in proper repair, we didn't drop any quarters here and instead crossed the street to Zinger's.
At Zinger's Ice Cream, we both tried the Bananas Foster Ice Cream, possibly because we had considered the dessert of the same name at Lil' Bayou, but I settled on New York Cheesecake while Lisa -- who doesn't have to worry about sugar the way I do -- had Caramel Cashew and Maple Walnut. Alas, they no longer make no-sugar-added ice cream and fudge, but I decided to risk it, and we also bought some chocolate-and-peanut-butter fudge to take back with us.
Returning once again to the hotel, Lisa sent me off for a walk, saying I needed to walk off that ice cream (she's probably right). I walked down to the site of the hotel where she and I used to stay in Seaside before they leveled the hotel and built condominiums. As far as I can tell, they've still not managed to sell more than one or two of the units. I find it hard to believe that tearing down the little hotel, dumpy as it was at times, was the best decision, although doubtless the owners of the hotel made out like bandits and left Windemere holding the bag.
After standing slightly wistfully in the spot that was the bedroom of my "usual cottage," I walked over to Safeway and bought a small amount of groceries before going back to the Holiday Inn Express. The hotel has far less character than the old Riverside West Cottages, but I do get frequent-stay points, and it's very convenient to the Seaside Convention Center, which is just as well given Lisa's limited range.
The hotel's pool and hot tub here are open 24 hours, which I think is a wonderfully civilized thing. In a few minutes, Lisa and I plan to see if a good soak in the hot tub will make her foot feel better.