Life's a beach...

Happy belated Memorial Day! Did you have a good weekend? I did too, thank you very much.

Friday I left work early and we headed South to Cannon Beach, Oregon. Luckily we only hit a little traffic. We got to the house and hit the beach for a quick dog walk and headed to dinner. We decided to try the new Cannon Beach Cafe at the Cannon Beach Hotel. The Cafe replaced my favorite restaurant Gower St. Bistro. Let me first express my love for Gower Street.




They served moules frites in cute little porcelain lion head bowls, and they deep fried whole cloves of garlic and rosemary with their fries. I know, I'm drooling too. I bought the same Chiquito, Pinta and Sidra glasses (Spanish wine glasses) they used and I love them for everyday use! They also had great calamari that Bryan loved. So as you can see I visited the Cannon Beach Cafe with a chip on my shoulder. Gower Street Bistro= French Bistro, and Cannon Beach Cafe= Caribbean theme? WTF? The Cannon Beach Hotel is New England Style Hotel, a french bistro fits in just right all cozy and quaint. Caribbean style...I don't think so. It was a bummer. I tried to put up a fight by ordering the seafood chowder and staying away from anything with jerk seasoning. But the cook in the neon green shirt must have heard me complaining and omitted all the seafood from the chowder and replaced it with a few potatoes...

Then we drove around looking for ice cream. Osborne's Ice Creamery was closed for the evening so we picked up some Tillamook cookies and cream at The Local Grill and Scoop. If you ever visit this restaurant, try the crab quesadillas.



The next day Erin and I went on a hike at Oswald West State Park. It was beautiful. Lots of old growths and a gorgeous view. My allergies were driving me nuts but we made it to the top. The dogs had a blast.






















Erin and the dogs at the top



Manzanita









When we got home we had lunch from Season's Cafe, a new place in town. I had the vegetarian wrap and it was very good. Then we all took 3 hour naps. Later we made a very good dinner of barbecued prawns, scallops and Greek potatoes. Bryan also bought smoked mussels, scallops and a ton of cracked crab. YUM!



My Father-in-law hates the camera. Sometimes it pays to just smile Paul!


Bryan bought Issy a pack after Cesar Milan told us it helps

with their wandering on walks. It does a little. But I think the seagulls

were making her self conscious.


Here I tried to sneak a photo from the window, but somehow he knew...amazing!

Sunday, Bryan and I got up very early and took the dogs down to the beach. The tide was way out and there were a ton of purple and orange starfish. Issy was freaked out by all the sea urchins. We had a fun time tormenting her. After our walk we went to Waves of Grain Bakery for coffee. This is one of our favorite places. They take forever to make the coffee, but it's worth the wait.


Excuse the face, the beach is a makeup free zone



Then we hung out and watched a movie until the sun came out. Erin and I walked into town to buy seafoam and check out a few shops. When we got back my FIL made me a crab melt that was to die for.



I could really use one right now. Then we hung out on the deck reading, sunbathing and napping. Perfect. Another excellent seafood dinner of citrus marinated halibut with mango, avocado relish, grilled scallops and coconut rice.





The dogs had dinner on the deck too

For dessert we had caramelized pineapple with coconut sorbet. We cut our pineapple into spears, rubbed them with dark brown sugar and grilled them.




Bryan giving Charlie scratches, he lives for this. Charlie not Bryan.

Big Issy

It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend. I don't know what it is about the beach but it makes me feel happy and hopeful. I hope your weekend was the same!