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We started out Friday night (Aug 14th<\/sup>). Anthony got off work at 4:00pm and took the MAX to the Gateway Fred Myers and started shopping for the last minute items; Marshmallows, Logs for a fire, Roasting Forks, and Hershey bars. He also picked up a new pair of swim goggles for Shawn as the last ones didn\u2019t fit so well.<\/p>\n Joshua picked up Anthony from Freddie\u2019s and we headed down I-205 at about 5pm\u2026. during rush hour\u2026. on a Friday\u2026. Long story short (too late),<\/em> it took 30 minutes to get from Lake Oswego to the I-5 I-205 junction!<\/p>\n We made it down to Newport Beach and our hotel Shilo Inn Oceanfront about at 8:00pm and checked into our room with an amazing view and then started to look for dinner.\u00a0The hotel\u2019s caf\u00e9 was closed, but their fine dining restaurant was open but seemed much too pricy.\u00a0So, we jumped in the car and headed down to the next hotel\u2019s restaurant, Georgie’s Beachside Grill.<\/p>\n We walked in and they had a table for us\u2026 in the bar. This was not bad, as it was a window table. They carded BOTH OF US, which was a huge treat for Anthony.\u00a0But that is where the good times ended. We ordered the Deep fried Artichokes. Which turned\u00a0out to not be fresh but canned… in bitter brine, which is sad as there where farmers market stands all over the freeway on the drive in with fresh ones. They fried the canned artichokes apparently in the same oil they use to fry the fish on the menu, so the crispy tempura coating tasted like old greasy fish\u2026 not a great flavor combination.<\/p>\n For our main courses, Joshua had the stuffed salmon. Which was not fresh and very rubbery, stuffed with imitation crab and cheap shrimp.\u00a0Anthony ordered the chicken and sun dried tomatoes penne pasta. Which comes served in a white cheese sauce\u2026 according to the menu. What arrived was a cool, white paste. On a positive note we both loved the bread they served with dinner!\u00a0We headed back to the hotel room, with upset stomachs and when to bed.<\/p>\n The next morning we got up early and headed over to Pig and Pancake for breakfast.\u00a0We love the Pig and Pancake in Lincoln city. The food is outstanding, good value for money and tastes great. Unfortunately, we ate at the Pig and Pancake in Newport, where the highlight of the meal was seeing someone wearing a Roxy T-shirt.<\/p>\n After a horrid breakfast we drove up to Agate beach. Joshua likes rocky beaches, and Agate beach sounded ideal. Agate beach turned out to be a wonderful soft sand beach.\u00a0But it did have some neat rocky cliff area\u2019s which we explored.<\/p>\n We then headed up to Depoe Bay and walked around the shops and Whale Watching center. Turns out we arrived on Pirate day. So several hundred folks, all dressed in pirate wear, were walking around and setting off canons.\u00a0We picked up a gift for our friend, Scott and headed up the road to Lincoln City where we found three new pairs of pants for Joshua at the outlet mall.<\/p>\n The whole reason for going to the coast was that Sara had asked us to come down as a backup support for a trip that she and Shawn were taking for her birthday. So after shopping we started to head back to Newport to meet up with Shawn and Sara who where driving down from Portland.<\/p>\n We met them at Yaquina Head; we all parked in the visitor center and walked out to the lighthouse.\u00a0The lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in the west coast, and we all got to climb to the top! We then walked down to a little cove area and explored the tide pools with Shawn. Shawn really wanted to touch some of the animals he saw so our next stop was the Oregon Aquarium!<\/p>\n If you have never been to the Oregon Aquarium, it\u2019s like EPCOT’s living seas, but just a bit bigger. We ate lunch at their caf\u00e9 \u2026.. Strike three for you baseball fans<\/em>.\u00a0We decided to share the basket of Fish and Chips ($11.00), which turns out to be just what the sign said\u2026 One breaded piece of frozen fish and \u00bd cup of shoestring oily French fries\u2026.aaggghhhhh.\u00a0The only plus to it all was Shawn had a great time at the Oregon Aquarium.<\/p>\n We all headed back to the hotel, and Sara, Joshua and Shawn decided to go swimming.\u00a0 After, we all met up for dinner at the Shilo Inn caf\u00e9. And I wish I could tell you we had a good meal. We arrived 45 minutes before they closed which they said was not an issue. They had one other table besides us. The waitress came over and took our drink orders, drinks arrived and order taken, the other table of diners left and\u00a0we were sitting in an empty room\u2026.. No wait staff no diners nothing. We had all ordered pretty easy food items, but the food took over 30 minutes to come out of the kitchen. The service was lousy! The food was just ok.<\/p>\n We then headed down to the beach. After a long walk we found a good spot and Joshua got the fire going while Anthony played mom and got the smore production line ready. It was really windy and the wood Anthony got at Freddie\u2019s was very dry so the fire started easily and burned fast. We make lots of smores and only lost one in the fire and one in the sand.<\/p>\n The next morning, we woke and looked out the window to see Sara and Shawn digging in the sand so we called them. They were having fun so we headed out for breakfast alone with a mission to pick up French toast for Sara. We found a place called the Chalet Restaurant & Bakery, and had a GREAT breakfast with wonderful service. So we headed back to the hotel with French toast for Sara only to have missed them. Shawn had gotten wet and they changed clothes and decided to head up to the Tillamook cheese factory.<\/p>\n So we packed up the car and decided we should head out as well.\u00a0We stopped in Neskowin, which is just north of Lincoln city. Anthony\u2019s Grandmother took him their once when he was little. It has a few motels that overlook a great sandy cove. We decided that this would be our next beach vacation destination.<\/p>\n We drove up to Tillamook and stopped in at the Blue Heron cheese factory and purchased 2 wheels of their brie (regular & smoked). We then of course stopped in at the Tillamook cheese factory, and it was a mad house! We dove in grabbed our squeaky cheese (cheese curds) and got out of there as fast as we could.<\/p>\n We then drove home and Anthony made dinner. We had Tillamook cheese Enchiladas and reheated French toast.\u00a0It was a fun trip but next trip is definitely at Neskowin or the beach house in Oceanside!\u00a0It seems we are way too picky of eaters.<\/p>\n We also had a weekend of pre-shopping as Suzanne would say it. But we pre-vacationed, “When we have the kiddo, we will do this, or we will go here” Or “yeah not doing that again”.