Some people like to go somewhere warm to soak up the last days of summer, but my friend Kyra and I decided we’d take a road trip to the Washington and Oregon Coast for Labor Day Weekend. We booked our Airbnb and motel back in June, which was absolutely the move because it would’ve cost double what we paid if we booked last minute.
We wanted to go to Ocean Shores and Cannon Beach, so I spent about 5 hours planning all of our food and photo spots in between. Unlike my road trip to the Columbia River Gorge, we weren’t trying to get a lot of hikes in. I made a detailed itinerary, which we almost followed, but had to make a few changes due to the weather. We ended up driving around 200 miles a day. Below is a summary of our route from Bellevue, WA to Tillamook, Oregon.
LABOR DAY ROAD TRIP
September 3 – September 6, 2021
DAY 1 – FRIDAY
I woke up early and drove down to Lakewood to pick up Kyra from her apartment and we got started on our Labor Day road trip. Our first stop was in Olympia at the Rainbow Rails, which is just a section of former railroad tracks that were painted. We got some fun photos and only saw two other people. The railroad tracks area is also a great place to see blue herons! We saw around 7 of them in the marshy areas on either side of the tracks.
Rainbow Rails is a place on Google Maps, but it won’t show you exactly how to get down to them, so allow me. We parked at Bayview Thriftway and walked up the 4th Ave bridge. We could see the Rainbow Rails below, but we had to turn left, walk down Olympic St West, and take the pedestrian ramp down to Deschutes Parkway. You’ll see a gravel path that goes under the bridge. It’s kind of near some homeless camps, but it was broad daylight and we didn’t have any issues. The easiest way to get there would be parking near the intersection of Deschutes and Olympic and look for the gravel path/train tracks under the bridge.
Next, we continued west toward the coast for lunch. My low tire pressure light went off, so we stopped at Les Schwab for air right near the restaurant we planned to go to. The people working there were super nice and we were in and out in 5 minutes.
We were pretty hungry and were ready to eat at Lighthouse Drive-In. It was a small local chain, and the food was good. I got a small burger and some fries, but I bet the shakes are yummy!
We made it to Ocean Shores a little after 1pm. I had visited when I was a child, but I don’t really remember it. I quickly discovered that Ocean Shores is a very small town with very few shops and restaurants. It’s more of a retired community area and is kind of run down. We went into Sharky’s gift shop that had a bunch of shark-themed items. I was looking for a day bag since my camera bag zipper broke and I picked up a beach bag in one of the gift shops.
Next, we drove a few miles down Ocean Shores Blvd to the North Jetty and walked on the beach. The sun peaked out, but it was pretty windy and I was still chilly in my leggings and Patagonia fleece.
We still had time before we could check into our Airbnb, so I looked on the map and saw we could go to Kurt Cobain Memorial Park, which is just a small park at the end of a neighborhood street that doesn’t even have a parking lot.
We were still trying to kill time, so we got pie at a place that we saw as we were driving called Duffy’s, which was a mistake. I didn’t Yelp it until we had ordered and learned it was only rated 2.5 stars. The marionberry pie was really mediocre and definitely not worth the $11 I ended up paying for a single slice.
Around 4pm, we checked into our Airbnb and got settled. We decided to stay in Aberdeen since it was cheaper than staying in Ocean Shores, and it was a cute little place with one bedroom, a bathroom, kitchen, and washer and dryer.
Kyra’s a high school English teacher and she had to prepare a few things before school started in a few days, and we watched The Goonies since we were headed to Astoria the next day and wanted to see some of the filming locations.
We were still pretty full from our pie, but I felt like I needed to eat something else for dinner, so we went to La Savadorena, a Salvadorean restaurant to grab some takeout. It had 4.5 stars on Yelp and was popping on a Friday night. Everything was super cheap, and I tried my first birria taco, which I learned was goat meat, and a spinach and cheese pupusa. Both were really good and I wish I had been hungrier to eat a proper meal there.
After dinner, Kyra introduced me to Derry Girls, and we binged most of the first season on Netflix.
