Florence art

After visiting the market on Saturday morning(https://journeyinamazinggrace.blogspot.com/2022/06/saturday-market.html), we were strolling along the boardwalk and a lady from the City of Florence Public Art group stopped us and talked with us and told us about the "Art Quest".

She gave us a brochure, and we headed off to enjoy more of Florence.

The brochure led us along Bay Street (which was right along the river and harbor) and pointed out various art pieces along the way. Some are permanently installed pieces, and some are part of Florence's Art Exposed Rotating Gallery.

This is one of the pieces from the "rotating gallery". The lady who had spoken with us indicated that they will be deciding soon on which new pieces to display. (https://www.ci.florence.or.us/bc-pac/art-exposed-florences-rotating-outdoor-art-gallery) I wanted to include a picture of this one because the plaque indicated "Medium: Welded Laser-Cut Aluminum Diamondplate, Tractor Paint" -- I thought it was interesting that it specifically indicated "tractor paint"!

Note that the pieces in the rotating gallery are available for sale. If you'd like this one, it would only set you back $35,715!

The quest brought us to this interesting water fountain - notice the fountain for dogs at the bottom...

... and just below the fountain, this interesting plaque: "Oregon Dune Mushers' Mail Run Trail, 1978-2005, North Bend - Lakeside, Winchester Bay - Florence"

We were puzzling over this, thinking that the dates must be wrong, why would they have been using dog sleds to deliver mail in the late 1900s and early 2000s? The information in the quest clues helped us understand:

The Oregon Dune Mushers' Mail Run is believed to have been the world's longest organized dry-land run for dog teams and took place each year the first weekend of March to coincide with the start of the Iditarod race in Alaska. Dogs carried "mail" across the Oregon Dunes from North Bend to Florence. The event included dog teams of 4-5 to 10-12 dogs traveling in different class groups, covering a distance of 75 miles over a two-day time period. The trail took participants over roads, trails, beaches and huge sand dunes and into the communities of Lakeside, Winchester Bay, and Florence.

You can learn more at https://www.oregondunemushers.com/ODMHistory.htm

We've shared pictures of the bridge over the Siuslaw River Bridge (we found out that it is pronounced "Sigh-YOU-Slaw" according to the "quest" brochure). I believe we took this from the area where the ferry used to dock before the bridge was completed in 1936.

The painted sea lion was part of the "Dancing with Sea Lions" project, a fundraiser for the Florence Events Center. (https://www.dancingwithsealions.com/)

After walking around much of old town Florence, we were hungry, so we decided to stop at the Beachcomber for lunch:

When we had walked around Florence on Tuesday with Mark and Wendy, Wendy told me that this was known somewhat as a "biker bar" and it certainly fulfilled that label while we were there! But, we enjoyed sitting outside...

... and had delicious lunches!

We enjoyed a relatively sunny day in Florence and enjoyed having our eyes opened to various art on display in the old town of Florence!