oregon coast vacation

I want a vacation.

And i want to go to the oregon coast for a few days. 

Around mid august. 

I want to hang out on the beach.  I want to see some tidal pools. 

On the way there and on the way back I'll stop and visit interesting places and take video.  I'm open to a presentation or two.  But first I want to nail down where I'm gonna stay and on what days. 

I would like to think that somebody out that way knows of the cool places to go.  Maybe a place with super comfy chairs facing the ocean or something.  Maybe there is an extra good organic restaurant somewhere and I should set up camp near that.

Maybe a funky little cabin to rent.  Maybe a B&B.  Maybe somebody knows somebody who knows somebody.  I dunno.  I suppose if nothing better comes up, I'll just get some lame hotel room.

Maybe you can book the Poe Room at the Sylvia Beach in Newport. 

I like Newport, possibly because I'm a geek.  The Aquarium is there, where Keiko once stayed. If you go to the Aquarium, you can watch otters, if they are still there, jellyfish, and sharks.  The volunteers like to answer questions, last time I was there. 

If you can't get in at the quirky Sylvia Beach, there is this big condo thing with great sunset views, and sometimes the sea lions hang out there.  Once I was there, and a woman in a wetsuit was going spearfishing, and she was complaining about the sea lions stealing her fish.  You can also catch crab off their dock.  There are probably some year-rounders in the condo thing, who could tell you some local lore.

You can also stay in a yurt in a state park, but you have to book those way ahead.

I grew up in Newport Oregon and know the area from Seaside to Florence pretty well.

Random thoughts:
- You'll want to check a tide table to find minus tides in the daylight.  Although the August low tides tend not to be very low.  There are a number of good tidepooling areas around Newport.
- August does not necessarily mean sun on the Oregon coast, due to upwelling in the ocean.  However if it is crummy at the beach (foggy or even drizzle), just go inland 10 miles and you'll be in the sun.
- I second the recommendation for the Sylvia Beach Hotel.  Lots of history there.
- I like the Rock Creek Campground but nearly all of the campgrounds along the coast are great.
- Will you be able to backpack?  I have always wanted to backpack in the dunes.  There are also some great backpack-only shelters at Ecola State Park (Cannon Beach).
- If you like to hike, there is a trail along the entire coast - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Coast_Trail  There is nothing like hiking through an old growth forest next to the ocean.

I know pretty much all the beaches along the Oregon coast, let me know what kind of beaches you're looking for and I can point you in the right direction.

There are also some cool places in the coast range, such as this bridge

which looks down on this


I could post a lot more ideas but I need to run.

I enjoyed my time in Newport, and they have the sand dunes there.

We camped maybe half a mile inland on some National Forest land, and it was so over grown, I felt like we were in the Amazon.  We were sitting around the campfire and it started dying down, and we looked around and the logs all around us were glowing.  Turns our they had some biolumescent fungus or bacteria growing in them.  It was my first week in the Pacific Northwest, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Hi Paul! My family and I have a 14 acre permaculture inspired homestead / art farm on the coast in Manzanita. We have some cool stuff like a goats, ponds, geese, a natural home in progress being built with a hybrid rocket mass heater / masonry stove being built. I know ernie really well, work with him sometimes we have lots of camping space and a timber framed barn if you want to stay there ( pretty rustic funky though ) hopefully a band saw mill soon too we will also teach skin on frame boat workshops there in the future.


there are some pics on the location part of my website
http://www.sitkakayaks.com

sweet, it's a great spot to live, so presumably it's also a good vacation spot. i love it here (newport). when you roll into town, pick up a tide chart at (insert name of any store- they all have them at the cash register in pocket size, yup you carry one in your wallet if you're local- newport has a food co-op near the center of town btw with a decent lunch buffet) and you can scope out when you want to be at the beaches. i know some great ones for tidepooling- maybe you already have some in mind? if not feel free to email earth.huggy (at) gmail (dot) com. it's also a good time of year for it since the lower lows are in the daytime. the yurt camping is excellent, don't get a hotel room, it's way nicer accommodations and for much less money. they are heated. sure there's no continental breakfast but...  i really like cape lookout sp's yurts, but i haven't used the ones right around newport (um, cuz i live there.) and you don't actually always have to book way ahead, it's the only surefire way, but SOMEtimes you can get lucky and score if someone cancels. stalk the online booking site if you want to do it, and you will probably find one. especially if it's a weeknight. the aquarium does still have the otters, for whoever posted that's info. no more keiko of course. free willy and all. the cool organic restaurant in newport is cafe mundo, where there is a long wait for really good organic food, and usually live music. there is also local ocean seafood on the bayfront, excellent food. don't go to mo's. anyway newport isn't necessarily the best place to be, but it is sort of centrally located and has lots of accommodations but if you have a different destination in mind holler. and i'd show up if you present.

I can only restate what everyone is saying about Newport. Lived there for about six months. Surfed at Yaquina Head where they have this cool, although sort of "making nature my bitch", tidepool park.

