Get out of town!

Both Aaron and I have been dying to get out of town, and so last minute, of course we finally decided to to just that....get out of town.

Our choice? Bandon and Coos Bay (referred to as "the Bay Area" but in Oregon and Not. As. Awesome...) and a portion of the coast we've never been to together (however, I was there over 15 years ago or so in case you wondered....).

Since this trip was a last minute one, we made no reservations to stay anywhere, piled our stuff in the car and drove off into the horizon.

Here are a few snapshots from our random and crazy trip:

Day one- in the car

Some healthy snacks...in case you're not familiar:
A one hairy leg, one root beer (totes street legal ) an all natural
slurpee and in going with the whole "sea theme"-swedish fish cuz
they're sooo delish!



Hyper-Me after my healthy snacks



We finally made it to Bandon and decided to check out the Historic Downtown.

And why not?

Still Day One- Bandon

A cool street lamp in "Old Downtown" Bandon



A place that was supposed to be good and serve
some amazing fish and chips....not so



Me. Fishin' and lookin' good during Shark Week
and a bald man in the back being jealous.



My handsome hubby- you may know him



Some Caramel dipped marshmallows = yum



A beautiful carved Sea horse (is that two words?)
down on the Bandon Boardwalk



Coquille River Lighthouse



An old-timey view of a jetty from the lighthouse

We also did a little shopping and decided we had seen and done enough in Bandon and decided it was time to move on AND find a place to lay our heads.  We found that not having a reservation was not so smart and ended up calling different hotels and campgrounds for availability.  There was none until someone tipped us off to one just outside of Charleston called the Bastendorff Beach Campgrounds.  It was a first come, first serve campground and we were told there were only 12 spots left.  We decided to drive there immediately and managed to find a spot.  The one we landed in wasn't bad and for $16 we weren't complaining. That night we went to a hole in the wall restaurant for a delicious bowl of clam chowder in Charleston.

Then we went to sleep to the sound of crackling fires and crashing waves.  The next day we woke up and moved up the coat to Coos Bay and North Bend.

Day two- Coos Bay

We started the next day out with a flat tire so Aaron swapped out the flat for the spare and then we had to drive 15 minutes or so to the next town, Coos Bay to a Les Schwab.  While our flat was being repaired, we walked to a nearby coffee shop.  There, we sipped coffee, read our books and planned the rest of our day.

We stumbled upon a pretty amazing Street Market and walked up and down the street.

We managed to find a tasty Apple Cider wine from Depoe Bay Winery and some Elephant Ears (doughy goodness...)

We then walked through the downtown portion of  Coos Bay, stopped by the visitor center where we heard a crazy man swear to another that there was no Japan and decided it was time for lunch.

We decided we didn't want anymore "amazing" fish and chips this time and landed on what happened to be a pretty awesome German restaurant, the Blue Heron Bistro.  It was quirky, our waiter was not meant to be a waiter and the food was delicious!



Inside the restaurant




A picture on the front of the weird menu



My meal: Brussels Mussels cooked in cider with cucumber coleslaw
and fries



Aaron enjoying his fried oyster and bacon sandwich with
a sour beer...all weird. He's gonna love this pic :)

From there we headed to Shore Acres near Sunset Bay (where we wanted to camp but they were FULL!)

It used to have a huge house, but word on the street is that it burned down, the State bought it and restored the gardens.  I'm glad they did because it was just as pretty as I remembered it when I was 16.



A beautiful garden outside of Charleston: Shore Acres





Shots from a wee little walk around the grounds of
Shore Acres



And last but not least- a coastal sunset by our campground

That is pretty much it! Hope you enjoyed it and can visit some of these places if you never have before!