Probably the easiest would be to fly in to Portland - from where you could drive over to Astoria (2 hours or so) - taking a quick spin to see the Victorian Architecture - and then head down the Coast for the main event.

There are a number of places to stay - but my favorite for it's setting perched on a cliff overlooking the beautiful Pacific and reasonable rates and a good restaurant with the same spectacular view is just south of Lincoln City - the Surfrider Resort. http://surfriderresort.com/ It also has a grassy area in front where you can sit and enjoy the view while giving the toddler a little fresh air.

BTW - don't forget to try the saltwater taffy.

If you head back to Portland the night before your flight and have some time - in Washington Park - the Rose Garden http://www.rosegardenstore.org/ and nearby Japanese Tea Garden are both beautiful - and the Portland Zoo is only a couple of miles away. If you have more time - drive out the Gorge - about 30 plus minutes east - just off I 84 (take the frontage road when you get there) - to see some of the incredible waterfalls, such as Multnomah: http://www.multnomahfallslodge.com/

Hey there, Tom - Sounds good! I'll def check out these spots! Thanks for remembering our little one. He's staying home this time.

I don't think you need to go any farther than Cannon Beach, which is 90 minutes from Portland, to find what you're looking for. Plenty of good options for lodging, the iconic Haystack Rock dominating the beach, "yummy" dining choices, and more beautiful scenery than you'll have time for within an hour's drive north, or south.

But, are you looking to stay in more than one place?

Agree with Cannon Beach suggetion. Lovely, charming town with spectacular beach and good restaurants. Perfect place to just relax and enjoy. Recommend a drive up to bordering Ecola State Park for breathtaking views and a great picnic spot. The drive for the waterfalls near Portland is also beautiful if you have time.

Another vote for Cannon Beach. There are lots of great places to stay for all budgets, and lots of shops and restaurants. Haystack Rock is right there, and at low tide it is exceptional. We like to rent the funcycles (3 wheeled recumbant style bikes) at low tide too and go up and down the beach. Not sure if you would be up for that or not, but thought I would throw the idea out there Ecola State Park is beautiful and has much to offer.

The nice thing about CB is that it offers so much, but is also a good location for doing day trips to other coastal areas.

I agree with the initial drive up to Astoria for sightseeing, and then down the coast... and the wave of endorsements for Cannon Beach are enough to cause me to side with them too.

If you have anybody in your circles back home who is in to the "Twilight" movies, you can take a slight detour to the town of St. Helens, Oregon, to see Bella Swan's house in the original movie when enroute to Astoria.

Cannon Beach is filled with obnoxious Portlanders.

It's super crowded in the summer, but can't say for sure about the end of May.

And as for movies - for Astoria - see Arnold Schwartznegger in Kindergarten Cop - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099938/ and if you want to see old world charm - but up to Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood (a little over an hour from the Portland Airport)- where they filmed part of Jack Nicholson's scary movie - The Shining. http://www.timberlinelodge.com/ and for some history: http://www.timberlinelodge.com/visit/heritage/

Actually - depending on when you arrive - you could drive from the Airport out the Gorge - see the waterfalls - turn south at Hood River (you might see some windsurfers out on the mighty Columbia) and go through the pretty valley around to the south side of Mt. Hood and up to Timberline Lodge.

From Timberline - you can see all the way down the Cascades to the 3 Sisters in Bend - and they have fine dining at Timberline as well as a great pub - both with views.

Also - don't forget the Paul Bunyan tribute - the Blue Ox. http://www.timberlinelodge.com/visit/dining-2/restaurants-bars/blue-ox-bar/

FYI - parts of The Shining were filmed at Timberline Lodge - as were some other movies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shining_(film)

And for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timberline_Lodge

Wow, y'all have given me some great food for thought. Thank you! CB sounds pretty awesome. Going to research it and Lincoln City now...

Islanddaze - I'd like to stay in one place for three nights.

The difference between Cannon Beach and Lincoln City is like night and day. Lincoln City is like one big sprawling strip mall, and CB has charm and a much more interesting coastline, IMO.

If you know what your budget is, we can help narrow down lodging choices.

Thanks, mms. Our budget, including air from DFW, is $1,500-1,700. However, we could use points or miles for the airfare and that would leave us a bit more room to play.

Here are some hotels to think about and see what fits your style and budget the best.