But seriously, Paul, you can almost pick any exit off of I-5 that says "Ocean Beaches", or almost any exit that goes west, and wherever you land on the Oregon coast is going to be rugged, wonderful, magnificent, approachable (mostly), and nearly overwhelming in presentation with lots of little places to sit in a chair facing the Pacific and ruminate.
In fact, if you decide on Newport, please start in Seaside and drive south along the coast. You will not be sorry.

Have fun.

If you like history the forts at the mouth of the Columbia are not to be missed, and there are several great historic lighthouses still standing http://www.nwcoast.com/lighthouses/oregon.asp

If you go far enough south along the Oregon coast, be sure to stay at Cape Blanco State Park- they rent cabins that overlook the ocean at the westernmost place in the continental United States. Cape Blanco has lots of  trails and huckleberries and mushrooms and Sitka spruce forests, cool tidepools and whale watching. It's great for fishing and birdwatching, too. Have fun!

JadeQueen wrote:
Maybe you can book the Poe Room at the Sylvia Beach in Newport. 

From their web site, I didn't see any poe room.

At this moment, there is a 90% chance i will book a room there today.  I'll call this my vacation.

I did the yurt in that area once before.  The yurt was pretty nice.  Although it was like staying in a big tent.  And I already get plenty of tent time with the rest of the traveling I do. 

I know pretty much all the beaches along the Oregon coast, let me know what kind of beaches you're looking for and I can point you in the right direction.

I think a little of each:  some sandy, some tidepools ...   

I was up in port townsend a few weeks ago (and lost several days of video footage - i still feel pain about that) and spent about ten minutes sitting in the sand next to the water and ....  really wanted to stay and do nothing for four hours.  But was pulled away by "gotta get video; gotta respect the time of others; gotta do the right thing"   So now I'm not sure what all I want to do, but I'm pretty sure that burning time next to the ocean is the right thing. 

henryindy wrote:
Hi Paul! My family and I have a 14 acre permaculture inspired homestead / art farm on the coast in Manzanita. We have some cool stuff like a goats, ponds, geese, a natural home in progress being built with a hybrid rocket mass heater / masonry stove being built. I know ernie really well, work with him sometimes

Are you open to a day trip? 

Well it looks like the Poe room has been remodeled.  According to the owner, “Everyone loves it but no one wants to sleep there.”  Here are some photos of what it used to look like:


The blade in the ceiling is connected to a motor which makes it swing back and forth.  Controlled by a wall switch, thankfully.



You'll find plenty of sandy beach 50 feet from the Sylvia Beach Hotel. 

Here is what Nye Beach looked like circa 1905:


For tidepools, I like Yaquina Head ($7 entrance fee).  Great tidepools, very cool black pebble beach, historic lighthouse, awesome views.  Here is how it looked circa 1910:

(The beach looks exactly the same today).

The lighthouse keepers grew a lot of their own food which is pretty amazing considering the harsh conditions.  The garden was in the fenced area in the right foreground.


You can save the $7 by parking in this beach parking lot and walking, but it is a bit of a walk.

Note that until about 1925 the land in the photos above was referred to as Cape Foulweather, which was named by Captain Cook in the 1700's.  However they apparently figured out that Capt. Cook was referring to the next big headland to the north.  So the land above was renamed to Yaquina Head.

Another good tidepooling place is the Marine Garden at Otter Rock.  Park here and take the trail to the beach at the north end of the parking lot.  The beach to the south is also great (wide, sandy), especially if you are looking for protection from the north winds which are common in the summer.

I'd also recommend finding an old growth (undisturbed) forest to explore and observe.   Permaculture is after all attempting to model what is happening in these ancient forests.  Mike Miller Park just south of Newport has many coastal forest features in a short trail.  For the "real deal", head into one of the nearby wilderness areas.


Rock Creek wilderness photo by Marc Adamus.

Cape Perpetua is also worth seeing, there is some old growth there plus many interesting rocky shores.

paul wheaton wrote:
From their web site, I didn't see any poe room.

At this moment, there is a 90% chance i will book a room there today.  I'll call this my vacation.

I did the yurt in that area once before.  The yurt was pretty nice.  Although it was like staying in a big tent.  And I already get plenty of tent time with the rest of the traveling I do. 

I think a little of each:  some sandy, some tidepools ...   

I was up in port townsend a few weeks ago (and lost several days of video footage - i still feel pain about that) and spent about ten minutes sitting in the sand next to the water and ....  really wanted to stay and do nothing for four hours.  But was pulled away by "gotta get video; gotta respect the time of others; gotta do the right thing"   So now I'm not sure what all I want to do, but I'm pretty sure that burning time next to the ocean is the right thing. 

mary beth rew wrote:
sweet, it's a great spot to live, so presumably it's also a good vacation spot. i love it here (newport). when you roll into town, pick up a tide chart at (insert name of any store- they all have them at the cash register in pocket size, yup you carry one in your wallet if you're local- newport has a food co-op near the center of town btw with a decent lunch buffet) and you can scope out when you want to be at the beaches. i know some great ones for tidepooling- maybe you already have some in mind? if not feel free to email earth.huggy (at) gmail (dot) com.

