This is part two of a series of articles documenting a road trip south along the west coast of good old America from Spokane, WA. to southern California. Waking up early after spending the night in Lincoln City, Oregon, we left around 7am. We are in August and the weather is very cool, cloudy and windy and it feels more like April. Heading south on Highway 101 after stopping to buy fruit at the local grocery store, we started heading towards our destination for this day: Crescent City, California.
With only about 265 miles to go to reach our destination, day two gave us time to stop as many times as we wanted. Depoe Bay was our first stop. This small town by the sea has character, as it was full of inns, cafes, shops, galleries, and some history. I was here many years ago and it was much better than I remembered.
There were so many great little places to stop, but one that stood out was Cape Foulweather. The very name made us want to stop. Its sight did not disappoint, and it was accompanied by a sign describing how it got its name: it was discovered by the English explorer Captain James Cook on March 7, 1778. On that day, the weather was particularly stormy, and Cape Foulweather became the first place Cook named on his trip down the Pacific coast. Another interesting tidbit provided by the sign: 100mph winds are not unusual there.
The next three main stops on our West Coast road trip were selected by my ten-year-old son and stand out from the crowd.
The first was the Heceta Head lighthouse. We parked near a beach and walked up a path to the royal lighthouse, passing unique birds and a bed and breakfast along the way. The hike was neither too long nor too short, and we spent about an hour and a half at this stop. Hard to beat a pretty lighthouse on any coastal road trip.
Although I was skeptical at first about the next stop, the Sea Lion Caves, it ended up being a place worth visiting. This location provided quality views of the sea lions from two different locations. The first viewing area was from a cliff, the second was much better. Delve into an elevator shaft that had been cut and blown from solid rock into an actual cave. The elevator took us to the observation area, and lo and behold, there were many sea lions in all their glory. Very nice. It also featured one of the best gift shops I have seen in a tourist attraction setting.
As lunchtime approached, we headed to Florence, home of BJ’s Ice Cream Parlor. My son had read about this in a book and asked that we stop by to try his ice cream, so we stopped at one of his two places. This one was right off Highway 101 and was decorated with some nice old school decor. The young woman who attended us provided us with great service and directions to get to the old town of Florence, our next stop.
Devouring our ice cream didn’t fill us up at all, so we decided to head into the old town to find some real food for lunch. It wasn’t long before we stumbled upon Bliss’s Hot Rod Grill. We walked into the parking lot a foot forward to snap some pictures of all the hot rod decor that lines the outside of the restaurant, and ended up staying for lunch.
With old road signs, memorabilia, and cars inside the restaurant serving as stalls, the decor was just as impressive inside the restaurant as it was outside. Despite the appeal of the race car theme, the service did the quarter mile in about forty minutes, the waitress needed an oil change, and the food might have needed a tune-up. Nonetheless, I love places like this and I’m happy we stopped by anyway. If I end up back in Florence, I’ll probably give it another chance.
At this point in our west coast road trip, we’ve made about ten stops and need to get our own hot rod going. Continuing south to Crescent City, we make far fewer stops but enjoy the scenery nonetheless. Southern Coastal Oregon had more 4-wheelers and ATVs with trailers than I have ever seen. It was a Sunday in August and the dunes had a lot of action that day. We leave Oregon with a sensory overload of the beautiful beaches, coastal scenery, and unique towns we visit. The beauty of the Oregon coast is all that it seems to be.
When we arrive in Crescent City, there is still plenty of time to enjoy Battery Point Lighthouse, the recently remodeled city park (complete with Redwood logs you can stand on and walk in) and a local restaurant (The Apple Peddler) with the Best waitress we’ve had in a long time, anywhere. After dinner, it was time to unwind from a very satisfying day on the coast.