Seaside Oregon

I love the town of Seaside Oregon, and the entire sleepy northern Oregon coast. When you’re used to living in the middle of a big city like Seattle, escaping to this beautiful part of the Pacific Northwest is a delight. My husband and I have begun making this an annual trip because we absolutely love the quiet lifestyle and truly get a chance to unplug when we’re in the beach towns of Seaside and Cannon Beach.

We usually visit for two or three days, giving us plenty of time to sleep in, explore the beaches, find a cute local eatery to try out, and even spend time at some of the beach attractions. We’ve visited the Seaside Aquarium on every trip to the area because we can’t get enough of the harbor seals and the cute touch pools that allow us to get up close to local sea life. It’s a small aquarium, but worth the visit and the gift shop is full of reasonably priced trinkets to take home!

On past visits we’ve headed to the Tillamook Cheese Factory (about 60 minutes south of Seaside) to tour the facility, test out some cheeses and eat some delicious ice cream. We’ve also stopped by Astoria to see the house from The Goonies, while enjoying the beautiful early 1900’s architecture that fills the downtown area (less than a 30 minute drive north of Seaside). A visit to Fort Stevens to see the shipwreck is also regularly on our list. On our most recent trip we ducked into the Seaside Arcade intending to kill just a little time, but instead found ourselves having entirely too much fun with this place’s big spread of video and arcade style games. The prize tickets we won only allowed us to claim a small bag of candies, but the sugar kick was worth it.

Above all else, I doubt you’ll find a single soul that visits Seaside and Cannon Beach for any other main reason than the beach itself. The beaches are flat, amazingly gorgeous expanses of ocean view as far as the eye can see. Canon Beach is more prominently known for its iconic Haystack Rock, and is accordingly packed with sprawling roads of vacation homes, many of which I would love to call my own. Seaside’s beach lacks the incredible rock formations but stretches out of sight when looking to the north. Walking along the waterline could easily fill up one’s entire vacation, as the tide going in and out (and covering hundreds of feet of beach while doing so) seems to be endlessly mesmerizing. We’ve witnessed stormy, cold weather in Seaside, as well as beautiful blue sky and perfect puffy white clouds. Make sure to spend plenty of time at the beach, regardless of the season, to take in the natural beauty and wonder that this part of our world holds. The pit stops along the way are fun, but visiting the beach to take it all in is truly a vacation in and of itself!

Inn at Seaside
441 2nd Ave,
Seaside, OR 97138
(503) 738-9581

Alexandra Knight is a photographer based out of Seattle, Washington; specializing in wedding and portrait photography captured on film with vintage cameras.