Honeymoon Day Nine - Trees, Cheese, Wine and Beer

The day started with a soak in the hot tub at the Surfrider Resort. A warm way to start a cold and rainy day (or as they call it here "Oregon Sunshine.") Before leaving the hotel, we consulted the guide book and asked for recommendations for lunch in Lincoln City and on both lists was Kyllo's Seafood and Grill. Stacy had crab cakes and Jed had Mahi Mahi Tacos. Both were delicious and Kyllo's goes down as one of the best meals we've had on our honeymoon.

After lunch we headed up the coast to see Three Archs State Park and Cape Meares, which included the Octopus Tree, The Cape Meares Light (the smallest lighthouse in Oregon) and a dense old growth Spruce forest. We spent a good amount of time exploring Cape Meares Park and all of its viewpoints and wildlife. After climbing to the top of the lighthouse, we jumped back in the car to drive north. After a couple of stops at viewpoints along Hwy 101, we stopped into the Tillamook Cheese Factory. The factory offered a self-guided tour that leads you to the 2nd floor that overlooks the factory where you can watch both the processing and the packaging of the cheese (no cows in sight, however.) Check of the video to see the assembly line process, very interesting and kinda weird to watch from behind windows. After the factory tour, we went downstairs to taste their cheese varieties. (The extra sharp cheddar was tasty, but the curds were strange tasting and very squeaky.) We bought some sample packets and hit the road.

We left the cheese factory and were only 20 miles from our destination, Cannon Beach. It was only about 4:30, so we took our time on this leg of driving. We stopped by a floating hotel in Nehalem Bay that we had read about in the guide book. There were different boat houses you could stay in, including a converted tug boat and a barge. Very kitchy but the hotel had a great view and a sauna (which Stacy liked.) We considered staying in one for the evening but already had a reservation in Cannon Beach.

We then stopped into the Nehalem Bay Winery to try some wine. The building was originally an old creamery (we just left a creamery?) and the woman pouring the wine was very helpful in describing the types we were tasting. We started with red, going up dry chart and then moved to whites, following the same process. The Cabernet and Chardonnay were our favorites, despite the fact that Pinot Noir is what Oregon is known for. After buying a bottle of Chardonnay, we hit the road with wine and cheese in hand. Nice combo!

We usually arrive at our hotels around 9pm and are pressed to have dinner before restaurants close but tonight we arrived around 6 o'clock and had lots of time to spare. Cannon Beach is a very cute beach town. Our hotel, The Waves Motel, was right in the middle of downtown, and it was only a short walk to all the shops and restaurants. Considering we had seafood three of the past four meals, we decided to have dinner at Bill's Tavern and Brewhouse. Stacy stuck with fish and had a tuna sandwich while Jed had one of their "famous" cheeseburgers (with Tillamook cheddar!) Both were tasty as were the two Ambers we drank along with them. (Most of their home brews weren't available due to a busy Memorial Day weekend.)

We ended the evening by doing laundry, taking a dip in the jacuzzi and playing a game of scrabble (Stacy won by 30+ points). Today we head to Seaside for a walk on the promenade, a trip to the aquarium and then possibly into Washington and back down to Portland by night's end. Lots of videos of Wednesday below.

Drive-Up Espresso and Smoothie



I will squish you, rock



Foggy Road Drive



Octopus Tree



Three Archs View from Cape Meares



Red Lighthouse



Cows Make Cheese, Not Me



Pretending to sing Pretend Love



Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach



Cheese Also