Cannon Beach, Oregon: Ocean, Muffins and Puffins

The pictures for this post have been sitting in my blog drafts for almost a month now without posting, not sure why - perhaps because I don't like to end things. But I do like to have a closure, so here you have it - PART THREE (final) of our early Spring mini-break in Oregon State. Click here to read PART ONE and PART TWO.

More Oregon vacations from previous years in these posts:

MAY 2015 

DECEMBER 2015 

AUGUST 2016: PART 1 and PART 2.

I also invite you to look at my old Russian blog for a zillion photos of Portland, Oregon that we took during our first few trips there (prior to this blog):

PORTLAND JAPANESE GARDEN 

(considered the best Japanese garden outside of Japan) 

and PORTLAND: CITY OF ROSES, BRIDGES, TRAMS AND BOOKS.

Both posts written in February 2013, with pictures from 2007, 2011, 2013 taken by Justin and myself (yes, I used to bring a camera wherever I went, for many years!).

And now on to the final destination of this year's trip.

Terrible Tilly (1881) in the distance (read  Wiki article HERE and my post HERE)

Armed with all four new tires, we left Portland early afternoon, so we could arrive to the final destination of our family trip in daylight. Hello, Cannon Beach! There is a lot written about this magical place, and if you've been there once, you will most probably want to visit again! We visit almost every year, as you can see from the posts I shared earlier. This time though we decided not just to visit, but to stay in the village (as opposed to its neighboring towns, where we have stayed before), so without a single care in the world we could leave our car and walk the streets of Cannon Beach - a charming and unique wooden architectural ensemble with the views of the Pacific Ocean.

As soon as we left our stuff in the cute wooden hotel, we paid the ocean a visit. No matter how many times we come here, it doesn't get old! The long sandy coastline, the sound of waves, the sea breeze, the feeling of feet sinking into the sand, and the view of these gorgeous rocks standing upright in the vast water, some closer to the village (such as the iconic 235 foot high Haystack Rock in the photos above), others in the distance...all of it makes this place irresistible to visitors. All of it and more - but let's come back to that a bit later, shall we?

My last day outfit: the same elements paired differently!

We were quite lucky with the weather in the sense that we got just one rainy day - but it was our only full day in Cannon Beach, alas. We spent it walking down the streets and visiting shops and art galleries - either those we always love to visit, or those we always want, but never have enough time to visit. One of the most exciting things to me as a foodie is discovering unique places to eat, and this time it was a wonderful breakfast and lunch cafe called Lazy Susan. I can highly recommend without any reservations: it is not only competent, but soulful and inspired cooking - cooking at its best! And the cozy atmosphere of this quaint family restaurant makes it simply a must when you are in town.

Bran muffin (who knew they can be so good!) and melting-in-your-mouth quiche

A scone with enormous marionberries! (a type of blackberry developed in Oregon) 

Omelette, bacon, fried potatoes is heaven for Justin (and I rarely cook it at home).

The last day of our vacation started with sunny skies, and the temperature got up to 60 F. (As we came back home that evening, which is a 3 hour drive, it was 70 F and glorious sunshine - the first such warm day this year!) But being used to windy and wet weather which we experienced every time in Cannon Beach (except perhaps the very peak of Summer), we expected that it would turn out cold and breezy when we'd get to the beach, so I dressed in layers, like a head of cabbage, and insisted on dressing Anya the very same way (grumbling about children who never listen to their mothers, no less). But when we came to the beach, the sun continued to shine blissfully, and I soon started taking off layer by layer, feeling rather silly for being overly worried for no reason, and ended up carrying not just mine, but my daughter's extra clothes.

The Needles - rocks near Haystack 

The last - but not the least! - reason why we wanted to visit Cannon Beach were puffins! These beautiful, exotic looking creatures, are known for coming to the rocks every year in early April. They come here to nest and lay (each pair) exactly one egg and stay in this location for a hundred days to raise exactly one baby puffin, and leave till next April. We heard of this, but haven't had an opportunity to see it with our own eyes until this trip!

We weren't the only visitors who came to Cannon Beach to see puffins - the beach was crawling with families and whole classrooms of children having educational trips. And even though we weren't lucky to capture puffins on our cameras, I promise you that we indeed saw them!! I squealed with excitement like a kid under a Christmas tree when I saw them flying around the Haystack. We've only seen them at a zoo before, and they always seemed a bit unreal, a bit out of this world - are they birds? are they penguins? So seeing them with our own eyes was quite a treat and quite a marvelous ending of our yearly family trip to Oregon. If you plan a visit, keep in mind that you can still see them (as well as other sea birds) in May and June. Puffins are real! I guarantee you that!

Photos by Justin and me

Button down shirt, vest, corduroy jacket - thrifted

Skirt - eShakti (old)

Outer jacket - Lands' End (old)

Rain boots - Hunter (old)

* * *