One that we have been going to for years and absolutely love is the Surfsand. The rooms are very nice, and many rooms are full ocean front views. It is a great location as it is a short walk on the beach to Haystack Rock but also a really short walk to the heart of downtown. There are sidewalks, so you can go that way or along the beach. The hotel is also the only one on the entire OR coast with cabana service. If the weather is nice, they will have adirondack chairs and umbrellas set up on the beach right in front of the hotel. The onsite restaurant, The Wayfarer, is quite good too.

Another one that we have had a good stay is Schooner's Cove. It is closer to downtown, so a tad further from Haystack Rock. Rooms are oceanfront and nice, but I give the edge to the Surfsand by just a tad. Schooner's Cove has thinner walls so you hear more of your neighbors.

Another one we have stayed at and like is the Cannon Beach Hotel. It is next door to the Surfsand, but the way it sits it is not oceanfront as the Wayfarer sits between the hotel and the beach. There are a couple rooms that do have views, but I have not stayed in those so am not sure just how much of a view they have.

A few others that have ocean views include the Stephanie Inn (very expensive) and Ocean Lodge, but the drawbacks with these are location and price. They are near each other but far from downtown, and no sidewalks to use. A couple other more reasonably priced are the Hallmark and Tolovana, but I have not stayed at those either, so can only comment on the location. They again are not ideally located, IMO, but they have good word of mouth.

There are many other hotels, but the ones I mentioned first I think would fit your trip really well. Definitely go for an ocean view since it is really nice and will be a treat

To review this again for all you loyal "CB" fans: I am not suggesting staying in Lincoln City - but just south of there - overlooking spectacular Depoe Bay, at the Surfrider Resort - http://surfriderresort.com/aspx/m/730404 which is much less congested than Cannon Beach.

And some people think the drive from Depoe Bay south is the prettiest along the Oregon Coast.

There are also plenty of other nice places south of Lincoln City - including the world class Salisan resort. http://www.salishan.com/

mms and Tom, thanks for the follow up! I'm going to share this info with the hubs.

Has anyone been to Newport? What's that like and is it worth a day visit to see the aquarium? Hubby enjoys aquariums...

Newport is the largest town on the entire coast. I like it much better than anything around Lincoln City. The Nye Beach is a great area and has it's own little downtown area with shops and restaurants. Not large, but nice.

Elizabeth Street Inn is where we stay when we go there, and all rooms are oceanview. It sits on a small bluff though, so to get down to the beach you either go to the hotel next door where there is a bunch of stairs to get down, or walk the other direction towards the downtown (a block or two) and you can walk right down to the beach. If you go to this area, Cafe Stephanie is really good for breakfast or lunch. It gets swamped, but is worth it.

The aquarium in Newport is excellent. There is also the marine science center. Easy to spend one day doing both. Yaquina Head and Yaquina Bay both have lighthouses and are great areas to explore.

Personally, I think Salishan is way past it's prime. In the 80's it was all the rage and was a spot companies chose for conferences.

I'll jump back in to agree with everything mms has said (and not just because she's another "obnoxious" Portland area resident). One other north coast town you might consider is Manzanita, 15 miles south of Cannon Beach. It's smaller, with fewer lodging and dining options, but might fit better into your budget. Sunset Surf is pretty old-school, but probably the least expensive direct ocean/beachfront view in the area: http://sunsetsurfocean.com/.

If you were to stay on the central coast instead, I'd recommend Yachats, and specifically Overleaf Lodge: http://www.overleaflodge.com/. One of the best settings on the coast, IMO. Yachats (pronounced yaw-hots) is definitely small-town, but still has some nice dining options. And it's in the middle of that section of beautiful scenery Tomsd referred to, but still close enough to the attractions of Newport. The one potential drawback is 3+ hours to get there from Portland.

Hey, y'all! Thank you SO much for the wealth of info on Oregon. After a bit more research and discussion with the hubs, we decided on Seattle versus the OC. It has been on our list for a while and DH prefers a more walkable destination where a rental car isn't necessary... We'll still likely rent a car for a day to visit the Capitol, one of our hobbies. Thanks again!!!

If you rent the car for 24 hours you could drive an hour south of Seattle to see the Washington capitol in Olympia and then drive 3 hours down I-5 through Portland to the Oregon capitol in Salem. The golden man on the top of Oregon's capitol is more impressive than Washington's capitol IMHO.
Take Rt. 22 west out of Salem to US 101. Head north with stops at the Tillamook Cheese factory and the Astoria Column before heading over the big bridge back into Washington using US 12 to get back to I-5 and Seattle.

