Oregon Coast August/September BabyMoon: We need HELP
 

Hello.. My wife and I are planning a little babymoon and we would like to head to oregon and do the drive along the coast. We are interested in seeing the beautiful scenery and also just taking some adventures into small towns and eating great food. It's about doing all the touristy stuff for us. We want to relax, have fun and just spend time together.

We will be going for about a week or 10 days that at the end of August that will likely include Labor Day weekend (maybe)

We are thinking of maybe ending up in San Francisco... possible?

I am definitely directionally challenged, so we are looking for help on a few things:
1. What's the best route to take that will combine hitting up some cool towns, seeing the great visuals and eating yummy food? Also, ideally we don't want to spend huge amount of hours driving.

2. Places to stay: What are the best places to stay, whether it is cosy b&b's or nice small hotels or inns?

3. Where to eat: We are NYC food lovers, and just want to hit the great spots.

Anything else you can share with us would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I'm happy to answer but first, what the heck is a babymoon ;-)? I've seen that term used but I have no idea what it means. First vacation alone as a couple after having a baby, maybe???

Anyway, I would head down the coast on 101--there's really no choice of routes until you get to just south of Garberville CA where you can either take Hwy 1 along the coast to Mendocino (recommended) or stay inland on 101.

I did a trip down the coast and back from Seattle to SF a couple years ago and I'd recommend stopping in Yachats, Trinidad and Mendocino. That's about 4-5 hours of driving each day. Spend a couple days in Mendocino if you have time (not sure if your week to 10 days includes time in Portland and SF on either end or not).

I like the Overleaf Lodge, the Lost Whale Inn and the Albion River Inn in each of those 3 locations but there are some other great places as well. You might also check to see if the Tu Tu Tun Lodge on the Rogue River in Gold Beach has availability for your dates as it's one of the nicest places to stay anywhere IMO.

thanks for the reply. a babymoon is the last trip you take before having your baby. i never heard it until my wife got pregnant. it's a little silly but what can ya do. I have heard that the Tu Tu Tun Lodge is really nice.

Are there places to stop in between to break up the four to five hour long trips?

AH, ok. Yeah, that is a little silly ;-).

Tons of places to stop along the coast and in the redwoods for great vistas and at least short walks (longer hikes are available as well but I'm not sure how much of that your wife would be up for).

I would give yourselves at least 3 nights to do the drive, plus at least 3 nights in Portland and SF. Tons of great restaurants in both cities of course and some decent spots along the way...once you decide where you're stopping post back for suggestions.

Babymoon! That term sounds absolutely ridiculous!

Hi, I am in Seaside right now on the northern coast. We have a beach cottage here so don't require lodging, but I know that the Stephanie Inn in Cannon Beach is very nice and oceanfront. It would be the perfect spot for a Babymoon trip! ***kim*** ((#))

Consider the winding coastal roads and how that may feel to someone who is pregnant. If her nausea is passed...go for it.

have not stayed here but have heard its nice
its the Channel House Inn - Depoe Bay - some of the rooms have hot tubs on the deck overlooking the ocean

http://www.channelhouse.com/

Since there seems to be a trend on this thread for those who haven't actually stayed in the places they recommend let me just say I've always wanted to try out this place:

http://www.salishan.com/

I've stayed at the Hallmark Inn at Cannon Beach in their room type II. Great Views and a nice fireplace in the room.

Suzie--I have stayed at Salishan numerous times, but not recently. I wouldn't bother going back. Two reasons...it caters more towards an older crowd than myself and it isn't even on the ocean. You have to cross the highway, and even at that it isn't a good stretch of beach, IMO. But they are trying...they built a spa a couple years ago and the shops are nice.

Hopefully beachbum will see this thread as he has actually stayed at many places on the coast with his wife, so he can speak from experience.

We go with our teens, so not exactly the same dynamics as what the OP is looking for, lol!

You might have to decide on what's more important, "great visuals" or "yummy food". Because you'll find few, if any restaurants along the coast that compare to NYC. Portland and San Francisco.... sure.

That said, I think you'd enjoy Cannon Beach, staying at either Stephanie Inn or Ocean Lodge, next door. And, for an out-of-the-box meal there, the Dinner Show at EVOO: http://www.evoo.biz/.

Another thought is Whale Cove Inn, just south of Depoe Bay: http://www.whalecoveinn.net/. Wish I could say I'd stayed and dined there.... some day. But, just based on a walk-through visit, I think it might be the nicest lodging on the coast.

You can't miss at either Overleaf Lodge or Tu Tu Tun. Both are special, but for different reasons.

