Mid-October on the Central Oregon Coast

The Oregon Coast in October, looking south from the Heceta Lighthouse.

The beautiful summer months are my preferred time to visit Oregon.  But this October my family celebrated a special occasion, so it was back out to Oregon for an Autumn visit.  We took a gamble on the weather and rented a beach house in Waldport to celebrate my mother’s 80th birthday.  October can be very unpredictable as far as the weather is concerned, so we knew we might have cold, rainy weather.  As luck would have it, my mother’s birthday was an unusually nice, warm, sunny, cloudless, windless day at the Oregon beach, pretty much a one in a million day in October.

The view from our rental home on Waldport beach

We had good luck again with vrbo.com.  The house was perfect, gorgeous view, and let our three dogs tag along for the party.

http://www.vrbo.com/279256

The sunroom of the Waldport beach house we rented through vrbo.com

Everyone enjoyed a walk on the beach

Morning walk on the beach

Waldport is just south of Newport, Oregon and just north of the Heceta Lighthouse, both scenic spots I got a chance to visit.

The Newport, Oregon bridge, with the usual Oregon weather of rain squalls and sun.

Boats in the Newport, Oregon harbor

More fishing boats in Newport, Oregon

Color sketch of fishing boats

On my mother’s birthday, we drove south to the Heceta Head Lighthouse, built in 1892.  It was restored in 2011, but the lighthouse, the lightkeeper’s house, and the oil house are all original structures.  The Assistant Lightkeeper’s House is now a B & B.  (www.HecetaLighthouse.com)

The trail up to the Heceta Lighthouse

The Heceta Lighthouse

Nikon Color sketch of the Heceta Lighthouse

The Heceta Lighthouse taken from a trail behind the structure

 

The Assistant Lightkeeper’s House, now a B & B

For the Big Day, we contracted with Chef Becky to come in and cook for us.  (www.chefbecky.com).  Her menu included;  crab cakes with roasted red pepper aioli, hot artichoke and spinach dip, lobster bisque, greens with baby shrimp and dill tarragon dressing and puff pastry medallions, seared scallops with sage browned butter, couscous with pinenuts and petite french green beans with lemon.  It was wonderful, and having someone else do the cooking allowed all of us to visit with guests.

Chef Becky with her crab cakes

The day was a success, the weather cooperated, and friends and family all had a good time.

My mom, beautiful at 79 years and 363 days in this photo

Me with my mom on her 80th birthday

Friends and family gather to celebrate my mother’s birthday

My mother thanks Chef Becky for a wonderful dinner