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So my GF and I are gonna celebrate our 1 yr anniversary by checkin out the Oregon coast but dont really want to deal with all the stupid tourists and college kids on spring break.
So where are some cool places to go? The only place I want to make it to is the Vortex where the magnetic field is all weird. The GF wants to see some beaches and ocean.
Are there any old forts or cool stuff along those lines?
Gonna be going in the 2nd weekend in April.
 
Near Astoria:
You have the Lewis and Clark fort and 'museum'. There is also Ft. Stevens the old military fort up there. Kinda cool if you like that stuff. Astoria tower.

"The crack in the ground"
the "lost Forest"
You may be able to go and dig for sunstones
Crater Lake
Baker City (Oregon Trail museum)
Steens Mountians (camping, hiking..) Unsure of weather there at this time of year.

http://www.traveloregon.com/
Hope that website helps.
 
Along the way to the coast: Multnomah Falls. Crater Lake. Richardson's Rock Ranch (guaranteed no college kids there :) ). Portland Japanese Gardens.


Actually, it sounds like you might need to buy this book:

<broken link removed>

Keith
 
I live 6 miles in from Newport. Newport has a few things to do such as the Oregon Coast Aquarium, Wax Works Museum, Two Lighthouses to tour, and the bayfront walk. Lincoln City, just twenty minutes drive north, is more geared toward tourists. They have lots of shops on the main drag, restaurants, and some very nice beaches to walk. If you go south of Newport you will find the Sea Lion caves just before Florence. Florence has the Oregon Dunes where you can rent dune buggies or have one of their professional drivers take you on a tour and scare the crap out of you.
 
I think the answer depends on your girl friend -

1 - Smoking hot? Checking into the Adobe in Yachats...best food on the coast, ocean views, feed the seaguls, relax, or uh....don't relax...;)
 
Second week in April shouldn't pose a problem as far as anyone being on Spring Break. Oregon schools, including colleges are on break this week. Seaside is the place to avoid for Spring Break, and it is a tourist trap for the most part. Still it's kinda funky though. The Oregon coast is great for walking and looking at the landscape. Several cool lighthouses, shops, restaurants. the Aquarium in Newport is a good one, but Newport itself has it's host of tourist "attractions." Again, kinda funky - typical Oregon Coast. Things are pretty mellow.
 
Don't forget about the Tillamook Cheese factory in Tillamook. I practically live off their cheese.

There's also a big air museum near Tillamook IIRC that's home/was home to the Spruce Goose/Moose(?)...whatever Howard Hughes giant plane was. It's well worth a visit.

Obviously the coast has great scenery, lots of hiking, etc, but the south coast (Bandon to Brookings) is by far the best in Oregon, and only parts of the CA coast rival it.

You're not going to avoid tourists anywhere on the OR coast, but the northern part is by far the most congested, plus, it also has an abundance of yuppies, old people, and Portlanders.

If you make it to Coos Bay or Reedsport, you can get a first hand look at our legendary poverty. Aside from Eureka, CA, there's not another coastal town in the entire US that has a higher per capita of panhandlers, tweakers, unemployed loggers, punk kids, and scumbags than Coos Bay does. It's the armpit of the world. There is a super walmart there though...which is the best thing about it.

Gold Beach has jet boat tours that run up the Rogue River, which is about as scenic and awesome as you could possibly ask for.

Astoria has a big bridge, bad traffic, a reasonably interesting museum, and the Astoria Column.

Brookings is home to the tallest bridge in Oregon...and also a lot of snobby people.

If you're not content with just taking in the beauty of the coast itself, then those are about the best things going on down here.
 
On Friday and Saturday nights every single motel room on the Oregon Coast is full, except in the non-holiday depth of Winter. Every room, full. If you seek a weekend rental you must pay in advance with your reservation.

In my opinion, based upon years of roaming the Coast, I'd simply stay South of Lincoln City, except maybe for Neskowin and Pacific City, and hiking the headland park trails. The South Spit of Tillamook bay is nice for walking too. West of Coos Bay is Charleston and Sunset Beach Park, very nice. Myself, I want to move to Port Orford, where the fewest tourists go...................elsullo :p
 
Near Astoria:
You have the Lewis and Clark fort and 'museum'. There is also Ft. Stevens the old military fort up there. Kinda cool if you like that stuff. Astoria tower.
Is there yet anything to see at Battery Russel?
http://fortwiki.com/Battery_Russell
(Actually just pulled up the wiki page and see, as of a couple years ago, quite a bit of clean up has been done. It's probably not a GF thing, but I remember it being kinda' cool back in the '60s, all overgrown and before all the handrails and etc went in.

MrB
 
I think to truly evalute this subject properly..we have to understand, that the goal here is to keep the girlfriend happy and entertained...that said..I think for educational purposes we need a pic of the girlfriend. ;)
 
Ok so another question.
What do I have to do with my pistol while I am down there. I know I cant carry concealed in OR but what about having it in the car, or even open carry?
 
If you are going to see the Vortex you won't be far from the Oregon Caves. The hotel is very old and pretty cool. There are no TV's etc and it gets very quiet after the last tour bus leaves. There are also jet boat trips out of Grants Pass.
 
Is there yet anything to see at Battery Russel?
http://fortwiki.com/Battery_Russell
(Actually just pulled up the wiki page and see, as of a couple years ago, quite a bit of clean up has been done. It's probably not a GF thing, but I remember it being kinda' cool back in the '60s, all overgrown and before all the handrails and etc went in.

MrB

I was there on Tuesday. I drove the Jeep from Gearhart to Fort Stevens on the beach which is about 14 miles, a cool thing to check out is the Peter Iredale shipwreck on the beach.
 
There's also a big air museum near Tillamook IIRC that's home/was home to the Spruce Goose/Moose(?)...whatever Howard Hughes giant plane was. It's well worth a visit.
The Tillamook Air Museum is at the old blimp hangar at NAS Tillamook. It's now an airport, so you can fly in (GA) if you want. They have a great collection of airplanes, but not the Spruce Goose.

http://www.tillamookair.com/

The Spruce Goose is at the Evergreen Museum in McMinnville.

http://www.sprucegoose.org/

MrB
 

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