SUNDAY,
AUGUST 31:
Had
looked up some churches last night; found a non-denominational one which
sounded good. Had 2 worship services,
the first one at 9:00. Found it easily,
just before 9, but not a car parked there!
A sign on the door indicated that they were participating in a
community-wide worship service being held elsewhere that morning. Soooo, we remembered passing a United Methodist
church on the way, turned around, and walked in just as they were singing their
first hymn. A very small church –
probably a couple of dozen people were there, and not a soul looked under 60. But they also have a second service, and it
sounds like younger families attend that one.
Was Scripturally-based (although thin), and a very informal, friendly
atmosphere, and we were made to feel welcome.
We were very close to Old Town, which we’d
heard about, so drove over there. It’s a
charming section of town on the water (the Siuslaw River, which empties into
the Pacific just a couple of miles away), One of the historic bridges in Florence:
with lots of little shops, galleries and eateries.
We ventured into a really nice kitchen shop - my
downfall (well, one of them!) After
having succumbed to a few things, including a new salad bowl (which had
been on my list of items I needed/wanted) and a pair of the softest slippers
(which had not been on my list!) Bill whisked me out of there.
We went a couple of doors down to Mo’s, which
Lynn had mentioned as being “the place to go for clam chowder” in one of the
northern beach towns near Astoria; they have other locations down the Oregon
coast, it seems. It obviously is the place to go for Sunday lunch for
the locals in Florence; soon after we arrived, the place was packed. Right on the water. We had front row seats to a couple of guys
taking lessons on some kind of contraption which was connected to a Seadoo
which provided two jet streams of water to get the contraption in the air! Was entertaining. But didn’t look very fun nor relaxing to us!
Came home & changed clothes, and drove about 10 miles north on the coast to the Sea Lion Caves. We anticipated spending a couple of hours there. However, when we asked, we were told that the sea lions had all left for the season, and won’t be back until December. So we didn’t pay the admission fee just to see “the largest sea lion cave in the world.”
We were momentarily disappointed, but not for long. We continued north on the coastal highway, stopping a couple of times to admire the beautiful shoreline which hadn’t been visible when we drove down this same stretch two days ago. Quintessential Oregon rocky coast. From these vantage points, we had really picturesque
views of the Haceta Head Lighthouse (and the lightkeeper’s living quarters for
him and his family, which now offer accommodations as a B&B) just down the
road a ways.
This is where we stopped for the remainder of
the afternoon. A really wonderful
spot. A nice little sandy beach,
and then a lovely trail up to the
lighthouse. As we climbed higher on the trail, we were
treated to marvelous views.
And more of the same when we reached the
lighthouse . . .
looking down at the sea and rocks, and across at
the rugged coastline.
We’ve been
blessed with unusually sunny, clear days here on the coast, at least in the
afternoons. The fog and mist do evoke a
northwest atmosphere, but for a sun-loving girl like me, it’s always a treat
when the sun is out and blue skies prevail!
Back in
time for dinner – last night’s 2nd shrimp/scallop kabob, salad, and
a yummy garlic bread made with a spread I concocted using some smoked paprika
(one of my indulgences at the kitchen store this afternoon).
We
decided to add one more day to our stay here, mainly because the weather
promises to be so nice again. Have
nothing special in mind – just thought it would be nice to take advantage of
the gift of the fine weather.
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