Since the very beginning of our relationship we have been taking little beach trips together as often as we can. In fact on my 19th birthday a month after we had been an official couple, Newport is where we headed for the day before Pat drove me home to Portland along the coast line... so there is something there that always feels a little special. We even started a tradition of having our picture taken with Wally the Walrus every time we go (though we missed a few years with him in the middle).
We got up early (ish) in the morning and headed off for the beach!! We both had bags with some extra clothes, because in Oregon, you NEVER know what the beach is going to be like despite what the weather says, and "costume" changes are typical. We decided to head over to the Rogue headquarters first (since we had been to one pub house during the week already), so that we could get some lunch, and Pat could grab some new bottles for his growing collection. It was super packed! I have never ever seen it busy there before! Thank goodness for bar seating. We ordered a brew sampler followed by some regular sized beers and lunch. I got clam chowder and it was delish. After an hour or so we decided to head out to the beach.
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| [[ on the way to newport. rogue nation. happy pat. ]] |
I was wearing shorts and a button up shirt, but it was real windy, so I had to change in to jeans before we headed down by the water. After a few minutes however I was hot again, and went back to shorts and a T-shirt I had packed in my bag. We just laid in the sand getting some sun on our faces for about two hours. At one point Pat was jumping off of the sand dune behind us and decided that I needed to do it as well. After much resistance he called me a wimp and I had no choice but to jump. Bad decision. I cleared the dune (barely), but did not jump high enough and totally landed right on my tail bone in a hard compact patch of sand. Needless to say sitting down has not been all that nice since. Finally warmed up after all of that jumping, we wandered down to the water to put our legs in. It was FREEZING!!! This did not last too long, too cold, even after our legs numbed up.
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| [[ playing on the beach. ]] |
After a few hours of beach time we decided to go into the little pier area where the last Rogue house was located. (Pat figured that we might as well even it out and go see them all). First we made a pit stop at the Aquarium Village area where Wally the Walrus is stationed and found a nice woman to take a picture for us. When we got to the pier we went in to the candy shop to grab some salt water taffy and seafoam. You cannot leave the beach without at least getting a little bit of taffy, it is everywhere. Then we went in to Rogue where we hung out for a while until we were hungry and Pat bought another new bottle for his collection. For dinner we walked down the street to a tiny restaurant called Sharkys that has cappino that Pat is absolutely in love with. Its not my favorite, but it is undeniably good, and for the amount of seafood they give you for the price, you really cannot go wrong.
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| [[ chillin on the beach. mini beer. pats ink. pirates plunder/aquarium village. bridge. bay street pier. crab. candy shop. drive home. ]] |
Full, tired, and satisfied, we got in the car and headed home. Good music and good conversation and great company along the way.
Here are some of our Wally the Walrus pictures from over the years:
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| [[ july 2011/year 6. march 2010/year 4. august 2005/year 1. ]] |
It was a good one. Six years down and he still gives me butterflies. I would not trade that feeling for anything.
Happy Anniversary Love!
