Friday, September 24, 2010

Seaside

Last Friday Ryan and I played hookey (with permission), jumped in the car and drove down to Seaside, OR. There we met up with our good friends, the Pattersons. Holly found a great 3-bedroom condo just blocks from downtown Seaside for us to rent. It was a cozy place with shore decor, a TV we didn't really use and a pretty good kitchen. After sitting in traffic from Seattle to Olympia Ryan and I got to Seaside a little later than planned. But we got there in time for dinner at a Cajun restaurant that erned high marks online.
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The food was delicous. Ryan and Holly ordered the Jambalaya, Jason had Blackened Catfish, and I had Crawfish Enciladas. Everything was a bit to spicy for a one-year-old so Brooke had yogurt! If I could remember the name of the restaurant I would recommend it, but I can't, so I won't.

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Saturday morning we all drove to Cannon Beach for breakfast at the Lazy Susan Cafe. It is a cute old house just off the main street. Ryan and I have breakfast there everytime we are in Cannon Beach. After breakfast we wandered around town, bought Brooke a shovel and pail, and then went to play on the beach!
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It was a cloudy and sprinkely day, but it wasn't too cold. I'm a real PNW girl and I love the coast in any weather. Brooke must be a real PNW girl too because she loved playing in the sand and the cold ocean!

She only got a little bit upset when she first fell in the water and got instantly soaked.  (Of course I had to snap a photo of her distress before I helped her up!)
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Her distress didn't last long.  Pretty soon she was playing in the ocean and exploring the beach in just her diaper and her cute pink hat.
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photo by Holly


After playing on the beach Brooke, Holly, and Jason went back to the Condo for nap time.   Ryan and I took a drive a little further down the coast and made the decision that we need to explore the Oregon Coast more!  It is beautiful and there are tons of great stops along the way.

When we got back to the condo the 5 of us decided to walk into Seaside to find a place for Happy Hour.  Unfortunately while we were walking into town the clouds decided to open up and the wind began to blow.  We braved the weather for a bit and then ducked inside a restaurant.  It wasn't much from the outside but the inside was great.  It was a cozy place with great Happy Hour specials and wait staff who couldn't get enough of Brooke!  After happy hour we went back to the condo for a late dinner.  Ryan and I fixed one of our favorite meals, Spiced Pork Chops and Mango Salsa.

Sunday morning Jason and Holly fixed delicious homemade pancakes with apples, walnuts and a bunch of other yummy stuff.  The were so good and I really need to get the recipe from Holly.  After breakfast we had to pack up our stuff and check out of the condo.  Then we went to the beach by Seaside.  Brooke had the best time running all over and did not want to hold hands with any of the adults.

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Group shot by Jason via self timer.  I still haven't figure out how to use my new camera's self timer and ended up with a really fuzzy picture!

We said good by to Holly, Jason and Brooke in Seaside.  They were heading to Tillamook and then on to Portland for the night.  We decided to take our time getting home so we stopped at Sunset Beach for Ryan to fly his kite.  Sunset Beach is super cool because you get to drive right out onto the beach.  I'm 29 and can now say I've driven on a beach and not just in the passenger seat!  Maybe next year when I'm 30 I'll learn to spin a donut on the beach!  Or, maybe not.  Anyway, Ryan decided not to fly his kite because it was way too windy but the trip to Sunset Beach wasn't a complete bust.  As we were driving along we noticed this group of odd birds.  I pulled closer and realized they were pelicans!  So cool!  Pelicans don't normally live in Oregon - it's just a stop on their trip south.  There were hundreds of them on Sunset Beach just hanging out in the surf and at least a hundred more flying above the white caps searching for food.  It was fascinating so we watched them for awhile.  They would take off from the surf and fly above the white caps, then scan the ocean and when they saw what they wanted they would dive straight down into the waves.  It was an amazing sight!
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From there we went to the cemetery where many of Ryan's family members are buried.  It was somber, yet great, to see the headstones of my husbands family members.  As we walked the cemetery looking for each plot I learned a little bit more about Ryan's family and a little bit more about him.  Both sides of Ryan's family are from the Astoria area so this part of Oregon is so special in our hearts for many reasons.

It was a great trip.  Thanks Holly and Jason for the great weekend!  And thanks for letting us play with your awesome daughter.   

4 comments:

Jack said...

Looks like fun! Nice hat, Ryan ;)

Barbara (WA) said...

Pelicans ! I've only seen those in California. What a fun weekend and it's nice to see some new posts on here :o)

Holly said...

Awesome trip! We'll have to do it again.

The cajun restaurant in Seaside is Lil' Bayou www.lilbayou.net.

Mom said...

thanks for the pics of my kids and grand daughter--too cute for words-it's really wonderful spending time with j and holly as they are relaxing folks to hang with!!