Readers and writers are lucky. We get to visit all sorts of exotic places in the pages of books, and sometimes, are literary travels take us to real places we might not otherwise visit.
This weekend I had the honor of being the visiting writer at the Manzanita Writers Series in Manzanita, Oregon. A small beach town on the majestic Oregon coast, it is a place whose residents are deeply committed to reading and writing. Visiting this gem reminds me that there are beautiful small towns all across the globe filled with awesome sights and wonderful people.
So tag along with me on my trip to Manzanita Beach, and tell me, where is your favorite small town or the one you most want to visit?
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| Manzanita Beach, OR |
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| Amazing jelly fish I found on my beach walk. |
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| The Writers Series sign |
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| If there is a candy store in town, I will find it! |
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| The local bookshop, which thrives thanks to dedicated readers. |
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| The view overlooking Manzanita Beach |
What a lovely town, Ingrid . . . small towns are really quite a blessing. And I love that the people love to read . . . the bookshop sign definitely made me smile.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in college, I spent my summers living with my grandmother in Ocean Grove, a small town on the shore. Founded in 1869 as part of the camp meeting movement in the United States, the land is still owned by the camp meeting association, making the town the longest-active camp meeting site in the United States. Until 1981, there were no cars allowed on the streets on Sunday, which helped to create a close-knit community. At least six presidents visited the town over the years; the Great Auditorium, built in 1894, remains the town’s most prominent feature and continues to be the centerpiece of its summer programs. The architecture throughout the town is Victorian and the town is a State and National Historic District . . . .
I love the idea of limiting cars and how that creates a sense of community. During the summer, cars aren't allowed on the main street through Pike Place Market, and even that changes the sense of scale, despite the surrounding skyscrapers.
DeleteIngrid, what a beautiful place you've spent time in. I have yet to visit the far western states of Oregon or Washington, but I'd love to. That jelly fish is awesome. With the gorgeous scenery, a bookstore, and a great supply of candy, Manzanita Beach looks like a good place to land for a bit.
ReplyDeleteI actually think that my small town pick would have to be the town I grew up in, Maysville, Ky. It's on the Ohio River, with interesting architecture, great food, great people, and such a wonderful sense of community. I may be influenced by the fact that I was just reading over my transparent pie recipe for Thanksgiving, and transparent pie is a Maysville thing. George Clooney even visits the bakery that makes the pies when he's in town (his parents live right outside of Maysville). It's quite a picturesque little place of around 10,000 people.
What is a transparent pie, Kathy?
DeleteJust found this, very interesting! http://www.mycountrytable.com/transparent-pie/
DeleteIngrid, Judi answered your question with the link. Thanks, Judi. It's the same link I have posted on my FB page. The article is about Maysville's Historic Transparent Pie, telling the difference between other pies it may be confused with and showing in pictures just how to fix the perfect transparent pie.
DeleteI miss Marblehead, Massachusetts along with Salem where I did most of my growing up. I miss swimming in the harbor there and the character of old town where we were from, generations back, my father's and his ancestors being seamen and my mother's family from Salem and Quebec. It's very different from where I live right now. I plan on moving back one day.
ReplyDeleteMy hometown! I miss it, too!
DeleteYes!
DeleteLove Manzanita. My sons' cousins' grandmother lives there, well into her nineties and still living in her own house. Must be the beach air!
ReplyDeleteI think it is, Edith! Someone told me last night about a ninety-something year old who changed book clubs because the members of her original one were too old!
DeleteWhat is it about Oregon! So many writers!
ReplyDeleteI have a soft spot for Peaks Island, a short ferry road from Portland Maine. My daughter and her husband have a little summer house there and they were married on the island. Such a nice escape especially in the sleepier time of fall and spring.
Slightly off-season is particularly nice is some small towns. The locals here tell me that Fourth of July is a nightmare, and they flee for the weekend.
DeleteI love Peaks too! I'm in North Conway. The village area is quite nice with the Victorian train station behind Schouler Park and the views of Mt. Washington and the Moats.
DeleteCount me in for Peaks, too. I lived there year-round for a dozen years a decade ago, and still visit often. This fall I had a full week there writing in a 100-year-old cottage up in the woods. Sublime.
DeleteHow lovely, Ingrid. The perfect spot for a Jungle Red retreat. I love small beach towns along the Pacific coast... Capitols is a favorite for me. And did you read that beaches are essential for mental well being?
ReplyDeleteWouldn't that be a great weekend for writers and readers, Rhys? What a cool idea. I'll bet you could get the local literary group to sponsor it, but I don't know if they'd let you "retreat." I'd buy a ticket for that!
DeleteSounds like a great idea!
DeleteOooo! Love the Oregon coast! I drove through Manzanita Beach once, when I was nursing a broken heart. That may have been the place where I had the best clam chowder ever. Now I wish I'd taken some time to stay.
ReplyDeleteI think every small town has its own character and I enjoy exploring them. I recently had the pleasure of visiting Burnsville and Bakersville, North Carolina. They are two mountain towns populated by a lot of artists, so there are galleries and interesting people nearly everywhere you turn, plus spectacular scenery. I also have a soft spot in my heart for Hamilton, New York, home to Colgate University, and just the perfect small college town, with a village green, interesting architecture, concerts and farmers markets on the green, a great coffee shop, interesting history, and really nice people.
College towns are great, Gigi. They have a great energy with all those eager minds!
