Neskowin, OR

We spent about 18 glorious hours here and wished we could have spent many, many more. This place was like paradise for the young 'uns (and us big 'uns liked it pretty well ourselves) with a freshwater creek flowing shallowly over a big wide beach into the sea so there was SO much to play in without having to be en guarde for riptides and barnacles and whales and sharks (not to mention whale sharks). It was AMAZING. Crowning glory was Proposal Rock which was not just some li'l ol' puny rock but about 2-3 acres of rock thickly spread with loamy rich soil and thick coastal forest perched right where the sand meets the sea (at least during low tide it does) and this climb-y old family of mine just had to scamper straight to the top, of course. I went up with them the second time and had a heart attack moment when we were right at the top (about 60 feet up and RIGHT looking down at the open sea (and the tide coming in) and Bruno had a real three-year-old hissy fit not wanting to hold my hand when we crossed by this open spot... and was jerking away and acting all crazy... OK, that was the one moment when I wasn't so keen on Neskowin, OR, but other than that I basically think I could easily relocate to this sleepy, tiny town. There was this fantastic Hawk Creek Cafe which is pretty much my idea of the perfect place to eat... not only did they have a fine array of delicious Oregon microbrews on tap, but when we sat down to table each kid had a little Golden Book at their place, and the kid's menu was taped inside the front cover. Isn't that CLEVER?? I'm totally going to borrow that idea when I have my place someday.

Anyway, Neskowin, OR. I know it's far far far for my Texas friends but I'm giving it a big fat thumbs up. I'm feeling quite smart myself because Matt was craving to go to the Texas beach this spring and I begged him to save our money and just tack on an extra day or two to our Oregon adventure so we could visit the coast here instead.