Weekend at the Beach

NOTE: The title is a link to an online photo album with all the pictures from the trip.

John was going to turn the big ol' 28, so around mid-July, I arranged to have the boys go to the in-law's for the weekend and spent countless hours trying to find the perfect coast hotel for the weekend. I finally came across Hallmark Inn and Resort in Newport and loved the thought of their King Spa Stateroom - a 2-person jetted tub in the room sounded perfect! It was a little extra, but I can say now that it was worth it. I would definitely recommend it. The tub was super roomy and the king size bed was the most comfortable hotel bed I've ever slept on. It even had a couch, two armchairs and a table, a small kitchenette (dishwasher, sink, fridge, microwave, toaster, coffee maker, and a set of dishes), a fireplace, two TVs (with DVD player), room service, and a very nice on-site restaurant (Georgie's Beachfront Grill). We will definitely be going back.


After a ton of traffic on our way there, we settled into the room and went out in search of some dinner. We came across a very touristy 50s diner called FlashBack and decided to have some good ol' burgers and fries - although in my case, I opted for the onion rings. A little greasy but oh sooooo good! The bacon cheeseburger was fantastic. We were pretty tired and full of food, so it was back to the hotel. This was the sunset view when we walked back in and looked out from our deck:

The colors branched out so far in each direction, it was breathtaking. What a great sunset for our first night there! Being pretty wiped out, we relaxed in the jetted tub for a while, watched part of one of my favorite dance movies that happened to be on tv (The Turning Point -1977 - Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine with Baryshnikov) - you know it's a good movie when John isn't bored out of his mind by all the ballet! - , then snuggled into bed.

I woke up at 8:30 by the sound of small children fighting. I quickly realized they weren't my children and I didn't have to deal with it. So I went back to sleep and didn't wake up again until 11:30! Hmm, maybe John and I were a little worn out?! We had a lazy "morning" making coffee and sitting on our deck in our pjs, just talking and not having to be responsible for anyone but ourselves. Honestly, the silence was so beautiful, we didn't talk too much. I think we must have remarked every five minutes about how fantastic it was to be fully in charge of our day, not have to be anywhere, only worry about feeding ourselves, and not having to worry about taking someone to the bathroom or changing a pull-up. I never appreciated moments like that until I had two small children! We sat for almost an hour, just staring out at this:

We finally decided to get a move on and head to our chosen hike for the day: St Perpetua Trail. Yes, we included a 2.6 mile, 700 foot elevation change, up the side of a mountain kind of hike for our relaxing weekend. We'd be craving some good challenging hiking for almost a year now, so we were really looking forward to it.

After an impromptu lunch at the Pig'N'Pancake (love it!!), we made our way to Cape Perpetua. We decided that instead of starting at the bottom, we'd drive to the top and do it backwards. Honestly, it was the way I'd recommend it. It's considered a "Difficult" hike (it's all switchbacks), but going down the mountain is fairly simple. It's coming back up that nearly kills you. I would not have felt like hiking back down after climbing up there. So we were spoiled with the good view before we even started:

Holy cow, that was high! It is called the "Best View in all of Oregon" and I can say that I've never seen a view quite like it. It just goes and goes and goes on forever. You get the view in spots, but you're also into the coastal forest so it gets really quiet and tranquil. We saw a few people, but it's not a super busy trail - probably due to the difficulty. On our way back up, we came out into one of the view spots and saw multiple sun rays breaking through the clouds onto the ocean. It was so pretty.

After the hike, we headed back to shower and then straight out to dinner at the Rogue Brewery. They were pretty busy since it was a Saturday night, but the hostess said she had room in the bar. They still serve dinner in the bar area (there's just not the good bay view like the restaurant has), so we went on up. The hostess was mistaken! There was no room! As we stood there looking around, a couple at a table motioned us over and said that we were welcome to sit with them. John and I aren't particularly adventurous when it comes to sitting with strangers, but we agreed. We ended up having a great dinner with them! Towards the end, the waitress came over and asked if it was separate checks. We said yes and that we actually didn't know each other before we sat down. She was surprised and said that she would never have guessed. I guess we looked like we were having a pretty good time! It was definitely a fun experience.

After another evening of soaking in the jetted tub, watching a movie, and John kicking my butt at Scrabble (he started out the game by lamenting how bad he was at it and how I was going to beat him), we slept until 10:30 the next morning. We had picked up some strawberries and doughnuts on our way back to the hotel the night before, so we had another lazy morning of sitting out on the deck with coffee and a yummy breakfast. Check out wasn't until noon, but we felt ready to start our afternoon and get some sightseeing in before heading back home so we packed everything up and checked out around 11:30.

We walked along the foggy beach and took a birthday picture before heading towards the Yaquina Head Scenic Area to see the lighthouse.

Happy 28th Birthday John!

(don't mind the sun in my eyes...)

We walked around the scenic area for a little while before heading in to climb the stairs up to the top. They were getting a little busy, but we were looking forward to seeing the view from this gorgeous lighthouse.

Once it was finally our turn to head up to the top, we started up the stairs and I made it to the first landing before I suddenly realized that I could see through the stairs as we walked up. Now, if you remember my post from Disneyland where I couldn't even make it across the minuscule rope bridge that my four year old could walk across, you'll know that I'm severely afraid of heights. I didn't say a word to John as we continued up, just trying to talk myself out of freaking out (this lighthouse has been through storms and has been standing since 1872, people walk up here every day without falling to their death, the likelihood of it collapsing under my feet is very low, etc). I made it 3/4 of the way up before I pasted myself against the wall on one of the landings and refused to any further. Needless to say, John was a little confused as to why I was suddenly having a full blown panic attack when I was almost to the top. We're talking shaking uncontrollably, hyperventilating, tears filling my eyes kind of panic attack. In public. So I sent John up by himself to take pictures while I stood there and waited. It made me feel a little better when a couple other people got to my point and were also having issues with the heights, but they were able to continue on past me. I was able to calm myself down as I stood there until I thought about having to walk back down this:

It probably doesn't seem like a huge deal, but you really can see through the stairs a lot more than the picture shows. Not good for me. John took the picture, by the way. I would have fully passed out if I'd tried it! I made John walk in front of me on the way down and began to panic if he got more than 3 steps ahead of me. Once I had made it down the stairs and out the front door alive, I started shaking even more and really had to keep from crying. I think the crying was mostly from feeling like a complete idiot for having a massive panic attack in public and being frustrated for not being able to make it all the way up. I sure don't feel like an idiot during the panic attack - I'm only thinking about how I might die. Ugh. Oh, and if you're wondering how the heights on the viewpoint from the hike affected me, it bugged me too. Luckily the only spot where you could really see that you can fall is at the top and the area is big enough that I was able to stay five+ feet away from the edge. Any closer and I would start to panic.

Once we were done with the lighthouse adventure, we went into Depoe Bay for lunch, caramel corn, saltwater taffy and gifts for the boys. After a quick stop at Starbucks (everyone heading back from the coast had the same idea, as it took us a good 20-30 minutes to get through the drivethru), we headed home.

It was a perfect weekend. Everything went just the way we wanted and there's nothing I would change (yes, the freak out was frustrating and a little embarrassing, but it also provided John and I with the opportunity to talk about how much it really affects me and what ISN'T helpful while I'm panicking - a pretty good bonding moment). While we love our children deeply, we're going to be able to be better parents by taking a small escape every now and then. It was a good reminder that it needs to happen a little more often.

And to my husband, thank you for spending your birthday weekend with me. I can't wait to do it again!