Find the perfect present from the Oregon Coast for everyone on your nice list.
With the holidays just around the corner, now is the time to start shopping for gifts, and who doesn’t appreciate a thoughtful gift from the Oregon Coast? From tasty treats that will bring back memories of a day by the sea to beautiful artwork created by local artists, here are some ideas for sharing your love for the Coast with loved ones.
Culinary Goodies
For the kitchen wizards in your life, consider picking up an assortment of Oregon Coast products and creating your own gift baskets. While you can find locally sourced tinned fish at fishmongers all along the coast, the selection at Bell Buoy fish market in Seaside is particularly good. Options include locally caught fish such as smoked chinook salmon and albacore tuna, as well as razor clams, a North Coast specialty. Other fish markets that ship house-canned premium fish include South Beach Fish Market near Newport and Fishermen Direct Seafood in Gold Beach.
Other great gifts from the ocean include dulse from Oregon Seaweed, a nutrient-rich sea veggie that’s delicious in soups, salads or even dried and sprinkled on rice, Japanese furikake-style. Or try Jacobsen Salt Co.’s celebrated sea salt infused with flavors like rosemary or smoked cherrywood, or its selection of seasoning blends.
Not all of the Oregon Coast’s culinary delights come from the sea. Coffee drinkers won’t want to sleep on All Good Co.’s Colombian and Honduran beans, sourced from family farms and roasted in small batches right in Astoria. If you’re more of a tea type, Wild Coast Brew, based near Coos Bay in the Coast Range, sells a wide variety of farm-grown and foraged loose-leaf blends packaged in beautiful canisters adorned with images of Oregon Coast fauna.
While a stop at the Tillamook Creamery is always fruitful for gift-giving, check out its neighbor in Tillamook, Blue Heron French Cheese Co. for brie, available in traditional, smoked and pepper varieties. In Bandon Face Rock Creamery offers a huge variety of cheddars along with squeaky cheese curds. The South Coast city is also home to Cranberry Sweets & More, famous for its fruity jelly candies made using cranberries sourced from local bogs.
Oregon Coast Wearables
Show off your love for the Coast by donning an Oregon Coast Visitor Association Be Kind to the Coast T-shirt or hoodie, available at the OCVA web store. Oregon Coast fashionistas can also opt for designer duds. You’re sure to get plenty of compliments if you step out in one of Shift + Wheeler’s adorable suspender dresses, which come in a wide range of sizes and all have nice big pockets. They also have stylish, handmade bags and accessories. Pair them with jewelry handmade by several coastal artists, featured at Nehalem’s Wild Coast Goods. For lusciously soft shawls, scarves and sweaters, head to the web store of Pacific City-based textile artist Karen Gelbard, also known as The Oregon Weaver.
Gifts for the Home
Home goods always make good holiday gifts, and the Oregon Coast has plenty of options to choose from. The South Coast is a great place to pick up art, from the whimsical wood carvings of Gary “Wiz” Burns of Port Orford’s Tree Wizard Gallery to Semi Aquatic Gallery in Brookings, which sells the works of gallery owner Spencer Reynolds and other Coast artists. Reynolds is also the artist behind the Oregon Coast Gravel Guide, a beautifully illustrated guide to gravel biking in the region that is available online at the OCVA’s web store, along with a selection of other Oregon Coast guidebooks and locally inspired novels. You’ll find even more gift-worthy books about the Coast and by coastal authors at local bookshops.
Farther up the Coast, Lincoln City is known for its glass art, available in galleries all around town, including the Lincoln City Glass Center and ThornMeadow Glassworks. Oregon Coast Glassworks in nearby Newport is another must-visit: It’s the first Native American-owned and operated glassblowing business in the state. If you’re a fan of whimsical works, check out the colorfully fishy wood paintings and “fish boxes” created by Oregon Coast artist Ben Soeby.
For something a bit more fragrant, head to Billow Cloud Soaps in Yachats for soaps crafted using locally sourced pine, sea salt, nettles and more, or visit Beach Soap and Candle in Cannon Beach for a candle or scrub with scents like Oregon marionberry and hot apple pie. If you’re spicy, you’ll definitely want the new Wasabi Shan Kui shampoo from luxury hair and skin care company Lush, which features wasabi from Tillamook Coast-based Oregon Coast Wasabi. Or perhaps ship some wasabi seasoning mix or fresh roots for the cook in your life?
– By Margot Bigg
Top photo: Fishermen Direct Seafood by Justin Myers