January 6, 2009
The Oregon Coast
If you're of a California frame of mind, consider this: The Oregon coast is not the beach. It's not even close. The beach is sunshine, warm water, rock 'n' roll and girls in bikinis. The coast is weather: wind, rain, fog and more wind. You wear your parka to the Oregon coast even in summer. You're more likely to find a sunny day here, in fact, in December than in July. Only once in more than two decades in Oregon have we managed to lie out on a towel and sunbathe on the Oregon coast, and even then it wasn't very comfortable.
So why come? Well, there's that fog: mysterious, soothing, almost mystical some days the way it covers over the pounding of the ocean. There's the sense of quiet and isolation you can find strolling on a deserted beach. There are a few good restaurants, though not necessarily the ones you might expect.
The Oregon coast is more crowded the farther north you go, and gets better the farther south you go. Our favorite spot is Charleston, a small and unpretentious fishing town on the south coast near the ocean port of Coos Bay, which has few big ships anymore calling at its deepwater harbor.
If you find yourself in a bigger town -- Florence, say, or Newport -- have lunch at Mo's and enjoy a bit of Oregon pop culture. If you've got a big honking RV, hook up at Honeyman state park near Florence.
Photo: Beach near Florence, 2003
all text and images © 2005-06 by Bob Keefer
no reproduction allowed in any form without written permission