Whatever you decide, you should be making reservations now, especially for nights on the coast. If Cannon Beach is in the itinerary, plan on two nights there, as any of the better lodgings have minimum stay requirements.

:-D :-D mms!

LOL:)

Thanks so much mms for the info on the Salishan! It's great to have first hand information about a place. I really appreciate the input even though it wasn't my thread!!!!

Suzie--You should know by now, OR and WA threads get hijacked here and at TA all the time:D LOL!

this is all very helpful. thank you very much. just to get a better idea, what is the best way to break down the trip. we definitely want to not have to do super long driving portions if possible. ideally we start in portland and work our way down, but where would you suggest we stop and stay along the way?

thank you very much

It would help to know if San Francisco is a must, and if so, how much time you'd plan for that and Portland. My opinion is that, once you've seen the redwoods in northern CA, there isn't much of a reason to continue on to San Francisco except to see the city. Not to dis the coastal scenery in northern CA, but once you've seen the Oregon coast...... ;-)

It would also be good to know how you like to travel. Is viewing from the car okay, or do you prefer to get out and explore some. Without knowing answers to these questions, my shrink-wrapped itinerary suggestion would be a couple nights in Portland, two in Cannon Beach, two somewhere on the central coast (Yachats or Depoe Bay), two at Tu Tu Tun, one near Crater Lake, then back to Portland. With anything more quickly paced, I think you'd feel rushed.

Yes, exactly, that's why I've been trying to elicit more information about how much time you actually have for the drive--and whether you do in fact want to drive all the way down to SF. Hard to give you a good itinerary without knowing those things.

We stayed at the Channel House in in Depoe Bay - really nice! We had a hot tub on the balcony. We had yummy New York pizza at the pier in Newport, Oregon.

Also, stayed at the Ocean Lodge in Cannon Beach - right on the water - we really loved this place. Great walking beach and beautiful rooms.

In Mendocino we love Stanford Inn By the Sea - beautiful, romantic rooms with real fireplaces overlooking the water. They have a really terrific restaurant on site.

Congrats to you and your wife! Having just had my 3rd in late June, I can attest to recent exhaustion from pregnancy as well as nausea (although I still managed to play league tennis up till three days before delivery!).

We did travel overseas for three weeks overseas during my 7th month of pregnancy, and our two older kiddos along meant I had to be at the top of my game. The long flights to/from Italy meant that I had to get up every hour or two to stretch my legs since pregnancy increases the danger of clotting (and ugh -- varicose veins) if sitting too long.

Energy levels do change from day to day for pregnant women.

A few tips to consider are that your DW should take small breaks to walk and stretch along the drive and also stay hydrated. Even if nausea has passed if she has experienced it, bring along a care kit of unsalted Saltines, dried ginger, and Preggie Pop drops, because it could recur at any time. Each pregnancy is different, and my last one I had it through 26 weeks and it returned at 32 weeks. Ick!!

Have you considered possibly focusing on one single region, e.g., Western Oregon or NorCal? We've done the road trip along the coast and through central CA and OR a few times and we took nearly three weeks to do it and visit a few selected locations for a restful vacation. It can be done in a week to 10 days, for certain, but you might feel rushed.

A more relaxed agenda might be to focus in-depth on a region where you can roadtrip, sightsee, and enjoy a foodie destination in between. Just my opinion after a recent pregnancy and a -- I know I'm going to get some groans after this one -- family moon -- late in my pregnancy.

thanks for the feedback. we definitely don't have to go to san francisco, just figured it was on the way as we made our journey down. we figured we would land there and fly home from there at the end of our trip. we likely are not looking to do big hikes or things like that but going for small walks and exploring a little bit are definitely things we can do. we like going around towns and checking out the stores and as i said eating good food. we probably would have about ten days. we would leave on a friday and return the following sunday. hope that provides more information. i think that in terms of stopping and looking at sites vs just driving by them. we would likely stop at some and keep moving on others. it would all depend.
we haven't really done a trip like this before so all the feedback is very helpful. thank you.
quick final question, are parts of the road trip along the coast with constant turns and stuff that my wife might get sick to her stomach?

thanks again.

Stephen, it sounds like you and your wife are trying to plan the same trip that my husband and I are. However, we are starting the trip on labor day weekend. We are traveling down the coast of Oregon, plan to see the redwoods, with a day trip to San Francisco on the back burner, if time permits. I will steal some of the suggestions that all of these great responders have given you.

It won't be particularly curvy/windy if you stay on 101. Hwy 1 (which you would take if you wanted to go to Mendocino) however is extremely curvy and windy so if you do decide to drive to SF and nausea is an issue, you'll want to stay on 101 and skip Mendocino this trip.

