SHIRLEY DELICIOUS.
Day 244 – Okay, so now we do have lots of food in our refrigerator – pizza, desserts, and groceries we just bought, and we’d planned to make Shrimp with a Garlic Peanut Thai Sauce over Angel Hair Pasta for dinner tonight, but we had not yet been to Shirley Delicious, the place that always has a line of people outside waiting to get their coffee drinks and healthy food. Shirley Delicious is open only for breakfast and lunch. It is always packed when we’ve driven by. We’re leaving tomorrow. We had to find out what the big deal is. Why the lines of people?
A cloudy, windy day today with a few breaks in the clouds for sun, we didn’t get any pictures again. Around 11 a.m. we left for Shirley, figuring we’d be later than the breakfast rush and earlier than the lunch rush. It’s only a 15 minute drive to Shirley Delicious, a smallish building with lots of outdoor seating. It has numerous parking lots, and it looks like additional outdoor seating has been added, again and again. The line of people waiting to get inside to order snaked around the outside of the wooden building. We got one of the last parking spaces. But the turnover was fairly quick and other parking spaces continually opened up as quickly as they again were filled. Everyone seemed to expect to wait. Dogs waited with their owners. People conversed with each other. Closer to the door, posted on a tree, they had a sign with a QR code for accessing the menu in advance. This was a brilliant idea since there was little space inside to stand around and look at the blackboard menu. On the menu, there were numerous coffee drinks and teas. Coffee here, beginning in Oregon and continuing throughout the Pacific Northwest, has been excellent. The brunch menu had some really good looking items, as did the lunch menu. They offer two homemade soups daily. Most produce, herbs, vegies, etc. were from a neighboring farm, the Livin’ The Dream Farm. Sandwiches were served on homemade Herb Focaccia, flattened panini-style. Breakfasts mostly included eggs (free-range, from the farm), and the Breakfast Burrito either came with local bacon (with the local eggs & cheese) or there was a Vegan version. When we got to the head of the line and entered the restaurant, we were in front of a large case displaying fresh-baked goods – huge muffins, little quiches, large pieces of various cheesecakes, pies, cakes, buttery croissants with fillings, cookies, fruit struedel bars, etc. First you ordered your baked items, they were packaged up for you, then you ordered your coffees, and that order was passed on to the coffee station, then you ordered your food. Very well thought out, considering the crowd. Almost like a cafeteria, they just moved you down the line. The customer service was amazing. Music was playing loudly and they were singing and dancing a little, having a good time as they worked. I would’ve promptly gone crazy with all those people coming in, but everyone was merry.
Okay, Carol and Mark, here we go: we first got our pastries and desserts to go, getting everything to split – one gluten-free peanut butter chocolate cheesecake bar, one strawberry lemon struedel bar, one chocolate stuffed croissant, and one pesto wrap (pesto wrapped inside a flaky crust). Rob just got black coffee; I got a Mocha Latte with Oat Milk. We split the Potato Leek Dill soup (served with a large chunk of fantastic warmed focaccia). Rob got the Breakfast Hash; it was very good. Carmelized onions, breakfast potatoes, fresh herbs, tomatoes, red & yellow bell peppers, candied yams, corn, spinach, all cooked perfectly together with some melted cheese and topped with two eggs cooked over-medium. I got the Corn Fritters which were two thick corn “pancakes” topped with diced tomato, chopped red onion, fresh herbs, crumbled feta cheese, ½ an avocado, and fresh sprouts warm from the garden. It, too, was very good.
We had to wait a bit for the food which was cooked from scratch and to order. It was quite interesting to browse in the store between the place you order and the outdoor seating. It housed local crafts and handmade goods including food, tee shirts, paintings and prints, amazing sculptures ranging from very large to small, gadgets made out of farm machinery, cards and postcards, incenses and oils, soaps and salves, candles, plants, etc. The continual flow of people was also interesting, people of all ages and nationalities. When your order was ready, one of the people that work there would walk through the maze of tables outside calling your name. You raised your hand and your food was delivered. We give them a ten out of ten. I asked the girl that helped us with buying some cards if the crowds were even worse in the summer. She said, yes – in the nine years they’d been open it just gets busier every year. We cannot imagine, but if you ever come this way, you must go to this restaurant for breakfast/lunch.
When we finally left, the line outside was equally as long as the one we experienced coming in. We drove a small road down to a ritzy area overlooking the Ocean. Very beautiful. Back at the RV the sun came out occasionally. Rob sat outside with his camera waiting for a Varied Thrush we’d seen earlier to come back. It didn’t. I continued working on the blog. Since we had no pictures, Rob’s work was done until we are able to post. We won’t be cooking dinner tonight as planned. No room in the refrigerator and no room in our tummies for more food. A little bit of dessert tonight is all we need.
For more detailed information about Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, China Beach Campground, click here.