Perhaps DH would enjoy walking onto the passenger ferry and going over to Victoria, BC Island - which is almost like a quick trip to England. If you check - you can find some authetnic British Pubs, have high tea (either reasonably priced or the "full monty" at the Empress http://www.fairmont.com/empress/GuestServices/Restaurants/AfternoonTea.htm ) and also visit the increidble Royal Museum.

You probably won't find too many obnoxious Portlanders there either. Double


http://www.clippervacations.com/ferry/ferryschedule

Thanks, Tom! That might be doable for us. Love the prospect of visiting the cheese factory! Much of my travel's high points are food related. smh

Tomsd, I would like to include a ferry excursion and that sounds fabulous! We'll soon be discussing an itinerary in more depth, so I'll be sure to mention this!

Make sure you take the passports with you just in case you do decide to go into Canada.

I'm a little confused. Is the Clipper ferry the only way to get to Victoria? Or, can you take the WSDOT?

Yes, the Clipper is the only ferry from Seattle to Victoria. We've made that trip a couple times and enjoyed it, but next time we'd like to try a float plane: http://www.kenmoreair.com/Page.aspx?nid=130.

If I can expand a little on islandaze's post...

The Victoria Clipper is the only ferry (foot passengers only) that connects Seattle and Victoria. However, if you are driving you can go to Port Angeles and take the Black Ball ferry or drive up to Anacortes and take a Washington State ferry...but only a few ferries from there go to Victoria each day.

I have done the float plane and it was fun- leaves from Lake Union and lands in the Inner Harbor in Victoria- just a short walk to restaurants, shops etc. Look for web specials -

The Clipper is the convenient and quick way to get to Victoria- a more scenic route is to drive up to Canada ( just south of Vancouver) and take the ferry over. I like this ferry as it goes more frequently than the others, and the route is much more scenic- traveling close to the islands and between narrow channels.
When I go I frequently leave my car and just walk on ( much less expensive) and I take a bus from the the ferry landing in Sidney to downtown Victoria.

But of course this suggestion means more driving and have to cross the border where there can be delays- but if you are going in May I think that might not be a problem.
Victoria is a beautiful city.

If you don't want to go that far to experience a ferry ride- just take a day trip to Bainbridge Island or drive up to Edmonds and take the ferry to Kingston for lunch- both easy to do.
Edmonds is a great little place to visit even if you don't do the ferry- lots of cute shops and restaurants within walking distance of the ferry landing.

You can also drive up/ just north of Seattle - to Edmonds is it? - and take the passenger and cary ferry over to Victoria - Siddney actually (30? miles above Victoria - connections available) and that goes through the San Juan Islands. We were very fortunate - and saw a pod of Orcas/Killer Whales that swam alongside the big car ferry for about 20 minutes - and then - poof - they were gone.

Oops. Thought I posted this: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/vesselwatch/TerminalDetail.aspx?terminalid=19

No ferry to Victoria from Edmonds- maybe you mean Port Angeles ,Tom

Tom's thinking about Anacortes, which Bobmrg already mentioned.

Ok - a bit hazy here. I think you have to get to Anacortes - and from there over to Sidney - which is only about 15 miles from Victoria. Coming back from Sidney/Victoria - we also stopped at a B & B on Whidbey Island - and from there - that's where we took the ferry to Mukilleo I believe it was. http://www.whidbeyislandbandb.com/ http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Anacortes&state=WA

Best Bet: Study the various ferry routes and how to get from A to B to C, etc.

you can take the Black Ball ferry from Pt Angeles, or a ferry from Anacortes or drive up to Tswassan ( not correct spelling but too lazy to look up) in British Columbia- I always take the latter as the times are more frequent and in my opinion, more scenic.

Thanks, y'all. Will study these options. I would love to go to Victoria, however if anybody these options cost as much as the Clipper or float plane, we'll have to pass this go-round. If I read right, they were both about $132 each way per person? Hoping the other routes/ferries cost less. Also, we may only do a one day rental in order to visit Olympia...

You can take the Coho ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria. We have done that and it was enjoyable.

Do you mean Olympia or the Olympic Mountains?