Cannon Beach

We arrived at Cannon Beach just before lunch time on Saturday. (It's a famous beach for The Goonies movie being filmed there! Haystack Rock is one of the most photographed spots.) Not wanting to waste any time to see the beach, we headed right there. We spent the time beach combing for sand dollars, building sandcastles, and wading in the ocean. We grabbed a quick picnic bite for lunch and then checked into our cottage. It was the cutest little place. (Fresh baked cookies at check-in and homemade taffy by the bed!) We walked up and down the charming strip of homes, lodging, restaurants and shops. Of course we couldn’t pass up popping into a few candy stores. Then we got dinner at Pelican Brewery. The wait was long, but the food was devine! Afterward, we hit the beach again for a sunset walk. We had some fun with photography and even checked out the tide pools were we spotted sea anemone, crabs, and a few sea stars! Perfect end to a pretty great day!

The following day was more of the same: jumping waves, sandcastle building, beach combing, and reading by the ocean. Henry and I made another visit to the tide pools and we sure got a treat! With the moon in the size and position where it was, it created super low tides which made more places to explore than normal. I was amazed at the number of sea stars we could see at once. In one spot I counted 25! After talking to a volunteer, we learned we could gently touch the sea anemone. They had a telescope directed to haystack rock where some puffins were nesting. These are black birds with an orange breast and beak. They are declining in number due to the ocean waters getting warmer and their prey going deeper in the ocean. I could clearly see three through the telescope. I did manage a picture, but it's tough to spot them clearly.

We visited with a lovely couple at the beach with their grandson, who Henry had fun playing with. We popped back in our cottage for lunch and walked the charming town again for the kids to spend some souvenir money. Pizza was for dinner and we topped it off with ice cream and some more beach time.

On our final morning we enjoyed eggs, hash browns, and toast made in our cottage kitchen. Hotel complimentary breakfasts had been great for saving money, but the flavor wasnt really there with those, so we enjoyed cooking for ourselves a bit. We packed up and went on one last beach walk. It was sad to say goodbye to the ocean. I wouldn’t want to live there, but it’s a beautiful place to visit.