The itinerary I would suggest if you are doing a one way drive from Portland to SF would be very different from what I would suggest if you're doing RT out of Portland, so I think that decision needs to be made first. You can do either the drive down the coast or a loop around OR in a reasonably leisurely fashion.

Since the coastal drive is best done north to south, if San Francisco is not a must, I suggest you plan to fly into Portland and do something along the lines of the itinerary I suggested previously. It covers almost the entire Oregon coast, with a quick drop down into northern CA for a peek at the redwoods before returning to Portland. You might modify it a bit - e.g. Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland rather than Crater Lake - but I think it works pretty well with your time frame. Six nights on the coast might seem a lot, but I believe both Tu Tu Tun and Cannon Beach lodgings will have 2-night minimums, and you wouldn't want to short-change the central coast. Besides, you'll want some down time between drives, and there are some activities you may want to do that are tough to squeeze into a one night stay.

Again, (both of) you should firm up plans and make reservations ASAP. It's not unusual that the places that have been recommended book up several months in advance.

I drive the coast road between Seattle and SF/LA once or twice a year, and have been doing so since Johnson was president. Andrew. My most recent run was last week, LA - Seattle.

I think you should indeed start in Portland (or Seattle) and finish in SF. The reverse is also okay, especially if it meant you ended in Seattle at Labor Day (well, for a babymoon, hopefully not <i>that</i> Labor Day ;)) for the Bumbershoot arts festival. www.bumbershoot.org.

People have different tastes. We don't especially like the northern Oregon beach towns, like Seaside or Cannon Beach - too honkytonk in the first instance and too self-consciously twee in the second. There are a couple of exceptions: Astoria is interesting for its historic values, the bridge over the mouth of the Columbia is hell for impressive, and the Three Capes loop outside Tillamook is an undiscovered gem.

Our favorite stretches of the Oregon coast are between Newport and Reedsport, including the towns of Newport, Yachats ("ch" like "Chanukkah") and Florence; and between Bandon and Brookings on the southern coast. Coming from Portland you can cut over from I-5 on US 20 to Newport, or if you want to go faster, continue down I-5 to Drain and then cut over to Reedsport on the very scenic State Route (SR) 38.

On the northern section we like the Fireside in Yachats, http://www.firesidemotel.com/ - or its sister property next door, the Overleaf Lodge - http://www.overleaflodge.com/ They're the sort of family-run motels along the coast that used to dominate the area, well run and affordable.

On the southern coast we like a couple of oceanfront places in Bandon (no particular ones - Google is your friend.) Also Bandon has probably the best selection of decent restaurants of any town on the coast. There are also decent bed-and-breakfast places in most towns.

You hit the first major redwood groves just south of Crescent City, then they continue with gaps until you hit Arcata/Eureka, then pick up again south of Eureka pretty much all the way to Garberville. US 101 bypasses some (not all) of the most impressive groves, so whenever you see a sign offering an alternative route (e.g. "Avenue of the Giants") <i>take it</i>. You might look at the Victorian town of Ferndale, just south of Eureka, for an overnight - tons of cute B&Bs. http://www.victorianferndale.com/

I would definitely take the time to travel on Calif. SR1 between Legget and SF. It's winding in places to be sure, but take your time and savor the wonderful scenery - not just coastline, but meadows, little valleys, some very cute (if touristy) towns like Mendocino, Gualala, and Bodega Bay. Plus, by comparison US 101 over the same distance is inland, hot, boring, and did I mention hot? (I stayed in Ukiah last week and thought my tires would melt.)

I will second the recommendation that you pick route and lodgings and get things booked immediately. I'd try for midweek if at all possible in some of the more popular/scenic areas.

Good luck and happy baby!

This is a great thread!!

I'm planning a road trip from SF to Oregon and back.(9/1-9/8) I have about 7-8 nights and would love some help with the best path and sights? I'm a bit taken back by all that Oregon has to offer and I'm afraind to strecth myself to thin.

My trip will be a father/son road trip and I hope to spend no more than 4-5 hours in the car at any onetime.. perhaps a big push on the 1st or last day...

My hope is for some outdoor fun, like hiking or biking.. We are open to camping, nice BtoB, we don't need any 5** star hotels.

We have been to Mendecino in the past, but might be open for a stop...

In some of our reasearch we came upon John daly Fossil Loop, volcanic legacy scenic byway, and rogue-umpqua.

Any recomemndations would be highly appreciated....

Thanks so much..