DeleteThis is so gorgeous! And what a restful peaceful inspirational spot. Every time I go to Truro Massachusetts, I feel like that… A little enclave on the Cape . But of course you have to battle through the rest of the crazy hilarious Cape to get there.
ReplyDeleteHank, I just watched a program last night (it was a rerun) on the murder in Truro of fashion writer Christa Worthington in 2005. It was the first murder in 30 years there, and it was quite the sensation, partly because of the anomaly of anything bad like that happening in such a beautiful, serene place.
DeleteI'm a Cape native so I love all the of Cape towns and I'm trying to decide which one to move back to. Mom is in Sandwich, I grew up in Falmouth. If you grow up in a beach town you're spoiled for anywhere else.
DeleteAnd oh, Castellani in Chianti.It felt sort of like we were still prewar time…
ReplyDeleteI really want to go, is,… is that off the coast of Oregon? Where Snow Falling on Cedars took place?
Or Washington State? I'm not sure, but it's definitely the Pacific Northwest, Hank.
DeleteCastellini in Chianti is so lovely, Hank. And has diverse attractions: view, climate, history, architecture, food, wine, light. Flowers! I loved spending time there.
DeleteThe setting for Snow Falling on Cedars is San Pedro, a fictional island set in Puget Sound. I feel in my heart he was writing about Vashon Island.
DeleteI love poking around small towns, especially looking in junk shops and used book stores. I love the old roadside attractions from the 1950's; the world's largest frying pan -- Long Beach Washington-- the Paul Bunyan and Babe Colossus in Biminji MN, and of course, Gatorland. The biggest ball of string is still on my bucket list. Maybe we should hold the retreat in this small town? Think of the mysteries that could be developed from that topic. Small towns and road side attractions who could ask for anything more?
ReplyDeleteThe ball of string poses many questions, Coralee! That's for sure!
DeleteNow I'm hitting the road, driving up the beautiful coast. I'll check in once I'm back in the Emerald City!
ReplyDeleteI love small towns much more than cities, and our favorite driving trips have been an endless discovery of wonderful places in France, Canada, the US, and a little bit in England. We were in Canada in the Eastern Townships in September, Louise Penny's Three Pines inspiration. But I have to say my favorite is the place where I grew up, far as you can get from oceans and mountains -- unless you count the Ozarks -- Weston, Mo.
ReplyDeletehttp://westonmo.com/?page=shopping
I had no idea when I left there in 1959, to get married, that my little home town would turn into a destination! It was declared a historical district in 1972, and a whole tourist economy has sprung up, giving life to what was then moribund.
Have a look, and if ever you are in Kansas City, consider a short trip north.
And, Coralee, it is the home of the largest ball of string in the world, or so they say! It's about 20 feet in diameter and growing.
DeleteI've been to Weston. Even before they tried to "tourist" it up, it was a very cool town.
DeleteReally Gigi!
DeletePaso Robles, California is a charming small town, surrounded by vineyards. Lawrence, Kansas is another lovely place, with one of the best downtowns I've ever been to.
ReplyDeleteCharlevoix, Michigan has charm galore, especially in the sunny summertime, with boats traveling into and out of the pretty little harbor lake. Last summer we spent a long, lazy afternoon at the restaurant by the bridge, watching the boats go back and forth while sipping chilled wine and eating delicious food.
I'm intrigued by Lawrence, Kansas. I'm not familiar with it.
DeleteIt's the home of the University of Kansas, Ingrid.
DeleteOh, so hard to say! Cape May, but it would have to be the Cape May of my childhood. Not sure it exists anymore. Truro, MA too, but as Hank said, getting there is a bit of a challenge. Stella Maris, would also be perfect, and Old Orchard Beach, ME off season - delectable!
ReplyDeleteOff season definitely can make the difference, Kait!
DeleteGrowing up in Toronto, I consider any place with less than 50,000 people as "small" but that may be too large for the rest of you. So for a real small town that I have visited, I would pick Lunenberg, Nova Scotia. Lunenberg has a population of only 3,000 and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with colourful historic homes, fishing and shipbuilding industries, and great restaurants.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds lovely, Grace!
DeleteI'll be in Eureka Springs, Arkansas for an event in May, which I haven't visited in ten years. I'm looking forward to seeing if it is still as lovely as I remember it. It's an arty town in the beautiful Ozark Mountains, with wonderful old houses, galleries, bookshops, and restaurants. And the scenery is spectacular. I was so enchanted with Eureka Springs twenty years ago that I wanted to move there. Rick reminded me that I have to travel and that the nearest regional airport is an hour and a half away by roads that might not be driveable in winter. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteSteve and I love Eureka Springs. My first-year English teacher, and now old friend, comes from there!
DeleteAnd even then, Debs, it's either Tulsa or Springfield, and neither of those airports are exactly DFW when it comes to international travel. Eureka Springs is pretty, though.
DeleteThis is off topic but fun. We have a little privately funded library in North Conway NH. They have a program where you can adopt an author which means you agree to buy all of that author's works and there is a label inside with your name.
ReplyDeleteI've just "adopted" Ann Cleeves since I complained that she was underrepresented. So I get to buy and read all of her books and share them with other mystery fans here.
That is such a great idea, Sharyn! I love it!
DeleteWow!
DeleteJust realized I hadn't read any of Ingrid's book. Will remedy that immediately.
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