Radio: West Coast Road Trip: Timberline Lodge, The Shining and Bacon

LISTEN: Savory Road Radio Feature

This week on the Savory Road, Jeff visits the Oregon’s, Mt. Hood.  Sitting at the base of this volcano is the historic Timberline Lodge.  Built in the 1930’s, this lodge is more famously known as the location shoot for the movie “The Shining.” Only the outside was used in the movie as you will find out walking inside the lodge.  For breakfast we ate in the Cascade Room where you can imagine people over 50 years ago dining with the same view of the valley below.   We all ordered the breakfast buffet and Jeff ordered the Bacon Sampler.

To find out haw that bacon sampler went, check out our Savory Road radio feature on 91.9 KVCR, Thursday at 6:45 and 8:45 during NPR Morning Edition and on Saturday at 5:35 and 7:35, during NPR Weekend Edition.  Not in the area?  You can catch it live on www.kvcr.org

Radio Copy: Hi it’s Jeff Baker, our west coast road trip continues here on the Savory Road. This week our car heads east along the Columbia River Gorge, up toward Mount Hood and settles at the gem of the pacific northwest – The Timberline Lodge. We left the dense and lush greenery of Portland and travel east along the river, watching the terrain transform into that of the arrid eastern Oregon climate. We hung at right at the city of Hood River and climbed 6,000 feet to our destination

Built in 1937, the lodge was as one of FDR’s work programs. Local timber and stone was used to create a unique work of art that every traveler should see. It’s planted at the base of

Hood’s imposing 11,000 foot high summit, so expect a killer view from every place you go. 

Skiing and hiking are the main reason people visit the place, but movie buffs make the pilgrimage for the same reason my son Chris and I came here – because the lodge played the role of The Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The stone and wood exterior and pitched roof – while beautiful – still have the power to give one the eebie jeebies. We stepped through the front entrance and realized the inside of the hotel looked nothing like the movie –the multi-level lobby is decorated with a variety of rustic wood and stone. There’s not nearly enough space for Jack Nicholson to throw a tennis ball against the wall. Turns out the interior was shot at a London sound stage, designed to resemble Yosemite’s Ahwahnee hotel.

“Are you a fan of that movie? The check clerk asked, handing us our keys.

We nodded, enthusiastically.

 “Wait a minute” she disappeared into the back then returned with a full sized axe and handed it to me.

“What the…?”

 On the handle, it looked like a a wood-burner was used to is enscribed the words “Here’s Johnny”

“Cute” I said, handing it back.

“No – Go have your picture taken with it” she insisted

I carried the thing into the crowded lobby and looked around for a door I could pretend to annihilate. People immediately began to stare and a terrier barked at me. I posed by a stone fireplace while Chris got his camera ready. I held it high and smiled like a maniac.  “Quickly” I begged  through clenched teeth. I didn’t want some off duty cop to run over and tackle me.

Once settled we found one of the hotel’s little bars and ordered some local beer and wine which they let us take outside,  we found some Adirondack chairs, pulled them into the shade and sat there staring at the majesty of that mountain top.

The next morning my senses were bombarded with the most delectable aromas  – we followed them to The Lodge’s Historic Cascade Dining room. Over hot coffee we gazed out the wood framed windows at the sunlit array of colors outside and imagined travelers of yesteryear enjoying the same view. We opted for the breakfast buffet which included locally made pork sausage and cured ham, hearty steel-cut oats, and griddled potatoes. In spite of all that food, I insisted we order the Artisan bacon sampler –the crispy and hearty assortment included mildly smoked Kurobuta bred pork and intensly smoked Berkshire pork. Sorry grandma, this was the best bacon I’v ever tasted. And sorry Dr. Gupta, I ordered a second sampler –  I had to! Quick question – would the second round still be considered a sampler? Regardless, I continued dipping those slices of heaven into the Vanilla-Orange Honey and thinking about adding the chef who created it to my will.

Timberline is a wonderful place and I highly recommend taking a day trip over there the next time you visit the Portland area.