When in Gearhart, Oregon…

Stay here. Preferably in the off-season, to get the best rates. (We got off-season rates, half off again, through a LivingSocial deal. Love them!)(PS – if you use that link to sign up, you will receive $5 towards your first purchase. Just FYI.)

 

(Gearhart Cottage. We were in the left half. It has two bedrooms, one bath, and a kitchen. There is also a BBQ and a firepit in the backyard, plus kindling and firewood in the shed. We spent a blissful two nights here. This is the only brick building in town, right on Cottage Ave. It’s hard to miss in a one-stop-light town.)

Oh, and eat breakfast here. Just do it. She comes in at early-o’clock several days a week and bakes up to a dozen different varieties of scones, muffins and pastries. When they are gone, they are gone, so try to come first time! (Both mornings, I rolled out of bed, shoved on a hat, a pair of jeans and some flip flops, and shuffled down the block to get our breakfast. It was OH so worth it.)

(Berry Tart and Marionberry Scone from Pacific Way Bakery and Café)

As soon as you’ve unloaded your car when you arrive, head back up the street and ask to borrow one of the bikes at the affiliated inn up the street from your cottage. They have at least 6, in various sizes, locked in a small garage. They are there for guests to use.

 

Bike down cottage avenue and turn left, any left, until you hit the beach. You’ll drive up and down a few grassy knolls, and wonder WHEN you will hear the ocean, or get a peek. Suddenly, you crest the last knoll and the ocean is all you can hear…or see.

 

(Lo Gung went ahead while I snapped this picture.)

Breathe deep. You’ve made it.

 

Bike down the beach. If you’re lucky, you’ll start to hear clucking and calling…and you will come upon the largest flock of pelicans you have ever seen.

Pose your beach cruiser for a few artistic shots

Grin like a crazy person and pinch yourself. You aren’t dreaming.

“We come to the beach to breathe.” (taken from a sign in a gift shop)