» The King and I(ce cream)

By Amy Moss Strong
Editor
Friday, July 25, 2008 | No comments posted. It’s not every day a king comes to town.

But on July 16, Abdullah II, king of Jordan, showed up in Bandon and had coffee and ice cream at Lloyd’s in Old Town. He was accompanied by his 14-year-old son and an entourage of at least 10 men on Harley Davidson motorcycles and another 10 or so in dark green Suburbans  

Residents, most of whom didn’t know who the visiting dignitary was, still were impressed by the roar of motorcycles, the Secret Service personnel with radio headsets keeping a watchful eye, and at least three men who were dressed alike in jeans, black shirts, vests and leather Harley Davidson jackets.

“Who is it?” people were asking on Second Street, which was open to foot and vehicle   traffic, but partially blocked off by Secret Service vehicles. The king and his son, along with about 10 others, went into Lloyd’s and ordered coffee, hot chocolate, apple pie with ice cream and ice cream sundaes, according to Jessica Lee, a waitress at Lloyd’s who served them.

Lee and the restaurant’s owners heard that the king had just visited Myrtle Point at noon, lunching at the Kozy Kitchen. A man came to Lloyd’s earlier than the others and asked Lee if there was more than one way out of the building. When the king showed up, the same man introduced one of them to Lee and told her he was “the one they were here for” and she shook his hand. Half of the group ate their ice cream outside, while some, including the king’s son, who shared an order of apple pie with two others, stayed inside, Lee said. After serving them, the man who Lee presumed to be the king paid the $32.50 tab with a $100 bill and told her to keep the change.

“He was really nice and just seemed like a regular customer and didn’t act superior or anything,” Lee said. The king and his son, along with others, also went into Bandon Sweets and Treats and Bandon Card and Gift Shoppe. Owner Lynn Davies said one of the men bought two shirts — a tie-dye and a comical shirt that showed a man evolving from ape into computer geek.

“I didn’t know which one he was, but whoever bought the shirts was sure cute,” Davies laughed, adding that she was embarrassed because she had spilled coffee all over the counter before the group came in.

After looking in the shops and hanging out along the sidewalk on Second Street with residents and visitors, the group mounted up and headed south on U.S. Highway 101. It was reported that they stayed in Gold Beach that night and continued south the next day.

Bandon Mayor Mary Schamehorn, who also is editor of the Myrtle Point Herald newspaper, said she heard a dignitary was coming to Myrtle Point Wednesday, but didn’t know who until she was asked to leave the Kozy Kitchen restaurant when the king and his group arrived.

Schamehorn, at the advice of a state patrol officer, walked across the street with other members of the media, waiting to get a photo, which she finally accomplished.

According to other reports, the king also visited Bend, went rafting on the Deschutes River, toured Crater Lake and stayed a night in Medford before heading to Myrtle Point, Bandon and Gold Beach. According to the king’s Web site, he also attended a conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, and gave a speech on the latest developments in the Middle East in Aspen, Colo.

Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein assumed power as monarch of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on Feb. 7, 1999, the day his father, the late King Hussein, passed away. He attended school in Jordan, England and the United States and also served in the military. An avid outdoorsman, the monarch was born on Jan. 30, 1962, is married to Queen Rania and has four children.