(upbeat music) - Today on "All Across Oregon," we visit the historic Cape Blanco Lighthouse.

Get a warm cup of Joe at a hidden gem coffee shop.

Take a bite of a world famous hotdog, step back in time at the Prehistoric Gardens, cruise to Port Orford Coast, and close out our day with pizza and new friends.

Two coastal towns, one incredible day.

Let's go!

(upbeat music) "All Across Oregon" is made possible in part by Travel Southern Oregon Coast, Travel Curry County, and John Warekois, CPA.

(upbeat music) Just outside Port Orford, stands Cape Blanco, the westernmost Point in Oregon and home to Cape Blanco Lighthouse, first lit in 1870.

It has guided mariners through fog and storms for more than 150 years, standing as a symbol of safety, endurance, and coastal history.

So we're here at Cape Blanco.

We had to see this place 'cause it turns out that this light station, this lighthouse behind us, is the oldest continually operating light station in the whole state of Oregon.

So along the whole Oregon coast, this right here, this is the oldest one and still working.

So we're just gonna go take a quick walk and check it out.

Cape Blanco is one of Oregon's most historically significant and dramatic landmarks, standing as the westernmost point in the state and a vital marker along the Pacific Coast.

The cape's powerful winds, towering cliffs and sweeping ocean views made it both a challenge and a guide for early mariners, settlers, and explorers.

Today, Cape Blanco remains a symbol of Oregon's maritime heritage, offering a living connection to the past while preserving the rugged beauty that has defined the coast for centuries.

Now just down the way from the Cape Blanco Lighthouse, built in 1898 on the wind swept shores of Cape Blanco, the historic Hughes House was the Grand Victorian home of Irish immigrant Patrick Hughes and his wife Jane.

The Hughes family commissioned local builder Pierre Johann Lindbergh to construct this elegant Queen Anne style farmhouse.

The house remained in the family hands until 1971 when it became part of Cape Blanco State Park.

Today it stands as a museum, preserving the spirit of pioneer life and Oregon's coastal heritage, honored on the National Register of Historic Places.

So we were pretty far out there at Cape Blanco at the lighthouse, and man, you could feel it.

It was a little cold this morning.

It's a perfect time for a perfect cup of coffee.

As we head inland to a hidden coffee shop run by an owner whose passion for the craft shines through every cup.

(upbeat music) Can we make some coffee?

- You guys, let's make some coffee.

- Can we make some coffee?

- What do you want?

We have you two flavors.

We have an organic vanilla an organic chocolate that the guy makes in Portland, Holy Cacao, because those are the two I like.

So we don't have a wall of syrups.

We don't roast decaf.

- Good.

- Let's just watch her make some coffee now.

(upbeat music) And then you ne'er, you don't ever see a roaster in a shop anymore because they're dangerous.

But a lot of kids have learned about heat in.

- In your shop.

Hot.

- It's hot.

- Hot.

- And they're like, you tell 'em it's hot, and they're like, ow.

- Ow.

- And I go, you know, so we're always, we're up for teaching kids a lesson.

That's always good.

(Vinny laughing) - [Vinny] You're an educator.

(upbeat music) - Well I feel that, yes.

(upbeat music) - Mm.

Oh man.

- How is it?

- Billy, Chef says good.

Chef says great.

Yeah.

- Yeah.

- [Vinny] Yeah, buddy.

- No, that's good.

- [Vinny] No, you did good Billy.

- No, I like that.

- This is perfect.

- We make good coffee here.

- You have good coffee here.

- Hey, good to see it.

- They have great coffee here.

- [Customer] Probably the best coffee around.

- You know what?

That's what they told me.

(Billy laughing) - This bean right here.

- It's a blend of.

- But is this what I just had right here?

- Yeah.

- I'm gonna take one of these to go.

You wanna, you wanna ring me up for that?

Because I will take that.

- Yeah, yeah, okay.

- I wanna be able to say I took this home.

- You got it.

As sustainable as possible.

Everything's compostable.

Costs more money.

We don't have plastic straws.

We don't have plastic cups.

- [Vinny] I love it, I love it.

- And I've gone, I stopped doing sealable bags 'cause they don't decompose for a long time.

- No, I appreciate you, appreciate you, Billy.

- If I can find glasses.

Oh yeah, cash money.

- [Vinny] Cash money.

- Cash money.

- No credit card taking your piece.

What a great place.

Man, I can't wait to stop here for my next cup of coffee.

We are really hustling today.

But there's a place that you have to see, you've heard about it.

It's been all over YouTube.

The Langlois Market.

It's supposed to be home of the best hot dog in the world.

And we're gonna go have a couple right now before we go fishing.

I don't know if that's a good thing, hot dogs before a boat, but we're gonna find out.

