Life has a way of passing us all by. This young man turned 39 this year and even as I sit and type this, I have to add the years up to make sure I wrote his age right. I decided it would be nice to take him to the ocean/beach for his birthday for a nice quiet weekend. I planned it weeks before we left as a surprise. It backfired.
It backfired because as the time grew closer and my calendars renewed, I realized I had planned this getaway on Easter Weekend. Oh, thank you for coming early this year Mr Easter Bunny. I had a dilemma on my hands; do I surprise him and have him disappointed because he doesn't want to leave the boys this year? Do I cancel it? I talked to the boys about it and promised that we would be home Easter Sunday and we would do a hunt like normal. Krystal had agreed weeks before to come and stay the weekend with the boys - and now she was had the added bonus of playing Easter Bunny. Luckily she is super cool and was fine with it.
We colored eggs on Thursday night and after eggs were colored, we busted out Nate's birthday presents. One included mine - the following day he would only work until 12:00 noon and then we would head out. I had pre-arranged this with his boss Justin before as well. He was overall excited but there was a part of him that was hesitant to leave the boys on a holiday weekend. He got over it once the boys assured him they were cool with it.
One of the first places we stayed at when I visited Oregon was the Fire Side Motel in Yachats. We noticed a small village of cottages nearby that belonged to the owners of the FireSide, and eventually the resort of Overleaf Lodge. The houses were so quaint and reminded me of the mushroom village where the Smurfs lived. It only took us 11 years to stay here, but alas we did.
here is a private little hike railway from the village to the beach. The weather was absolutely perfect. We honestly could not have had better weather. We spent HOURS watching the spouts as the tide rolled in and out. We'd move from place to place, getting different vantage points on the spouts.
Best seat in the house. God's canvas laid right in front of us and most of Friday was spent here. Friday night we decided to head into town for dinner. Yachats is a very small town along the coast, so you don't have much to chose from. We also didn't want to visit the crowded restaurant that looked spendy. So we picked the restaurant a few blocks down that didn't have any cars there. That should have been red flag #1. We were approached by a waiter who was wearing black jeans that were too long and he was walking on the bottoms of them. He begins to show us the menu right at the door and point out the various entrees they did not have. He told us he'd give us a minute to look at the menu. So, there we stood, pretty much in the doorway, looking at the menu. He reapproaches us and says, "Sooooo, do you want to eat here?"
Red Flag #2. "Sure." He smiles like he's relieved and replies, "Excellent!" (Red Flag #3) We round the corner to the main dining area. It was a mix of Rainforest Cafe and Cracker Barrel. It straight up looked like the restaurant from the Goonies (ironic since we're just down from Astoria where that movie was filmed). It had 59 ferns hanging from the ceiling everywhere. The wood floor creaked as we walked past all the empty tables, the only thing breaking the silence was Kenny G belting the Sax from above.
Nate got the SeaFood Mac-n-Cheese and I got the Fish & Chips. Amazingly, it was delicious. We watched 2 more couples get the same treatment at the door and only 1 couple made it inside. They were British and they looked just as puzzled as we did and the wife whispered, "Maybe this is how they do it here?" There had been a pause in Kenny's playing, that's why I heard the whisper.
As we were wrapping up, an amazing thing happened. The 2 homeless hitch-hikers we had encountered just prior to entering the restaurant came in. They were greeted by Pants-Too-Long, the chef/owner came out and greeted them, and then they were seated. They were given hot soup and bread. They were very thankful and it was neat to see. The owner came out to talk to them and agreed to let them come back the following day if need be for another meal. I immediately felt bad for judging the place, but seriously, I was wondering if there was a basement with a figure screaming "Hey you GUYYYYYSSSSS" and wanting Baby Ruths.
Saturday was filled with more spout watching, napping, and reading books. We did also get in some basketball watching. It was very relaxing! We had a brook that ran behind our house so sitting outside on the deck was fantastic. A great friend of mine had recommended a small, quant restaurant for which I had to make reservations for. I had done so the week before. Heidi's was so delicious. It was built inside a small home so literally the chef is in a kitchen and there are only about 10 tables. The only down side to such a small quaint eatery is that when there is some serious cooking going on, it gets hot as a mother in there. We had to sit by the window with it open so I didn't pass out. They have 3 entrees to chose from, 2 desserts, and local wines. The menu is so small because it's fresh and cooked right there that day.
Exiting Overleaf Village was bittersweet. We were so excited to get back to our little egg finders but left a piece of our quiet hearts in the Yaquina cottage. We really did drive about 16mph leaving. Until next time!
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