I was lucky enough to meet Lincon City Mayor Lori Hollingsworth at the Oregon Mayor's Association in Salem the other day, but just to keep things on the level we went down to her town for a couple nights just in case anything radical has changed over there.
In 1965 the towns of Cutler City, Delake, Nelscott, Oceanlake, and Taft got together and decided to cause a gigantic summer traffic problem by creating one meandering string of a City called Lincoln, named after a character in the famous David Brin novel "The Postman." Whatever happened to that book, anyway? They should totally make a movie out of it. Known mostly for that gut-wrenching casino breakfast buffet, Lincoln City also supposedly has a kite festival and a "finders keepers" deal where some lucky person hides glass floats on the beach for even luckier people to find and then sell at the shop on the south side of town with the faded sign that says "WE BYE [sic] GLASS FLOATS."
I first began visiting Lincoln City as a 5-year-old, when my parents would take their 2 weeks of vacation a year at the twin pinnacles of 1980s Lincoln City luxury, The Cozy Cove and the Sea Gypsy Motels. My little sister and I would roam around the various motels on the strip stealing the "Do Not Disturb" signs from doorknobs and then proudly displaying them on our own bedroom doorknobs when we got home. I believe people still disturbed us, however, in some sort of full-circle karmic revolution. Those motels still stand today, but I don't stay there for fear that said karmic revolution transcends decades and a maid will see me naked. I want to go through life without a maid seeing me naked. Unless--well, nevermind.
In high school my friends and I would constantly skip out early on Fridays to risk the $50 ticket and camp down where NW 15th Street allows you to drive right on the beach, stealing firewood from rental houses. My friend Tom lost a perfectly good Ford Festiva to an angry sea down there one night, only to have it returned to him the next morning in a slightly more used and barnacle-y condition. I had a first boob-feel down there, but for the life of me I can't remember with whom. Melanie maybe? The only time I ever saw it snowing on the beach was in that town.
That's the thing about Lincoln City, for me: We all have these landmarks in our minds that represent periods in our lives but Lincoln City just seems like a big dry-erase board. You can almost make out what used to be written on it last week, last month, 10 years ago, but not quite because new things have been scrawled over it so many times. Second base and Ford Festivas have had their time and place, but seeing your 22-month old son squeal with delight because he's caught his first hermit crab is indelible.
And yes, I used the word "boob-feel."
Six down, 236 to go. Let's put Lincoln City up on the Big Board!
In high school my friends and I would constantly skip out early on Fridays to risk the $50 ticket and camp down where NW 15th Street allows you to drive right on the beach, stealing firewood from rental houses. My friend Tom lost a perfectly good Ford Festiva to an angry sea down there one night, only to have it returned to him the next morning in a slightly more used and barnacle-y condition. I had a first boob-feel down there, but for the life of me I can't remember with whom. Melanie maybe? The only time I ever saw it snowing on the beach was in that town.
That's the thing about Lincoln City, for me: We all have these landmarks in our minds that represent periods in our lives but Lincoln City just seems like a big dry-erase board. You can almost make out what used to be written on it last week, last month, 10 years ago, but not quite because new things have been scrawled over it so many times. Second base and Ford Festivas have had their time and place, but seeing your 22-month old son squeal with delight because he's caught his first hermit crab is indelible.
And yes, I used the word "boob-feel."
Six down, 236 to go. Let's put Lincoln City up on the Big Board!
Bernadette.
ReplyDeleteNot true, Bryce. That was in Otis, an unincorporated town with no Mayor. Bernadette will have to wait for a totally different blog.
ReplyDelete