Nehalem Bay, Oregon --- A Fantastic Area

I’ve learned one very interesting thing about money … it doesn’t buy class.

It was moving day.  We had been at the Seaside Thousand Trails park for two weeks.  We were anxious to move to another location on the coast.  So, just about 30 miles and an hour later we pulled into another site.  Even though we had a great site in Seaside, this one was even better.  Our site was fairly private and our view …. well, so much better.  We were sitting right on Nehalem Bay.

There are many special places along the Oregon coast that we love.  Nehalem is just one of them.  The little towns in the area are cute, the beaches are sandy and there are many different ways to entertain yourself.  As you drive along Highway 101, you notice that many of these towns have marinas filled with both individual and commercial boats.  The docks are filled with crabbing nets, small cafes and lots of fishermen who always happen to be telling wild fish stories. 

The dark cloudy sky looked threatening but it wasn't.  A few minutes later the clouds were gone and the sun started to set.

We love walking along the beach or just listening to the sound of the surf.  We especially enjoy sitting in a restaurant with a great view of the ocean or the bay with a plate full of good food in front of us.  There are several places just like this.  The ocean is nice during any season.  Some people plan their time at the coast during the winter.  The storms that hit the coast are beautiful to watch … as long as you stay safe and away from the high waves and winds.

There are seal caves to visit, dunes to ride on, covered bridges to discover, whales to watch, waters to fish in, crabs to catch and lots of sand to sink your toes in.  

Our goal for the evening was to find a different place to try the local cuisine.   The Sea Shack Restaurant in the little town of Wheeler was just two miles down the road and offered bay front seating.  Terry ordered the bison rib steak with potatoes. Duchess got more of the steak than Terry did.  Do the potatoes look appetizing to you?  They looked and tasted like they were cooked last week.  Gordon Ramsey wouldn’t have approved.  However, Terry said the beans were delicious.

I ordered the boiled pot of seafood.  Needless to say, I was a little disappointed not to actually receive the pot of seafood.  My ordered included 5 clams, 4 mussels, 2 pieces of sausage, the meat from probably half a crab leg plus half an ear of corn and the toast.  It was pretty disappointing.

The Oregon coast is a beautiful place to be.  And, that’s just where you’ll find us for a few more days.  We’re sure we’ll find lots of good fresh seafood around.  Of course, we plan on catching some of it ourselves.

Isn’t every park next to a railroad track?  Sometimes it seems that way.  We took a walk down this one.  We knew we wouldn’t be seeing a train.  The train that uses it is for tourists and doesn’t see this part of the track except for the one trip it makes on Saturday.

We’re settled for a few more days.  We have great satellite, internet is better than Seaside and things are good.  Our first day in our new location was coming to a close.  We had a great site snuggled right into a corner with no neighbors except for the seagulls.  After getting set up we enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the water.

On the Beach at Seaside

Always laugh when you can.  It is the cheapest medicine.

Tuesday was a gorgeous day at the beach.  I do mean really, really gorgeous day.  We were going to take our chairs, Duchess and head to the beach.  The problem was deciding what beach and where???  We knew we didn’t want to go to the beach which is right off of the town area of Seaside.  However, it may be one of the nicest with the easiest access but it would also be the one with the crowds.

Duchess was happy no one else was around.

Duchess was sure happy walking along the beach with me. There were many different things to smell and soft sand to run on.

We decided to head just a little south of town.  What a good choice it was!  As you can tell by the photos below, no one was there when we arrived.  We had the whole beach to ourselves.  This, of course, made Duchess a very happy family member.  She was free until others started to show up.

A very empty beach

The tide was way out.  It’s a little rocky at this spot getting to the sandy beach but other than the steps down to the sand in town, it’s about the easiest.  Do you see anybody on the beach?  It was pretty empty and we liked it just like that.  I bet this doesn’t happen too often during the busy summer months.

It was definitely a gorgeous day.  After spending a while enjoying the sand and ocean, we took Duchess home and checked the crowd on the main beach.  They were certainly there.

People were just about everywhere at this beach.. 

Kite flying is very popular at the beach.  There is usually enough wind to keep the kites in the air and lots of space to run.

We had more seafood at dinner time.  This time I was hungry for a good salad.  That’s just exactly what I got at Pudgy’s.  Matter of fact, it probably is the best Shrimp Louis I’ve every had.  Check out the massive amount of shrimp on top of the salad.

I couldn’t pass up tasting their specialty either.  It’s the Smoked Salmon Clam Chowder.  Our waiter assured us it was a “killer” chowder.  We both had to agree with him.  It was fantastic!

Other than helping finish off the chowder, Terry didn’t order oyster stew.  He was hungry for a hamburger.  He probably would have had oyster stew if they made it but they didn’t.  This is another place I want to revisit just to try another loaded salad.

Hug Point – Old Oregon Stagecoach Route

I've learned that sometimes all a person needs in life is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.

I had read a couple blogs about Hug Point.  Of course, I also had just seen the sign off of Highway 101 so we were pretty close.  Our visit to Hug Point wasn’t quite the same as the blog I had read.  To begin with, we knew the only time to really visit the place was low tide.  It wasn’t low tide but it wasn’t high tide.  The bad part was that the tide was coming in so we couldn’t walk around the point. 

Imagine traveling by stagecoach along the beach (before the highway was built, the beach was the only way to go). North of the parking area you can still walk along the original trail carved into the point by the stagecoaches. The wayside was named after this trail because it hugs the point.  With the tide coming in I didn’t try to walk around the point especially with the waves crashing on the rocks at times.

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful beach.  Terry just enjoyed it from the top of the hill.  Getting to the beach here it is very rocky.  There were lots of people on the beach. After all we decided to visit on the weekend and worse ....  it was on a holiday weekend!  Some folks were in the water, others had picnic lunches and some were just sitting in the sand or even flying kites.

I know.  I know.  You are probably getting pretty tired of ocean and wave shots by now.  However, I never get tired of them.  Some people love the mountains.  I love the water.  I bet that's obvious.  Well, we won't be on the coast much longer.  We'll be heading inland and all we'll have of this year at the coast are the pictures I've taken.   Tuesday we'll get some more photos probably.  After all the holiday-goers head home, we're going to pack a lunch, take our chairs and head to the sandy beach for the day.  Temperature is to be in the mid-70's.