DAY 2 – SATURDAY
We got up early and checked out of the Airbnb at 8:30am. I wasn’t hungry for breakfast, but we stopped at Tinderbox Coffee Roasters and Kyra grabbed a hot chocolate and pastry. We headed south to Cape Disappointment State Park, which was anything but disappointing and got some good PNW vibes. All Washington State Parks require a Discover Pass. I had purchased an annual pass for $30 from REI, but some parks also have $10 day passes available at the park.
I didn’t know exactly what we were going to do here, but our first stop was at Beard’s Hollow Overlook, which was just a pull-out on the road.
Then, we followed signs for the North Head Lighthouse and parked around 10am. A few short hikes started from here. We did Bell’s Viewpoint Overlook Walk, which led to a view of the beach. Then we did the Lighthouse Keeper’s Loop Trail to see the North Head Lighthouse. It was really cool, and you can walk straight up to the base of it.
We then drove to Waikiki Beach and took photos from the parking lot which was very scenic with the cliffs and the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse peeking above the cliff. There are two lighthouses on Cape Disappointment because that’s how dangerous navigating this area was for sailors.
Lastly, we drove and parked in the tiny parking lot for the Mckenzie Trail, which was a short but very steep trail. There was a view of the water and a few informational boards about Lewis and Clark’s experience there, but if you skip this hike you’re not missing much.
The biggest town near the park is Long Beach, which was only about 5-10mins away. It is the longest beach in the US, with 28 miles of coastline. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how big the town was in comparison to Ocean Shores. It was still only a few blocks wide, but there was a decent amount of activities and shops, and it would be a good vacation spot for families.
We took pictures of what very well might be the World’s Largest Frying Pan, then walked through the main street to get to The Chowder Stop for lunch, which is located right near the Long Beach arch. I don’t know if I was just super hungry, but this food hit the spot!! I got a grilled cheese with a small cup of clam chowder and Kyra got a fish sandwich. This might’ve been the best meal of the trip.
After lunch, we walked a little on the Long Beach boardwalk. It was cloudy and after all our walking in the morning, we didn’t really feel like going down to the water.
North of the main town, you’ll find a bunch of other State Parks. We didn’t have time to stop at any of them, but I think it would be fun to do more of the trails in Long Beach. We just got gas, and then headed to the historic town of Oysterville where we saw the old schoolhouse and church. It was quaint and charming, and I feel like it would be fun to bike through.
Next, we drove into Oregon! We stopped at the Astoria Warrenton Visitor Center to purchase the Oregon Pacific Coast Passport for $10, which was valid for five days at several parks on the Oregon coast, including Ecola State Park. The elderly woman working there was very nice and sent us on our way with several booklets.
Astoria has some serious hills. We drove up some steep streets and wound our way to the top of the hill that had a big parking lot for the Astoria Column. It cost $5 for a parking pass, and it was valid for the rest of the year. After all the hiking that morning, we were already tired, but since we were there, I felt like we had to climb to the top of the tower. It was 164 steps up a spiral staircase to the top, and it probably took us less than 10mins to climb. I think it’s worth it since you get a 360 view. It was sunny and I’m glad we went up.
To reward ourselves, we went back to downtown Astoria and grabbed frozen custard at Frite & Scoop on the waterfront, which was a recommendation from Kyra’s co-worker. They only had about a dozen flavors, but they were artisanal (they had a Golden Milk custard), and it was creamy and delicious.
Next, we checked into Astoria Crest Motel. We had booked the cheapest room without a view, so it was the bare minimum, but it felt very clean. The guy at the front desk was super nice, and it did not feel like a sketchy motel. There’s a patio behind the check-in building which has a few tables where you can enjoy the view of the Columbia River.
I wanted to get sunset photos, so we drove south to Seaside and tried to see Painted Rock Beach that I saw on Google Maps, but it looked like it was on private property. The next days were supposed to be overcast, so I’m glad we managed to squeeze Ecola State Park in on Saturday. Near the entrance to the park, we saw huge elk on the side of the road, which was kind of scary since they would for sure do some damage to your car, but none of them ended up crossing the road.
