Hey Guys!
This post continues our time in the beautiful state of Oregon!
The morning of July 5th, we checked out of our hotel in Crescent City, CA and headed to our first stop of the day, the Battery Point Lighthouse.
On the way, we made a quick stop at the Crescent City Harbor to see if we could spot any seals.
I had read that seals usually hang out here and sure enough, we ended up seeing several sunbathing on the docks!
Many of the seals and sea lions in this area, live here year round.
Click here for the best places to see them
After watching them for a while, we headed on to the lighthouse.
Battery Point Lighthouse is an active lighthouse that serves as a private aid to navigation. It is also a private residence of the current light keepers.
Its oil lamps were first lit on December 10, 1856. The lighthouse is open to the public for tours which include the opportunity to look into the personal quarters of the keepers and their families and at the furniture and artifacts left behind since the 1850’s.
The lighthouse is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m for tours but it sits on a tidal island and is only accessible at low tide.
Read reviews here & Read about the history of the lighthouse here
There are tide pools located in this area…you can find them during low tide.
There were beautiful flowers that carpeted the ground in front of the light house!
The lighthouse has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Views of the water from the lighthouse
Whales can be spotted here from Nov – April.
Red and white seemed to be the typical colors used for the lighthouses in this area.
After leaving here, we headed to a nearby Starbucks for some coffee and a breakfast sandwich.
We then started our drive down the incredible Oregon Coast.
Tip: You can download the Gypsy App that guides you down the coast…it tells you where to stop and about the history of the area
On the way, we passed this huge boat just sitting next to the road!
We also passed these huge lily fields while going through Smith River, CA.
Unbeknownst to us, Smith River is known as the Easter Lily capital of the world!
Smith River is home to 95 percent of the world’s Easter lilies. In fact, five farms owned by four families in the area grow around 14 million Easter lilies each year!
Next, we made a quick stop to see Oregon’s largest Monterey Cypress Tree in Brookings, OR.
The tree was planted in 1857 by Harrison G Blake, a member of the Oregon House of Representatives. The tree’s circumference is more than 34 feet and it is more than 130 ft tall!
After this stop, we continued our drive along the coast.
Next, we stopped at Harris Beach State Park.
Harris Beach offers several trails and miles of sandy beaches and rocky outcroppings to explore.
This area also offers great tide pools at low tide 
Bird Island, that sits offshore from Harris Beach, is a National Wildlife Sanctuary and breeding site for such rare birds as the tufted puffin. 
You can also spot gray whales on their winter and spring migrations, harbor seals, California sea lions, sea birds and the rich marine gardens.
The views were very pretty, but it was so foggy that we didn’t get to see much!
Read reviews here
Our next stop was one I was most excited about, the Samuel Boardman State Scenic Corridor but sadly, we had a very foggy day and didn’t get see much in this area.
This is one of the most scenic areas along the coast and there are several overlooks in this area.
However, just about all of the ones we stopped at, were shrouded in fog so thick, you couldn’t see anything! 🙁
Read reviews here & Read here about each of the stops along this corridor
We made a stop at each of the overlooks and although most were obscured by the fog, we did manage to see some of the views from the overlooks that sat at lower elevations.
Here are some of my best shots of this area
After leaving here, we continued our drive along the coast.
Spanning 363 miles, Highway 101 is an All-American Road that winds down the entire Oregon coast from Astoria on the Columbia River to the California border (or from California to Astoria depending on what direction you are driving it).
Our next stop was Myers Creek Beach in the Gold Beach area.
The beach here was incredible!
There were flowers blooming everywhere!
Oregon’s beaches have amazing rock formations!
Click here for a comprehensive guide to all the sites, festivals, etc in Oregon
The water is cold and most beaches in Oregon are not safe for swimming.
Read here about sneaker waves
Most of the beaches in Oregon are also littered with driftwood.
This beach is one of the most scenic beaches along the coast.
After leaving here, we continued our drive along the coast.
The views were incredible!
We passed the Cape Sebastian Viewpoint but didn’t stop.
Read reviews here
Driving along the coast
We made a quick stop to take a picture of a roadside rock formation called Kissing Rock.…no one seems to know why it’s called Kissing Rock!
Driving through the town of Gold Beach.
Once we arrived to Gold Beach, we decided to stop at the Porthole Cafe for lunch.
The restaurant has been family owned and operated for over 36 years and serves fresh local seafood as well as salads, hamburgers and home made pies.
The restaurant overlooks the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the mighty Rogue River.
We were seated at table with water views!
It all sounded so good!!
My hubby started off with a cup of homemade clam chowder…of course I had to try a bite and it was delicious!
We both ordered the halibut fish and chips and, it too, was delicious!
Read reviews here
After lunch, we walked down to the water to see if we could spot any seals because we kept seeing them swimming around while we were eating lunch.
Sure enough, we saw several sunbathing on a nearby dock!
Tip: If you have time, don’t miss a boat tour with Jerry’s Rogue Jet Boat Tours…read reviews here
After leaving the docks, we drove a short distance to see the nearby “ship wreck” called the Mary Hume.
There are several billboards nearby talking about the history of the ship.
Built in 1881, the Mary Hume was retired in 1978…the boat had been in continuous use for an astonishing 97 years. Initially, the vessel was intended to become a floating museum, but an accident caused her to sink in 1985.
