Oregon Coast

Before we set off on Thursday morning we had a walk around the Oregon Gardens which give our hotel its name and I was so glad that we did. It’s a beautifully designed and maintained, with different areas such as water gardens, a market garden, and all sorts of gorgeous flowers.
The next destination on our road trip was further south to the Steamboat Inn on the North Umpqua River. However we decided to take a detour west to the beautiful Oregon coast on the way, which added another couple of hours to the journey. 
We reached the coast at the bustling little fishing port of Newport, where we had a walk and had lunch at a waterfront seafood restaurant. I had fish tacos which are very popular here, and they were lovely. I may try to recreate them at home. We also bought a box of cherries from a roadside stall which we consumed during the rest of our travels. 
The busy road south along the coast passed a series of long, white sand beaches. We stopped at one of them and walked along beside the deep blue Pacific Ocean in the warm breeze with the white-capped waves breaking on the sand. 
We had coffee in the little touristy town of Florence before setting off east and away from the coast. The rural roads were much quieter I’m glad to say, and we listened to Country music on 101 on the radio. There was a catchy song called “Greatest Love Story” by Lanco which I really liked; it ends with a cliffhanger marriage proposal. We noticed quite a lot of large birds of prey circling over the fields and forests. We arrived at the hotel to find that it’s a delightful fine dining sort of place; a very picturesque wooden cabin style hotel with fairy lights strung on the trees in the garden. The dinner was fantastic, the best of the holiday so far. Given the location, it’s also a fishing hotel decorated with many fishing accoutrements, and when we strolled down to the river bank after dinner we saw two fisherman casting their lines in the twilight. We finished the day sitting outside in the warm evening, having drinks in the garden.