The roads in the park were for the most part nicely paved, but extremely narrow! People were speeding through them, and you’d fall down a hill if you pulled over too far, so it was a scary but scenic drive. I’m glad we came in the late afternoon, so we didn’t have to deal with too much traffic.
We made it to the Indian Beach parking lot, which wasn’t very big at all, but since it was 5:30pm, there were plenty of spots. We walked down to the water for a little before heading back to Ecola Point overlooking Crescent Beach. The view was spectacular, I was just sad there wasn’t a colorful sunset. There were a couple of trails and we saw a lighthouse on an island from one of them.
For dinner, we drove back to Astoria and put our name in at Fulio’s for Italian food. It was a 40min wait, so we walked around downtown for a bit. We were finally seated around 7:40pm and we were very hungry. We both ordered plates of pasta, and they were massive. We decided to take the leftovers back to the motel to eat for dinner the next day.
DAY 3 – SUNDAY
Again, we woke up early and left the motel around 8:20am for breakfast in Cannon Beach. It was super overcast and misting hard in an annoying way where you would get pretty wet. We waited for around 25mins to be seated at one of the six tables inside Lazy Susan Cafe. I got some poached eggs and potatoes, while Kyra got the waffle special which was gingerbread waffles and pears in a lemon sauce. Yum!
We drove to Haystack Rock and found random parking on the side of the road and walked down the stairs to the beach. It was so foggy outside, you could only really see the rock if you were standing by it.
Next, the plan was to drive to Tillamook and stop at any pull-outs. The coolest ones were Silver Point Interpretive Overlook, which is just off the freeway, and Arcadia Beach which had a little parking lot, but it was just so foggy you couldn’t see much. Further south, we stopped at The Three Graces which was less cloudy.
We made it to our destination for the day, Tillamook Creamery around 12:30pm. The line to get in looked super long and wrapped around the corner, but it moved quickly and took us less than 20mins to get inside. We did a quick self-guided tour and saw the workers packaging the cheese. The gift shop had a bunch of cool items and had ice cream and cheese for purchase. There is also a cafeteria inside, but if you want ice cream, you have to go outside and get into another line, which is what we did.
They were scooping around a dozen flavors and the single scoops were huge!! I cannot believe the number of people we saw getting two or three scoops. I got one scoop of Marionberry Pie in a waffle cone and it was wonderful.
On the way back to Astoria, we stopped by the Seaside Outlets to go to Book Warehouse which had a lot of books, but none that I had heard of. We also stopped in downtown Astoria to go to a discount store I had seen the previous night called Deals Only, which was selling Girl Scout cookies for sale for $1.50 per box. The store was very run down and all the food was expired, but the Girl Scout cookies were from this year and had only expired Sept 1, so I bought a few boxes.
We hadn’t really been eating our greens, so we went to Astoria Co-op to get some salad to go with our leftover pasta. It was like a small Whole Foods, with a little hot bar and salad bar. The rest of the afternoon, Kyra worked on her school stuff and I read outside. We heated up dinner in the microwave and watched some YouTube videos.
DAY 4 – MONDAY
We woke up early to start driving home so we wouldn’t run into Labor Day traffic. There’s a place called The Berry Patch in Westport on the way to I-5, and my dad wanted me to stop and grab some marionberry pies for my family, and we got there a little before they opened at 9am.
For breakfast, we stopped in Kelso that had a Dutch Bros (Golden Eagle Chai for me) and a Starbucks (Acai Refresher for Kyra) right off the freeway. We got back to Kyra’s apartment around noon, and I only ran into a little traffic and got back to Bellevue around 1:15.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, it was a nice, affordable road trip. I added all of my half of the expenses up (we split gas, Airbnb, and motel) and it was $390 for 4 days and 3 nights. While it was Labor Day weekend, since we were in smaller towns, there weren’t huge crowds, we never struggled with parking, and it felt pretty safe, COVID-wise. The best photo spots were at Cape Disappointment Park and Ecola State Park.
I would like to go back and spend a long weekend in Long Beach in Washington or Seaside, Oregon. There are also a ton more spots along the Southern Oregon coast and Northern Washington coast I’d like to explore.
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