We had purposefully planned a short driving day so we could meander down the Oregon Coast and see what we could see as we headed to our next stop of Newport.

There were two towns that people had recommended in the days prior to our trip (a bit late to research them and see if we should adjust reservations).

The first was Cannon Beach. This really was a gorgeous town but I would be shocked if we could have found a place to stay. All rentals and resort hotels. But very laid back and a really pretty town. I would love to go back one day and stay longer. We had the best breakfast of the trip here at Morris’ Fireside Restaurant. Great hashbrowns and melt in your mouth thick bacon - plus fresh biscuits! Nummy. We did a bit of shopping and checked out Haystack Rock.

The next was Manzanita. Also very cute. Very small. We just peeked around and got back on the road.

We had intended to stop in Tillamook to do the cheese factory tour, but we’d started out a bit late and the parking lot was packed so we kept going so we could enjoy our next itinerary item - the 3 Capes Scenic Tour. We grabbed a few supplies (okay, chips and water) and took the gorgeous 40-mile detour off the 101. Highly recommended.

We got into Newport in time to explore. Which wasn’t the best idea as we ran out of stuff to do pretty quickly. After we did the Bayfront walk (working cannery district turned into tourist area), we didn’t have much more to do. Since we only had chips for lunch, we headed to Nye Beach for dinner at the Chowder Bowl. More great clam chowder, some nice local wines and the fish and chips - which we were pleasantly surprised to find very lightly coated with big dollar chips.

We walked back to our hotel (Days Inn on the highway) and tried to figure out what to do next, which of course led us in search of wine. The only store we could find was a gas station so the wine selection wasn’t great. That took us to a hotel restaurant where we felt guilty about just wanting wine so we ordered a spinach and cheese fondue and stuffed ourselves to the point that I wanted to heave.

A dip in the hotel jacuzzi was next, followed by sleep after a full day. Probably wouldn’t stop in Newport again as there are some cuter towns in driving distance. It’s a nice place to stop and grab some chowder.

Day One. We drove. We left at 8:00 am, drove through Washington (just stopping at rest stops and for lunch) and then over to the coast to arrive in Seaside, Oregon at 4 pm.

Seaside is totally a tourist trap of a beach town, but there is something kind of cute about it, even though we felt like we were in the Twilight Zone or Wonder Years most of the time. Most hotels are around the beach area, and most of the tourists are on the main hub of the boardwalk (Broadway). I met a nice woman who told me that the tourist parts had really only developed in the past couple years which may be why it still felt weird for a town with a soda fountain in the drugstore to be overrun by visitors.

The part of town we were in was rows and rows of vacation cottages with restaurants, candy stores, novelty stores, and games for the kids. For $2 you could step off the boardwalk and onto bumper cars, a miniature train with a real driver, or a tilt-a-whirl. The river had bumper and paddleboats for water play. The beach was packed with families and kids. In fact, the whole town was young families with tons of kids. Kids with a lot of sugar in them, which happens when you sell 170 different kinds of salt water taffy.

Our hotel - a Best Western - on the promenade a bit down from the main hub. It was pretty laid back with an indoor pool and balconies. We were on the first floor so we could see the beach from the balcony, or hop over the barrier and walk a few feet to the sand. I even went for a run on the seawall and walk on the beach the next morning - very relaxing.

We picked Norma’s for dinner, which was a great choice. We both had steak with seafood and I discovered that my intense hate of clam chowder has disappeared over the years - which was great because there was delicious chowder to be had in every town (being the coast and all). Weirdest thing - this seaside tourist town only had one restaurant with a patio, and the patio only had 20 seats max. Also odd, every restaurant had checkered tablecloths.

We were tuckered after the drive so we got some wine and went back to the hotel so we could have an early start the next morning. I hung out a bit on the beach to people watch. It was pretty laid back - people were walking around the hotel with drinks going between rooms but even with this vacation atmosphere, the town shut down early.

Note: I do have some pretty pics will put up later!

We’re back! Yes, a day early. But before you ask - no, nothing happened. Except that when you put two focussed chicks in a car they tend to do over achiever things like 2 days of driving in one. And the more we drove, the more home felt like a good idea. Besides, I still have a whole month off to get into trouble.

So today I can unpack all my dirty clothes. And I’ll try to unpack my brain to tell y’all about our trip! But if it gets sunny out, I need to go to the beach as I have a wickedly tanned drivers arm and a pretty white rest of body situation going on.