Stephanie’s Cabin

A Review from My Porch

It’s Friday. The weather took a little turn for the worse last night with a bit of rain and winds that moaned around the porch, sounding more like October than the end of July. Today may be a good inside day.

Yesterday I took Mother shopping in Astoria. While I was wandering the aisles of Fred Meyer and Costco in Warrenton I ruminated on which is more disagreeable, the marathon shopping trips or mowing the lawn. I’m still not sure. When we go to Astoria we try to make the trip count. Not only were we shopping for ourselves, we were picking up things for two people in my mother’s apartment building and for my aunt and cousin as well. We did pretty well, though. We were done before three o’clock and had included stops at the bank and the post office.

The reason we finished in good time was that we stoked the old furnace before entering our first store by having lunch at Stephanie’s Cabin in Astoria. Although I have a cottage, I don’t have a cabin so it is just coincidence that this Astoria restaurant happens to be a favorite of mine for breakfast or lunch. Set along the river there are tables outside if the weather is cooperative, but the view isn’t the draw to Stephanie’s. The food is good unpretentious food and the clam chowder is excellent. Frequently I order their shrimp melt along with a cup of chowder. I figure, why come to the beach to eat steak, right?

Now there’s a ritual to eating out with Mother. She always says, “What sounds good to you?” or something along those lines. I tell her what I’m planning to order and she says, “Where’d you see that?” I tell her where it is on the menu so she can read the description for herself and then she says, “Oh, that sounds wonderful!” and orders exactly the same thing. Yesterday I thought to foil her. This is my private part of the game. “I’m having a chicken quesadilla,” I tell her, knowing that she was more likely to order a shrimp louie. “Now where’d you see that? Oh my, that sounds wonderful. I’ll have the same.” That’s okay. There’s always the next time. Maybe the menu will have kale on it. Mother hates kale.

Not only did we both order the chicken quesadillas which were very good, but we decided to give Stephanie’s chocolate milkshakes a spin and were not disappointed. These milks were the genuine article just like we used to get at the soda fountain at Woolworth’s when I was a kid. You know what I’m talking about, the sort of thick rich shake that’s piled high with whipped cream in which the straw stands straight up in the glass, served with the stainless steel mixing cup--all condensation on the sides--containing even more of the delicious cold concoction and with a tall spoon.

We couldn’t finish our quesadillas (probably because of the milkshakes), but we brought them back to Ilwaco for today’s lunch. The milkshakes were brought home in our tummies. If you’re planning a visit to Astoria and want good casual dining or if you long for an icy milkshake, Stephanie’s cabin may be the place for you. Of course, today is Friday. Friday means Bluto’s pizza in Long Beach.