bobanddenisewanderlust

Sunday June 12- Florence, north to South Beach, just south of Newport. We left the South Jetty Thousand Trails at about 9:30, driving north on Hwy 101. Here is a picture of the tunnel we had to take the motor home through.

The center is 14’6”, but the sides are 11’6”, (we are about 12’10”, so our guideline is nothing less than 13’) so we had to stay to the center of the
tunnel.

Once we set up, we ate lunch, and then took the dogs for a walk. It was starting to sprinkle, and by the time we returned to the motor home it was a steady rain, which only became worse. While on our walk, we stopped by the South Clubhouse, which is the main building. They have a nice little store. I checked out the book exchange, which is pitiful! I might just donate some books just to bring it up to having a selection! We returned to the motor home, I read some, and Bob worked on getting the satellite working and seeing if we could pick up any local over the
air stations. We are getting two, which will at least give us a weather report.

At 4:30, we drove to Newport, about 2-3 miles north. Newport  is a resort town, built around Nye Beach. We drove through the Old Bayfront area,
then out through town, then back to the Old Bayfront area for dinner. It was still pouring rain! We went to Mo’s for dinner. There was a Mo’s in Florence, but Bob had read restaurant reviews and the reviews were not good. We had heard from other people that Mo’s was very good, so we decided to go to this Mo’s, as it is also the original Mo’s. This is a little local restaurant. There are currently 6 Mo’s along the coast, from Florence north to Cannon Beach. The restaurant was very simple. I asked the waitress if Mo was still alive; no, she died in 1992, at age 79. The waitress brought me a brochure about Mo and the restaurant. Mo, Mohava Marie Niemi was described as Newport’s crusty, big hearted, chain smoking town mother. She divorced, and had to support her two sons, so she ran the restaurant and worked on a radio show to make ends meet. One day, a women drove her car right into the restaurant. She put her arm around the distraught woman’s shoulder and said that she would put in a garage
door so that the lady could drive in any time. That is why there are garage doors in the front of the restaurant.

The one next to our table was closed, but the one at the entrance was open. Mo’s clam chowder is very well known. Turns out lots of dignitaries visit the restaurant. Bobbie Kennedy stopped in at the restaurant in 1968, on his way to LA, and asked Mo to go with him to LA. She declined, and then later regretted saying no. This was just before his assassination. The clam chowder was a featured entrée at the Smithsonian’s first luncheon which celebrated “ Best American Regional Foods”. The family is still running the business, with her granddaughter in charge and her great-granddaughter next in line to take over the business. Bob said the chowder was okay (it was very thick) but not his favorite. Both of our dinners were excellent. I had shrimp skewers, there were 3 , 5 shrimp each, with rice pilaf. Bob had a combo platter with shrimp, clams, calamari, and cod, with mash potatoes. Both came with big, thick slices of fresh bread with butter. Bob had the clam chowder and I had the salad, which was bay shrimp over cabbage with
ranch dressing. Different, but surprisingly good. Mine cost $ 9.95! Bob’s was $11.95. We are planning to go there again!

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