Come on.

The next stop, the legendary Langlois Market, home to what many call the best hotdog in the world.

Its reputation grew organically over decades, fueled by simple ingredients, word of mouth and travelers spreading the story far beyond this small town.

Now the hotdog is not a new thing.

The hotdog traces its roots back centuries to Europe where sausages were a staple long before they ever met a bun.

Many historians point to Frankfurt, Germany, home of the Frankfurter as the birthplace of the modern hotdog sausage.

These finely ground meat sausages were brought to the United States by German immigrants in the 1800s where they quickly became popular for their affordability, portability, and bold flavor.

Street vendors sold them at carts and fairs, ballparks and city streets, making them an ideal food for a fast growing working class nation.

Today the hotdog represents more than just food.

It's a shared tradition tied to summer days, small towns, family run markets, and the timeless joy of something done simply and something done well.

That is the kind of market we're visiting today.

Welcome to Langlois Market.

And what was your name?

- Zoe.

- Zoe.

- [Zoe] Yes.

- So Zoe, what are you doing here?

- [Zoe] So we use our house mustard, we put that on first, and then we put our diced sweet onion on it.

- [Vinny] Now this is the world famous way.

- [Zoe] Yes, it is.

- [Vinny] All right.

- [Zoe] And then last thing is dill pickles.

- [Vinny] And dill pickles.

- [Zoe] Yes.

- [Vinny] Beautiful, simple and lovely looking, man.

And you make the mustard.

- [Zoe] We do, yeah.

- [Vinny] You said you make the mustard.

- [Zoe] We make it every day.

(upbeat music) - Perfect, there we go.

There we go.

- There you go.

- Nice.

(upbeat music) Mmm.

So you're probably wondering, was the hot dog that good?

Yes, it was excellent.

But I'm a New Yorker.

I'm not gonna throw my boys under the bus.

So my favorite hotdog still is back home in NYC.

(upbeat music) Right next door, we take a peek inside the beloved Greasy Spoon Restaurant for breakfast and pastries.

The Greasy Spoon revealed a time honored tradition of no frills breakfast and baked goods.

Places like this, again, are living pieces of Americana.

They're unchanged, they're dependable and deeply loved.

- Old fashioned donut with your donut hole.

I always thought it was rude, someone cut the hole outta your donut and sold it to someone else.

- So we did hear that.

Well, now I got it all.

- There you go.

- Oh, is this, oh this is, this is what Billy had.

- [Cashier] Yes.

- We can offer you part of a donut that's left from next door.

- That's awesome.

- It's a vanilla donut and I would, and but we have to charge you for it because we paid.

- Okay, Billy.

Okay, Billy.

He tried to charge me for it.

- Of course he did, yeah.

- He said I had paid for it, so I gotta pass on the cost.

So you guys are.

- That dog hunts.

- That dog hunts.

Hey, thank you guys.

- You're welcome.

Thank you guys.

- You got it?

Thank you, thank you, thank you, okay.

What a great day so far.

Now just a little bit south on the 101 is the Prehistoric Gardens.

It's easy to just drive by.

I've done it a bunch of times, but this time we stopped.

And I wanna show you why you need to stop next time.

Next we're heading to the Prehistoric Gardens, a family run attraction created in the 1950s.

Built by hand and imagination, it represents the golden age of road travel, when roadside wonders invited families to slow down and explore.

How could you not stop and see the giant dinosaurs?

(upbeat music) Beautiful, and I just ate my sandwich on the way back, and I actually have ruined my seat, my pants.

There we go.

Let's go find that big one.

Oh, he's right here.

The Prehistoric Gardens located just north of Port Orford along the southern Oregon coast is a unique roadside attraction that has captivated visitors since it opened in 1955.

Created by artist and sculptor Evie Ernie Nelson, the park features life-size dinosaur sculptures set within the lush rainforest environment.

Inspired by mid 20th century paleontological discoveries and popular science of the time.

Designed to both entertain and educate, the Gardens reflect an era when family road trips and roadside wonders were an essential part of American travel culture.

More than half a century later, the Prehistoric Gardens remains a beloved and quirky landmark, preserving its original charm and offering a nostalgic glimpse into the imagination, creativity, and curiosity that once defined the golden age of the American road trip.

(upbeat music) That's it.

(upbeat music) So you guys probably remember Dave Lacey and his crew back from the Coos Bay episode a couple years ago.

Well, they have a whale watching charter right here in Port Orford, and that's where we're gonna go next.

What a fun time.

Now you think about whale watching.

Whale watching on the Oregon coast has deep roots that stretch back thousands of years, long before it became a recreational pastime.