At this same location, you can see the Patterson Bridge.
The bridge was constructed in 1930.
The Patterson bridge was the first in the United States to use the Freyssinet method of arch stress control, which led to the widespread use of prestressing techniques in erecting concrete arches, for the method also reduced construction costs.
After this stop, we headed to our next stop, Otter Point.
There are a couple of hiking trails located here… we hiked the Otter Point Trail which was an easy 0.5 miles out-and-back hike.
There are lots of sandstone formations that sit high above the water …the views were spectacular but be extremely careful as the cliffs can give way at any time!!
There is a trail that takes you down to the beach but we decided not to take it.
Walking the trails
We spotted this cool looking rock!
More pics of this area 
After taking way too many pictures, we headed back to the car to head to our next stop.
We passed a sign warning you of possible elk crossing the road.
Elk can be spotted all throughout Oregon….they have even been spotted on some of the beaches!
A few minutes later, we stopped again when we spotted the sign for the Sisters Rock State Park.
The Sisters Rocks are a group of three isolated peaks along the Pacific coast of south Oregon, two still attached to the mainland, the other just out to sea, bordered north and south by smaller stacks and grey sand beaches. 
The rock formations and wildflowers were so beautiful!
We walked a nearby trail to get better views of the rocks.
The views from this viewpoint were incredible!
After leaving here, we continued our drive until we reached the area of Port Orford.
Port Orford is the oldest townsite on the Oregon Coast.
We stopped for a quick picture of an overlook on the way
Shortly after this overlook, we made another quick stop at another overlook at the Humbug State Park.
Once again, the views were spectacular!
Sitting at 1730 feet, Humbug Mountain is one of the tallest mountains in the state that rises directly from the sea!
There are so many overlooks and state parks along the coast! It’s hard not to stop at all of them!!
Continuing our journey along the coast 
We made another stop at the Battle Rock Wayside Park..
Battle Rock Park is named for the historic battle that took place at Battle Rock where the Qua-to-mah Native Americans fought Capt. William Tichenor’s men in 1851.
You can hike the hill to the top of the Rock and see one of the most spectacular views on the coast. 
And if you’re lucky, they can also see the grey whales that like to hang out in the cove area…however, we had no interest in hiking the rock!
Next, we stopped at the Cape Blanco Lighthouse.
As we were driving to the parking lot, we noticed that part of the road had collapsed!
You should always be careful walking close to cliffs as several people have died after the cliffs gave way!
Once we reached the parking lot for the lighthouse, we debated on whether we wanted to walk to it or not because it was foggy, cold and very windy!
But, in the end, my hubby convinced me to go!
The lighthouse began operation in 1870 and holds four Oregon records: it is the oldest continually operating light, the most westerly, it has the highest focal plane above the sea, (256 feet), and Oregon’s first woman keeper, Mabel E. Bretherton signed on in March 1903.
The lighthouse is open from 10 am to 3:30 pm and guided tours are offered April through Oct on Wed – Mon for a cost of $2 pp.
The lighthouse was closed when we arrived so we just took a few pictures and headed back to the car.
After the lighthouse, we made a stop at the nearby Hughes Historic House.
The house was constructed in 1898 for a pioneer dairy farmer.
It is very ornate and has been authentically restored. The house is 3,000 sq ft and has 11 rooms. It was constructed of old growth Port Orford Cedar at a cost of $3,800.00.
The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
You can tour the house on the same day and hours that the lighthouse tours are given.
Tip: If you want to visit a cranberry farm, don’t miss Cape Blanco Cranberries or Peters Cranberries.
After leaving here, we decided to head to our hotel since it was already 6 pm and we were 30 mins from our hotel in Bandon.
At around 7 pm, we arrived to our hotel in Bandon called, Sunset Oceanfront Lodging.
This hotel has been family owned and operated for 4 generations.
Read reviews here
After getting checked in, we headed to our room.
Our room was one of their newer, remodeled rooms.
It was rather basic but very spacious.
It had a huge bathroom!
But, here’s the main reason I booked this hotel!
We had a balcony with amazing views of Bandon Beach!
Bandon Beach is scattered with the coolest looking rock formations…one of them being Face Rock!
It was foggy when we arrived so we couldn’t see much!
After getting checked in, we headed out to find something to eat.
We headed to Old Town Bandon
Old Town Bandon is only 10 square blocks of shops & restaurants.
We spotted a place called the Broken Anchor so decided to give it a try.
I ordered the burger sliders and my hubby ordered a burger.
The food was really good!
Read reviews here
After dinner we headed back to our hotel…on the way, we saw a viewpoint called Coquille Point so we decided to stop and check it out.
We passed this puffin statue on the trail…it’s made of recycled items that have washed ashore.
Once we arrived to the overlook, it was too foggy to see anything so we headed to our room which was only 2 mins down the road.
We stayed in room 360 …these are the newly remodeled rooms.
After getting back to our room, we headed straight for the balcony!
The views were spectacular!
A little later, we made some coffee in the room and had our delicious homemade desserts that we had ordered from the Broken Anchor restaurant!
So good!
Later, we called it a night.
Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned for Day 6!
Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here & Read my 10 Day Oregon Itinerary here
Click here to see links to all of my blog posts over the last 5 years!