Ruth and I have been working on our family genealogy. Most of our conversations have been via phone, email, etc. We decided we needed to get together to work on it, in one place where we could easily cross-reference each other’s work. An opportunity came up with cheap airfare from MN to Seattle, and great deal on an off season resort in Newport, Oregon. How great is that? A week at the beach with my sister. We grabbed the opportunity right away.This post is not about our genealogy searches, but instead more about our week at Newport Bay. Ruth came to town Wednesday, April 18th so we spent the first few days locally, researching at the National Archives Western Division on Sandpoint, and the State Library in Tumwater.
Saturday the 21st we were off to the beach with a promise of beautiful weather, at least for the first few days. We drove to Oregon City and stopped Kaycie and Brad’s business, the Willamette Coffee House. It gave us a nice break, yummy coffee and a chance to see Kaycie for a few minutes.
From there we drove to Dallas, Oregon where our father and two of his 8 siblings were born, and many of our ancestors are buried. Additionally, many of our extended family live there today. We found our great grandmothers grave in the Dallas Cemetary.
We continued on our way west and came to Lincoln City, our first beach town. The weather was nice and we were able to get some great pics along the way to Newport. We reached the Embarcadero Resort, our destination and checked in at Vacation International office a mile or so from the resort.
Embarcadero is a hotel resort however they work with RCI to rent a few rooms to RCI owners. All the arrangements are made directly through the Vacation International office, not the resort itself. Our room was very nice with a separate bedroom with it's own bath, and Murphy bed in the living room. A small kitchen with full size appliances. Perfect for just the two of us for the week.
There was a heated indoor pool a short distance from the room which we took advantage of each morning. The hotel had a bar with some food choices but the restaurant was closed at the time we were there.
The hotel was at the Yaquina Bay Marina. The view from our room was beautiful as it looked west over the marina and the Yaquina Bay bridge. We got a few gorgeous sunsets while we were there.
Although it was a little cool the first day or two, the weather heated up and was in the 80's by the third day, which was awesome for April! 
After getting settled we took a drive to check out the area, and pick up some groceries. Later we went to dinner at Ocean Bleu which was right on Bay Street, the main strip. It was tiny but busy and had a menu with a variety of dishes that sounded appetizing. They specialize in locally grown seafood so I had the Fish and chips and they were great.
Although we were there to work on our geneology project, we did take time to see some of the local sights, including the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. At the marina there were two wooden boats on display; the Lady Washington and the Hawaiian Chieftain . We took a drive to Florence one day, and walked out onto the sand dunes. Another day we went to Depot Bay and had lunch at the Sea Hag Restaurant and Lounge, an old favorite. And of course we ate dinner at Mo's one night too.
Another day we drove north as far as Rockaway Beach, then stopped at the Tillamook Creamery (Cheese Factory). The Creamery was under a major renovation so they had moved the displays and set up the restaurant in one of their other buildings. It was much smaller but still interesting to check out. After sampling some cheese we were on our way back to Newport.
Our week went fast! On Saturday got up early and checked out and drove to Portland. Carol had taken the train down to Allie's the day before, so we stopped at Allie's to pick her up. We drove over to the Columbia River Historic Highway but found out that Multnomah Falls was closed due to earlier fires. We were able to go on a mile hike at nearby Chanticleer Point.We drove to Tacoma where we I dropped off Carol and Ruth after we met up with Mike. I drove home and Ruth stayed for a few more days at Carol's place.
