We spent the third day of Becca’s visit at the coast.
The Oregon coast is absolutely gorgeous, and about as different as it can get from the east coast. The cliffs just drop off into the ocean. It’s fantastic. I haven’t been to the coast since our trip last November, which seems crazy since we’re only an hour and a half away, but it’s just so cold there! We left an 88-degree day in Eugene to have a 60-degree day on the coast. Brrrrr.
We started our coast experience in Depoe Bay. Eric and I vacationed there back when we lived in Kentucky (you can read about that visit here and here). We had a really pleasant, quaint experience then, which I suppose is the benefit of visiting in the off-season. This time, we were there with about a million other tourists. And Depoe Bay just wasn’t cute anymore. But it’s still the self-proclaimed whale watching capital of the Oregon coast, so we had to visit for a whale watching tour.
We booked our tour through Tradewinds Charters, which gave us an hour-long whale watching tour on the Pacific Ocean. Awesome. Obviously, it was way colder out on the water, so we were pretty darn chilly on the boat, but it was worth it to see a couple of whales!
We eventually thawed out from our ride on the Pacific and headed south to Newport, where I had planned lunch for the day. On our last trip, we ate at Local Ocean, and it pretty much rocked our socks off, so I knew we had to visit again. When we arrived around 2 pm, they told us the wait would be an hour and a half. We figured we couldn’t wait that long, so we consulted Yelp for some other options. Nothing sounded as good, so we went back to Local Ocean, deciding it would be worth the wait. This time, I made Becca go put our names in, for fear of being recognized by the hostess from our previous visit 10 minutes before. And Becca must have slipped this girl $100 or something because we got right in! Becca for the win! And I’m so glad that we got to eat there because the food was awesome. My crab po’boy (with bacon) was about the best thing on earth.
We hit the road again, heading south to Seal Rock State Recreation Site, where we walked on the beach and shivered in the wind.
Our next stop was Yachats, Oregon, which has become my favorite coastal town, despite the fact that I haven’t actually done anything there other than take a picture. It’s just so cute. And not quite as touristy as some of the other towns, so it’s just nice and quaint. Maybe we’ll actually spend some time there eventually.
We stopped down the coast at Devil’s Elbow State Park, where Becca dipped her toes in the Pacific before we hiked up the hill to Heceta Head Lighthouse. The lighthouse has been under construction since we moved here last fall, so this was the first time we got to see it without a layer of scaffolding. It’s quite lovely! And the view from high up on the cliff isn’t bad either.
We ended our coastal tour in Florence and headed back east to Eugene, where Becca and I shared our first Shari’s treat in 5 years. When we worked at a summer camp in Bellevue, Washington, we had our first taste of Shari’s milkshakes, and we’ve been talking about them ever since. It’s a weird obsession, but it holds us together, folks. And yes, we chose to pose this way with the Shari’s sign because nothing says “awesome milkshakes” like a double finger gun salute.
-Ally
Betsy Ringer says
Brought back great memories of when we went to those places with you last fall! Gorgeous!! Looking forward to seeing you all soon – and experiencing some pretty waterfalls!!
Mountainstroh (Tony) says
Seal Rock and Yachats are two f my favorite places on the coast! My wife and I were at Seal Rock Sunday, and as always, the waves and tide pools made my day. Thanks for the pictures!