Weekend in Coastal Oregon

A little bit late posting about it, but my pre-Memorial Day weekend was exploring the northern shores of Oregon. The weather was not supposed to be spectacular that weekend so I opted for a trip to a place where it is beautiful no matter what the weather is like.

We drove down the coast stopping at Disappointment State Park while exiting out of Washington. Not disappointing at all! A beautiful cape and place to watch giant ships go by.

Then we slowly made our way down the coast to Cannon Beach, the lodging for the night. The photo above is on the beach right in front of the hotel. Beautiful boulders all around. Ryan took 99% of the photos for the day so I have little to show for my work... just a couple of shots I snapped while wandering the beach. Still waiting on him to process the rest of the beautiful photos from the trip.

I'd recommend Cannon Beach as a place to go to relax. I'd personally only survive a night there. Any more would be torture and boring, but that is me. There are lots of cute shops, walking trails and restaurants. I do regret not having a fire on the beach.

I'd recommend Crepe Neptune for food - super delicious crepes and super small and cozy. Perfect breakfast/lunch snack. For dinner we went to Wayfarer Restaurant. I thought that place was delicious - I had steak with shrimp on the side. Perfection. And some mushroom dip to start? Oh yes. We were there after dark but it is right on the water so at most times you get a beautiful view (and amazing sunset!). I would recommend that place very much to passerbys. :)


On the second day of the trip we drove south along the coast. Our first stop was Neahkahnie Mountain. There is a three mile loop to the top of the mountain which has the most amazing view down the Oregon Coast. You can get a similar view from the road, but being in solitude on top of the (small) mountain with a view from above is a lot more delightful.

After that we headed out to the Tillamook Cheese factory for some lunch. The factory has a 'tour yourself' area where you can watch the cheese being made and packed (though mostly packed... cheese making is a hands off process for the bulk of the time). It was quite fun to watch the production line.

The cheese itself was surprisingly good. Or more like I really enjoyed the cheese curds (the squeaky cheese!). Their normal cheese is a little bland but the garlic/spicy ones are wonderful. I'd recommend this is a stop if you're driving along the coast. :)

From there on it was a drive back up through Portland to Seattle. The Oregon coast is surprisingly (well sort of) far away. I miss the east coast, where states are smashed together so closely. I liked the trip to the coast, but I think I prefer weekend trips to the mountains, or at least more outdoorsy adventures when at the coast. :)