Oregon Coast: Beach Day in Lincoln City Itinerary

The Oregon Coast is so beautiful, and while I haven't been to many other coastal areas, the Oregon Coast is my favorite out of the ones that I have been to. I am going to Lincoln City for a few days in a couple weeks, and I wanted some travel ideas on what to do and see in Lincoln City, Oregon. Lincoln City is my family's favorite beach. We have a tradition standing for every Summer, for the past six years we would drive over to Lincoln City and build a fire on the beach, and wait until midnight for the tide to take away our fire. It is a wonderful tradition, and I can't wait to go back. If you are traveling to the Oregon Coast, more specifically Lincoln City, here is an itinerary that my family would normally follow when at the beach.

 

Upon Arrival: 

We would check into our hotel, bring our luggage up to the room, and settle in after the long drive. Usually, the first night we arrive at our destination, my family likes to go out to eat, so the dinner conversation comes up. There are many, fantastic eateries in Lincoln City that are family friendly. There are even many restaurants that provide a view of the ocean. 

Here are a few of my family's favorites: 

Moe's 

Mazatlan Mexican Restaurant 

Lil' Sambo's

My family usually goes to Moe's because they have a beautiful view of the ocean, and because their food is awesome! Their restaurant is on a dock, supported above the water. Moe's has amazing clam chowder, and their garlic cheesy bread is the best! 

After we decide on a place to eat, we like to go to one of Lincoln City's marketplaces to grab snacks, breakfast items, and beachy fire dinner items. If my family is staying at the beach for three days, we usually build our fire on the beach the second evening. We also bring our dinner to the beach so we can cook it over the fire. Food always tastes better with an ocean view in my opinion. :) 

Once grocery shopping is over, and groceries unloaded, if it's not quite dinner time, we like to check out Lincoln City's shops. Lincoln City does have an outlet mall, but I would rather avoid shops I can go to anytime back at home. I would rather browse the shops that are exclusive to Lincoln City. 

After dinner, if it is still light out, my family will usually drive down to the beach and take a little, evening, beach walk. Unfortunately, you can't drive your car onto Lincoln City's beach, but you can park really close. There are usually parking lots right next to beach access in Lincoln City. These parking lots are awesome because they have restrooms, and rinsing stations available to beach guests. It is so nice to instantly wash the sand off your feet before getting your car all sandy. It gives you the option to keep your car mostly sand free. The Oregon Coast's sunsets are phenomenal, and so unique. I recommend eating dinner beach front, or taking the time to take a beach walk during sunset, because you will not want to miss seeing that. 

Second Day:

If you are planning for a second day during your trip, there are plenty of things to do to fill your day with. In the morning, we eat a simple breakfast of fruit, bagels, yogurt, and cereal; there are great breakfast eateries in Lincoln City if you would like to go out to eat. I have never eaten out for breakfast in Lincoln City, so I cannot recommend any great places. Maybe on this next trip my family takes, we will go out for breakfast, and then I could recommend a great place. :) 

For your morning coffee or tea, don't just choose Starbucks. While Lincoln City has a few Starbucks in town, pick a coffee shop that is exclusive to Lincoln City. My personal favorite is Mojo Coffee. Their coffee is incredible, it tastes fantastic, and they are so friendly. Plus, the little shop is adorable, and that always adds to the WOW factor for me. 

After breakfast and coffee, my family likes to look around the town some more. Sometimes we fall into the whirlwind and temptation of that outlet mall. The beaches on the Oregon Coast usually have monthly events for locals and visitors to enjoy. Visit the Oregon Coast website to check out monthly events going on at the beach you are visiting. Since it is August, and we will be beach tripping in August, there is a sand castle building contest going on in Lincoln City this month! Unfortunately, we will not be there that day, being that the contest is held on August 8th. It would be fun to watch, and even participate in! Some other activities to do during the day, or that my family enjoys doing is taking a kite down to the beach on a windy afternoon. We hope that the wind goes away by the evening so that it won't affect our fire. We also like to go to Lincoln City's fabulous candy, and ice cream shops. Usually, the candy is made the old-fashioned way, and the ice cream is usually Tillamook brand (the best ever!). 

Candy shops we like to go: 

Candyland

Read's Homemade Candies

As it gets closer to the evening, around 2:30 pm, to 3:00 pm, we go back to the hotel room and grab our beachy dinner items, and head down to the beach. We pick a good spot, set up our beach chairs, and go hunting for drift wood. We only bring kindling with us when making a fire on the beach, we love to use the wood already on the beach, plus it is a lot of fun to look for drift wood. We usually find a couple of large pieces to be the base of our fire. We always seem to find two, large logs to start our fire, and we keep searching for extra pieces to throw on and keep it going. It takes about an hour to find all the pieces we need, and while that may seem like a torturous beach activity, it is our family's tradition, and we love starting our fire with drift wood. 

Once the wood is found, and the fire has started, I like to explore the beach. I go off on my own and people watch, or dip my toes in the ocean. I also like to go to the little patch of rocks near the NW 15th St. ramp entrance, they house a nice, little colony, considered to be Lincoln City's tide pools. Sometimes you can find amazing sea life in those tide pools, and I always like to see what I can find. As it gets darker, we break out the Hebrew Nationals, and my dad widdles points on drift wood so we can roast the Hebrew Nationals in the fire. We also usually have homemade pasta salads, chips, watermelon, and other snacks to complete our beachy meal. Of course we have s'mores supplies for s'mores after our beachy dinner. You can't build a fire at the beach without making s'mores. ;) 

Sometimes we wait for the tide to come closer, and put out our fire, but sometimes we don't wait for the tide, and we put it out ourselves. We load up our stuff, take it back up to the car, and rinse our feet off before getting in. Our night after the beach basically consists of going back to hotel, getting ready for bed, and going to sleep. 

Last Day: 

We are only staying three days, and two nights for our beach trip coming up, so on our last day, we begin our day with a little breakfast. We try to eat most of the perishable items before leaving, and while we do bring a cooler, we still like to eat most of the perishable items before packing up. I like to grab another coffee at Mojo's, because I don't get to go there very often. 

On our last day, we don't do a lot of beach activities, or beach town activities, but sometimes we fit something in before we head out. There are things to do in surrounding towns, like visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory, or the Blue Heron Cheese Factory, both in Tillamook, Oregon, and both on the same road. If you want to see some Oregon Coast history, you can visit the Drift Creek Covered Bridge. It is located on South Bear Creek Road, complete with a parking lot, picnic area, restrooms, great photo opportunities. I have been here before, and it is such a great stop! 

There is also the Tillamook Forest Center, where you can learn about the Tillamook Forest, the fire that occurred there, and you can learn about the rejuvenation process of the replanting of Tillamook Forest. You can also head up to the watch tower, and look around at the ground below, or afar. It is a fun, road side stop, and admission is free! 

The Oregon Coast has many, beautiful beach towns to visit, and in those beach towns, there are many things to do and see. I hold Oregon beaches close to my heart, and every visit is a magical experience. No matter how many times I have been there, I am always eager to go back. I can't wait for my upcoming trip. :)