Indigenous tribes along the coast closely observed the gray whales as part of their seasonal migrations, developing an intimate understanding of the ocean and its rhythms.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, whales were viewed primarily though through an industrial lens as commercial whaling stations operated along the Pacific Northwest coast, harvesting whales for oil and other products.

As wailing declined and eventually ended, attitudes began to shift from exploitation to observation, marking the first step toward modern whale watching.

By the mid 20th century, conservation efforts and the protection of whales allowed populations to rebound, bringing these massive animals closer to shore during their annual migrations.

Oregon's rocky headlands, elevated cliffs and accessible coastline made it one of the best land-based whale watching destinations in the world.

Organized tours soon followed, offering visitors the chance to experience whales from the water while emphasizing education and conservation.

Today whale watching on the Oregon coast is both a celebrated tradition and a powerful reminder of how preservation and respect for the ocean have transformed the once exploited resource into one of the region's most awe-inspiring natural experiences.

Our day ends offshore with South Coast Tours where we search for migrating whales and see kelp farms up close.

It's a reminder that the ocean remains both provider and protector just as it's been for generations.

(upbeat music) - Three big rules.

Number one, no helping.

Absolutely no helping 'cause that's where injuries happen.

And I'm not about to have, I haven't had ever an injury, and I'm not about to have one.

So you're not gonna help me with anything.

Number two, no standing up while the boat's moving 'cause we don't want anybody to fall over or fall off and get hurt.

This is all about accident avoidance, right?

And number three, it just has to be said, absolutely no reaching overboard, right?

That water is 52 degrees today, and you won't last long.

And I don't want to lose anyone.

I've never lost anyone.

I don't plan to today.

So the order of operations here, I'm gonna drive this boat under the hook.

See we have the 25 ton hoist.

They're gonna pick the boat up, place it along the wall where we can get on the boat, and then we are gonna ride the boat down into the water and take off.

- I think we're good to go, Captain.

- Oh, the Port Orford four step.

Ready?

We step right up, one, two, three, four.

From the yellow block, we use three points of contact to our seats.

Vinny, welcome aboard.

- Now that I look like, now that I look like I'm juggling all this stuff.

- Yeah, one, two, three, four, perfect.

And then cameraman.

One, two, three, four, perfect.

Hey, we're flying.

- [Vinny] Oh my goodness.

- All right.

These lines are dropping at your sides.

Watch the lines.

That's what I'm doing right now.

I'm coiling the lines with the sun because back in the olden times, Manila and hemp grow helically in the northern hemisphere with the sun.

So all rope is laid to the right because it's grown with the sun, the old fibers.

And when they started using synthetics, they just used the same machinery to make the synthetics.

And it's all laid to the right.

So a captain's order would be coil to the sun, meaning make coils.

If you don't, if you go the other way, it'll snap.

(upbeat music) This is really my favorite place on our tour.

This is the tip of the Port Orford Headlands.

And what makes this place really special is these rocks in front of us, this cove is a harbor seal rookery.

So from April, May, June, July into August, the harbor seals are born, and there's dozens of harbor seals in here.

(upbeat music) Now here we are in Nelly's Cove.

Now this cove, if you look up on shore here, you see the remnants of the old Coast Guard base that was here.

So there was two motor lifeboats were stationed here for rescues.

Today if a rescue had to happen, it's either me or the Coast Guard coming from Coos Bay.

- [Vinny] By helicopter, oh no, by the boat too, huh?

- Helicopter or boat, yeah.

And so this is the cove where they've planted the kelp and they're trying to regenerate the kelp and get the kelp to grow here again 'cause right now it's a urchin barren.

So here's a piece of the kelp that they're growing.

So this kelp is grown off of an artificial anchor.

That's called aquarium arch.

And our kayaking tour goes through that.

You enter from the other side, and it pushes you through like whitewater.

That's a lot of fun, that arch (upbeat music) So along with searching for whales and wildlife, I like to do the history of why Port Orford is here.

So we're in a really special place.

Ecologically the southern forests from California on up meet the Northern Boreal Forest here.

We have a lot of eco diversity.

We have trees that grow here that don't grow anywhere else in the United States.

We have the Myrtle wood, and we have specifically the most important is this white cedar tree that grows here called the Port Orford Cedar.

And this cedar tree only grows within a 15 mile radius of this place.

And because it was so highly coveted in Japan and down in San Francisco, they started an export facility port right here between these two rocks.

And so they did that through the late 1800s into the early 1900s before they established the port where it is.

So Port Orford is a natural, because of the headlands, this is a natural safe harbor for boats.

And then they developed it for lumber export.

And of course when you have lumber export, then the fishing fleet comes.

And we haven't had a lumber export in a long time, but we have that.

- [Vinny] Very cool.

- [Brian] That fishing fleet, you know.

