...&: Awesome 25-27: Doin' Florence

10/23/09

Awesome 25-27: Doin' Florence

Posted by k. mcnally at 9:52 AM

Florence, OR is a special coastal town I grew up going to. My family used to have a junky old trailer (dubbed ‘the Brady Bunch Cabin’ because of it’s 70’s décor) in the middle of a sandy swamp that we’d frequent—catching hermit crabs, flying kites, enjoying the overcast mornings with hot chocolate, playing cards and, in the peak of summer, daring each other to go in the freezing cold waves.

It was such an integral part of my childhood it seemed necessary to bring my Colorado Crew-turned Oregon Gang to the beach. My grandparents traded in the Brady Bunch Cabin about a decade ago for a bright house surrounded by a Golf Course and quicksand, which they kindly let us use for the weekend.

Darcy and Jake are moving to Tahoe soon, so this weekend also served as a ‘bon voyage’ trip for them. It was a great way to say goodbye!

We began our time in florence by having the most smoothly-executed group trip to the grocery store. It ws the exact opposite of the old Boulder Freeride Jackson Hole 3 hours shopping sprees that ended in Bagel Bites and PBR.

Caleb had never played Blackjack before, so we busted out a hilariously gigantic novelty deck of cards and showed him the ropes before going to....

THREE RIVERS CASINO!!!!

Me and Caleb gave a little money back to the community, while Tay quadrupled his cash (for once, he won!) and bought everyone crab!

None of us had ever had a proper crab bake, but when in Florence.... We googled some recipes and in an amazing group effort made the most delicious crab feast.

This one was 50% off at the crab store. I was worried.

A huge success!

Another fundamental part of going to Florence is lots of game playing. Boggle, poker, homemade apples to apples, drawing contests, and power hour were all included in our nighttime activities.