Wow!  It sounds like there are a lot of permies in the area.  Cool!  Maybe there could be a gathering.  

When I was visiting a farm in washington, we did a farm table podcast.  I thought that was pretty good.  

the cool organic restaurant in newport is cafe mundo

Sold!  I'll eat there at least one meal!

Awesome pics adunca!

My understanding is that there is no wifi at the sylvia.  Part of me thinks "good - then I won't be tempted to do web stuff" and the other part of me thinks "damn - I won't be able to get stuff done."

The public library has free wifi and is a 10 minute walk away.

paul wheaton wrote:
Awesome pics adunca!

My understanding is that there is no wifi at the sylvia.  Part of me thinks "good - then I won't be tempted to do web stuff" and the other part of me thinks "damn - I won't be able to get stuff done."

The sylvia was full - but they recommended another place that had room.  So I'll be in newport on the night of august 12th.  Just in time for an especially low tide on the morning of august 13th.

I'll be staying until the morning of august 14th. 

I've also booked a room for the night of the 14th in lincoln city. 

On the 15th I plan to head to portland. 

Gonna be in portland on the afternoon of the 15th.  I'm looking to see what ernie and erica are doing on the afternoon of the 15th. 

Anne, from the portland permaculture guild, mentioned guiding me on stuff for a day.  So I sent her an email with the idea that all day on the 16th would be for guiding stuff.  I'm thinking that part of this would be visiting a fella with black soldier fly larvae. 

And then on the 17th, I was thinking of heading up the columbia a bit before heading to seattle.

Paul Wheaton, when are you going to come visit us out in Scholls?
A lot has happened here over the last year since my newest and coolest neighbor moved in.
We want you to see it. You can call it 'Portland permie moves to Scholls'.


What-a-ya say?
     

What is "Scholls"?

So I am now lining up a place to stay for the nights of august 15th and 16th in Portland. 

B&B?  funky hotel? 

Paul,

Scholls is our little unincorporated sub-rural community, SW of Portland.
Lots of nuts, berries and apples, a general store, a church, an active grange, the local bar (complete with a full grown hog out back)  and the historic South Store Cafe.  (There was a North Store, now the rebuilt general store since the original burnt to the ground.)  The South Store Cafe used to be the South Store.  I remember it as a child, creaky floor boards and dusty items on the shelves.  

http://southstorecafe.com/


There is also Gotter Prairie Natural Area, a wetland restoration project underway which might be a nice place to stretch your legs or just sit and observe.  Gotter Prairie is an uncommon, wet prairie habitat and a home to rare Pacific Northwest species. Chorus frog, Pacific salamander; Red-osier dogwood, Gary oak; White-breasted nuthatch and Yellow-breasted Chat are just a few of the species living at Gotter Prairie.  

http://www.tualatinriverkeepers.org/restoration.html

And course there is the biodynamic vineyard nearby that sold a good portion of its land to developers as well a a bunch of other traditional wineries.  My neighbor makes fruit wine so maybe you'd prefer that.

You can camp in the woods, in the field or use the spare bedroom
Darts, music and conversation in the Soup Caves?


Risky, I know... but probably beats a lame hotel room.


I've stayed in the Poe room as shown in the pictures above, and it was definitely a memorable one!  I'm sorry to hear that it has been changed.

It sounds like however it works out, it'll be a fun vacation!

paul wheaton wrote:
So I am now lining up a place to stay for the nights of august 15th and 16th in Portland. 

B&B?  funky hotel? 

You might like McMenamin's hotels.  They all are remodeled historic properties such as schools, poor farms, etc.: http://www.mcmenamins.com/Hotels

I second McMenamin's. Went to the school one in Portland and it was absolutely fabulous.
I know you're not a drinker Paul but the settings of McMenamin's sites are great. Edgefield is supposedly haunted. Good for a story anyway.

paul wheaton wrote:
So I am now lining up a place to stay for the nights of august 15th and 16th in Portland. 

B&B?  funky hotel? 

ya can stay in the barn wid me goats if ya want 

Reservations now made at McMenamin's

I just now found out about airbnb where you can find folks willing to rent out a room, or a house or whatever.  Sounds way cooler than a hotel.

Hey I should rent out our treehouse!

adunca wrote:
Hey I should rent out our treehouse!

Totally!

Packing for the trip.

Will arrive in newport in the eve of friday the 12th. Gonna hit the tidepools super early on saturday the 13th.  Will head to lincoln city on the 14th.  will head to portland on the 15th.

After talking to Jocelyn, it would be nice to have one permie gathering while down at the coast.  Maybe saturday afternoon or evening?

The last time I was on the oregon coast, I was told that the urchins were nearly all gone.  Apparently people were harvesting them for something.  So I was glad to see them on this trip.



and some star fish (sea stars)



and a lighthouse.



All of these were from newport.

Thanks for the excellent advice everybody.  It was a great trip!

Funny how that HUGE lighthouse pic makes this thread too wide for my computer screen! I saved it to 50% for my desktop pic.