A day at the beaches

We ate breakfast at the Gilbert Inn.  Scrambled eggs and sausage.  Had to ask for a spoon for yogurt.  Had to ask for salt and pepper.  Had to ask for refills on coffee.  Had to ask for a second pat of butter for the bagel.  Seems they were afraid to put too much out. Food was tasty, however plain.

We drove south toward Cannon Beach.  We stopped at Ecola State Park, which had a beautiful view down to Crescent Beach.  Mist and clouds were rolling up from the breakers and small hummock like offshore islands made it look a little like Scotland.  Temps were just in the 60s.  The head/ point on which we stood must be the one we see south of Seaside.  As we were driving out, we saw an elk in the veg quite near the road.

We then drove into Cannon Beach.  We found a town park, parked and walked toward the ocean.  There’s a river flowing out and we walked its banks as it cut through the sand.  We walked all the way to the Pacific ocean, wetting the soles of our shoes.  Looking north, we saw gorgeous rocks and small islands. 

After walking back, we drove to the Center Diamond quilt shop near Haystack Island.  Terribly hard to find a parking spot, as the whole area was crowded, but one was open in the quilt shop parking lot.  I enjoyed the sun on the outside bench while Deb bought stuff. 

We drove back into the town of Cannon Beach and miraculously found a street-side parking spot .  we at lunch at the Driftwood Restaurant and Lounge.  Clam chowder and salad for me, Deb had salad and fried Willapa Bay oysters.  Mine was “good of kind;”  Deb’s oysters were fine.  Then we walked up and down the Cannon Beach streets, looking in the shops and dodging all the dogs the Oregonians take everywhere.  We finally saw enough so left to drive further south to Tillamook.

The road south passed around the midpoint of Neahkahnie mountain and was originally an elk path.  An overlook provided stunning views of Manzanita beach. 

Coming off the mountain we saw a sign for Manzanita Beach and we turned in.  We parked a few streets back from the main road and walked to the Manzanita Winery.  Deb had a glass of chardonnay (not to her taste), we shared a few Castelvetrano olives and I drank a soda.  I bought a bottle of the Tempranillo, which I later found was not worth its $54 price.  We walked to the beach and watched kite surfers.  Very breezy! 

Drove back to Seaside.  Safeway for supplies.  Maggie’s on the Prom for dinner – excellent!  Very good calamari, halibut and salmon.  Drank a fine bottle of Adelsheim chardonnay to wash down the fish.  This was a fine way to celebrate the 40^th!  The sky was very overcast, preventing the “watching of the sunset.”