Looking to travel to Newport, Oregon? Check out my Family Travel Guide.
The Oregon Coast is one of our favorite spots to retreat as a family. Maybe it’s the drive through the forest to get there, or maybe it’s the beautiful ocean that is magical whether it’s sunshine or rain. Whatever it is, it is our place to retreat when we are feeling like it’s time to reconnect.
The past month has been an intense one with Neil leaving and starting a new job, my mental health struggles, visitors from out of town and now we are setting ourselves up to move in just a little over a month. With all this weighing on us we were in need of fresh ocean air and a last minute adventure to the ocean.
This time however we wanted to visit somewhere new and so we finally headed to Newport, Oregon. This spot has been on our ‘to visit’ list for years now but we have never committed to the extra drive there. We tend to always head to Astoria, Tillamook, Cannon Beach or Long Beach, WA when we make a coast trip.
This time however we made a super last minute hotel reservation in Newport, packed up the car and headed to the beach. It was probably one of our more spontaneous trips that we have taken in years. It was one of those trips where you just didn’t know how it was going to go because it was late in the day, we hadn’t done barely and research and we were visiting a new place but in the end it all worked out.
We stopped in Corvallis to let the kids shake their legs out and so that we could fuel up with some late afternoon coffee at Tried & True. I just love this location because it has a great patio out front with cornhole for the kids to play while we enjoyed our beverages. They also had one of the best vegan and gluten free chocolate chip cookies I have ever had.
From there we made our way to Newport with our first stop being dinner and then we were off to the beach. We struggled to find a good vegan and gluten free option but settled on Cafe Mundo which ended up being great and it also ended up being our lunch stop the next day. It was super vegan and gluten free friendly and a great spot for kids. We also got to enjoy their live Friday night music. 
Saturday night we spent playing in the sand and water at Nye Beach before heading to our hotel to finally get some rest.
Sunday started out with us trying to find breakfast and coffee but having no luck so we grabbed a few things at the local co-op and headed to an epic park. We spotted Coast Park on our drive to the hotel the night before and we knew that we had to stop and try out the long pirate ship slide. We snacked and played for awhile before finally packing up and heading to the Hatfield Marine Science Center.
The Hatfield Marine Science Center is really the reason that Newport has been on my ‘to visit’ list for so long. In all our homeschooling groups I have heard nothing but incredible things about the center and it did not disappoint. We loved watching the skate swim around it’s tank and how when it’s swam up the side you could see it’s eyes and mouth on the bottom and it was like they were smiling at you. We couldn’t get enough of the touch pools where we met sea urchin, sea cucumber, starfish and anemones. We learned about different sounds sea animals make, what can happen to a home when a tidal wave hits and how we can use the waves of the ocean to generate power. It was such a great experience and we can’t wait to return again soon.
We ended our trip with brunch at Cafe Mundo and then made our way back to Tried and True to get some overdue coffee and matcha. Then finally ended our trip with a visit to Avery Park in Corvallis where the kids climbed dinosaur bones, drove an old steam engine and went flying on the swings.
While this trip was spontaneous, quick and didn’t come without its frustrations it was overall just what we needed. It was time to reconnect without the distractions of daily life. Heading out of the house and into nature has always been one of our go-to ways to reconnect as a family.
Sometimes we head hours away, sometimes minutes, but no matter where we go we always find a way to slow down and connect.
How do you reconnect as a family?