- [Vinny] Nice.

- [Brian] That scrappy fleet.

- Scrappy fleet.

We met some of them.

- Yeah, they get it.

They get after it.

Those guys, they work hard.

And now we're headed back to port unless somebody spots a whale.

Keep your eyes open on the horizon for the spout.

- [Vinny] Okay, that would be, that would be the ultimate for sure.

(upbeat music) - That's 'cause my other hand hurts now, he got that one.

My gosh, why don't I just go slap a rock.

Okay, we're coming in.

(upbeat music) And what a great ending to our weekend.

Some of our new friends that we met throughout the last few days came and joined us for dinner together at Mr.

Ed's Pizza.

What a special place.

And you know what?

What a special guy.

I want you to meet him, and I want you to go see him for sure.

Where are we gonna finish our day?

Where are we gonna finish our last three days of visiting here in Port Orford?

Well, we couldn't think of any better place than the hospitable Mr.

Ed and Mr.

Ed's Pizza, ending the day with our friends, sharing stories and laughter with new friends.

Like so many small town eateries, it's not just about the food, it's about connection.

It's about community and ending the day together.

- It's all about music, musicians, music.

- That's every night.

- Every night I'm open.

Right now I'm open four days a week.

So I have bands every night.

Open mic on Wednesday, then bands Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

(upbeat music) - How about you and me, these guys will catch you and me making a couple pies together.

- Okay.

- That sound good?

- Yeah, you wanna do it now?

- Yeah.

- Okay, let's do it.

I do make, we make the dough ourselves.

- [Vinny] Yes.

- Make it in that dough mixer there, it was out of the Goonie house.

And then you can feel where it's thick, and you wanna roll the thick ends out.

- Oh, you got nice soft dough.

- Yeah.

- Nice.

- And I found if once you put it on a screen, it doesn't won't burn the bottom.

- Sorry Mr.

Ed.

I'm coming, I promise.

- No, you're doing good.

- Oh, I'm coming.

- Okay, it's gonna look more traditional than mine.

So then.

- Oh, I love how high this table is.

- You know what, you can see I raised it.

- Oh, is that what?

- Yeah, because you know your back hurts.

- Like how did you do this?

Yes, that's what I mean.

- So my thought, since my sauce is cold, it doesn't, you can't like use a spoon.

You gotta kind of spread it on.

- Were you a musician before you were a business owner?

- No, you know, I've always had guitars.

I always liked playing, and I like, I just like writing music and 'cause I don't even know any cover tunes.

It's all original stuff.

We got like.

- Wait, original like you wrote everything?

- Yeah, so we got like.

- What is it with this Port Orford and everyone's brains?

- Yeah, there's a lot of people.

- It's like everybody's an artist or a.

- A lot of musicians in town.

(upbeat music) - Combo.

- Going in.

(upbeat music) - Nice job, Ed.

(upbeat music) This is how welcoming Mr.

Ed is.

We literally walk in, never met him before like a long lost friend.

We didn't even get the greeting, and we just go to work together, and we're in the kitchen, and he invites everybody over.

This is hospitality at its finest.

My man, thank you, Ed.

I can't wait to, I can't wait to try your food.

- Oh yeah.

- This is gonna be great.

- I can't wait to try the New York style pizza though.

(upbeat music) - That is so cool.

Man oh man.

(upbeat music) Yeah, Mr.

Ed style.

There we go.

There you go.

I don't think I've ever used one of these.

All right, there's our first two.

Should we do two more then?

Wanna do two more?

- [Ed] We can do two more.

(upbeat music) - Woo!

(upbeat music) Yeah, guys, woo.

- [Man] Did you make this, Vinny?

- No, I made the other one.

Nope, I made, I didn't make this one either.

Pizza, pizza.

(upbeat music) So guys, everyone that was on the show today, thank you so much.

You made a very special day for us, and we wanna thank you, and special thanks, where is he?

Where's Mr.

Ed?

Oh, there.

Mr.

Ed, thank you so much, everybody.

Thank you so much.

Good job.

(upbeat music) And Adam, thank you so much.

Dude, thank you for playing, man.

Thank you, buddy.

(upbeat music) From the world famous hotdog at Langlois Market to the whimsical roadside wonder of the Prehistoric Gardens, today delivered pure Oregon magic.

We wrapped it all up with new friends over hot pizza at Mr.

Ed's, the perfect ending to a day across Cape Blanco, Port Orford, and Langlois.

And we'll see you next time as we go "All Across Oregon."

(upbeat music) "All Across Oregon" is made possible in part by Travel Southern Oregon Coast, Travel Curry County and John Warekois, CPA.

(upbeat music) (light guitar music) (keyboard clicking) (mouse clicking) (mouse clicking) (film whirring)