Gentle Waves, Octopus Tentacles, and Plundering Pirates

Our awesome trip to the Oregon Coast Aquarium was complete. Along the way back to our hotel room, we drove into a world of its own. It is the world of pirates, treasure, and attacking sharks. Of gems, food, and special treats for those in search of fun. Terry and I are those people. We pulled off into the Aquarium Village, located on two small streets next to the aquarium. 

The little village is set up with all sorts of cool visuals. Shops don pirates, ships, seagulls, mermaids, and even cannons peering out of the side of the ship-front on a couple of shops. We weren't sure where to begin, so we started off looking for a snack and a restroom. Both were needed. Terry wanted to go into a storefront that boasted eats of all types. I was ready for anything at this point except seafood, especially calamari. We entered the small cafe and found it to be an unexpected treat. 

The owner was a woman who was running ragged trying to get the first four orders complete so she could serve them and move on to ours. I spent the wait time looking around the place. There were plants hanging from the old ceiling. Pictures and nick knacks sitting around on, well, everything. Nothing was really in order. The place looked clean enough, but it was reminding me of walking into a grandmother's home instead of a cafe. 

There was floral wallpaper on some walls. Mirrors hung in a couple of spaces, along with signs giving visitors the only notion that this was a cafe. The woman came out from behind a cluttered counter to bring food to the people who had ordered ahead of us. I watched as she shuffled her feet to their table, placing the dishes in front of her hungry customers. There was tubing running under the woman's nose with two nose pieces connected. This poor woman was working while fighting with an oxygen tank connected to her. 

We ordered a small order of nachos, so we didn't get too full. We were heading back to the Florence area and wanted to go out for dinner later in the evening. We ate the nachos and took a walk around the village. Many of the shops were closed because Sunday was Father's Day and Monday was Juneteenth. We stepped into a gem store and looked around. There were many beautiful stones and jewelry pieces, but we moved on. I had no place to store any more jewelry or stones. 

After searching through the three or four stores we found open that were of interest, we stopped to take some photos of the village. It was set up to be an adorable little spot. 

 

We walked the plank through the entire town and enjoyed the cuteness of the storefronts. Back in the car to head to the larger store around the corner, the Pirate's Plunder. 

Pirate's Plunder was an amazing shop, filled with row after row of cubicles that were packed with cool stuff. Each cubby contained a bunch of items on consignment. It was like walking through a gigantic garage sale or vintage store. After walking through the many aisles up front, we saw a sign that suggested we walk through the "room in the back." 

I headed toward the back of the store with Terry in tow. We found ourselves immersed in another huge portion of the store. It felt as though the store was never ending. Once again, row after row after row of amazing items. Inside Terry and I located a few things. I grabbed a necklace I loved. He spotted a sign that both of us giggled at, so we took it home. I am decorating our bathroom, which is white tile with a blue-green paint around the top, matching what is an old blue-green bathtub. The bath is in perfect condition, so the tub stayed. The sign matches the sea theme and colors of the bathroom. We felt we had to grab it!

I loved that Terry had found that sign! Our bathroom needed more added to it, so there we go. 

We made one more stop for shopping purposes along the way back. This shop was also a great place to look for things! 

Sweet man loves dragons and I find them quite appealing as well, depending on the setting. He was sifting through the many dragon figurines when I spotted a blue and white dragon statue that was perfect. I showed him and he seemed to not have a genuine interest. He said it was, "Okay." I told him it reminded me of dragons in love and then he looked at it with a new meaning. He grew excited over the piece. We brought our "honeymooning dragons" home with us. 

Our dragons sit on top of our dresser, in our sights every day and night. I'm sure the dragons represent a mother and baby, but I saw the dragons in love no matter their relationship design. 

Terry also spotted a large dragon with a battery holder on the bottom. The dragon is packed away in a box until we find a shelf for it to sit on, but once the batteries are placed in the holder, the dragon's "flames" will light up. We definitely had fun in this shop too! We even chose a puffer fish for the bathroom decor as well.  Yes, I said puffer fish and yes, it is real. Pretty gross, but this guy had a look on his face that was cute. 

I placed him between a candle and our rope "beach" sign. I thought he fit well. 

Speaking of dragons, we found another little place on the way home that displayed a huge dragon out in the front of the shop. We ended up walking into a beautiful shop with all sorts of stones, gems, dragons, and even antique furniture that was gorgeous. 

This room divider was so beautiful, with inlaid stone throughout the design. It was stunning as it should have been for the mere $1200 it was. Gorgeous!

I also spotted this chair in the corner. 

Onward we drove, stopping at all sorts of lookout points to capture the beautiful ocean. 

This is one photo I took from the car as we drove. The scene was so perfect I had to. 

From one of the lookout points along the way home from Newport.

Definitely still low tide.

I wanted Terry to stop at Devil's Churn, as he has never been there. Because of his hip, we couldn't walk all the way down without plenty of pain, so we took these photos from above. Unfortunately, the tide was low at the time we stopped, hindering the typical uproarious waves that slam against the rocks at a speed that creates a large splash, usually covering everyone standing on the platform. But that's okay. It's still a beautiful place to be. 

The water level was low in the channel as we arrived at low tide. 

We began the hour-long trek back to Florence. Hunger had set in, and it was time to locate some place to eat. Once again, we walked Bay Street in Old Town Florence in search for the perfect eatery. We found it in Bay Street Grille. 

Terry and I have eaten there before and found it to be a good place. It did not disappoint us this time either! I had a burger and of course, since we're by the sea, Terry ordered a plate of calamari. Mm-mm. Octopus tentacles anybody? 

Club soda with a slice of lemon or lime goes great with any meal. 

Calamari.

Burger and salad. Now this is more like it. 

The meal was great. Our bellies were definitely full, but my sweet man wanted to get some ice cream for dessert. Off to BJ's we waddled. 

Large, double scoop rocky road ice cream cone was just right for him. 

Mine was a sugar free chocolate shake. Perfection in a cup.

Of course, we had to grab a bag of beautiful little popcorn pieces coated in caramel. Who can resist caramel corn? 

Holding our bellies in disbelief they were so full (I can't imagine why), we returned to the hotel room for the final night of our honeymoon. Checkout was at 11:00 AM Tuesday, the following morning. This means we have to get our heads out of the honeymoon clouds and return to reality by Wednesday. I wasn't ready. Terry wasn't ready. We had enjoyed ourselves so much that it was making the trip home seem awful. Maybe the hot tub would put us in a good mood again? 

I began to fill the tub as Terry went out to enjoy his cigar on the balcony and take what would be one of his final looks at the river beneath us. I joined him for a while, but came in to call my friend, Trish and check on the tub. Water was flowing out of the faucet at full force, but the water had turned cold. Working with the handles, I made an attempt to correct it and get the hot water to come out. It was cold. 

Terry came inside and I reported the hot tub situation to him. I was going to recheck it in a bit, but we had not run any water during the day. We were not in the room all day. Testing it once more, it was still cold. I called the front desk, and she informed me she wasn't sure what to do. I guess we're without hot water for the night. Lovely. We made a couple more attempts to fix the situation, but when nothing was working, we watched some TV and fell asleep. The drive back to Roseburg would be long and we wanted to make sure we had enough sleep. 

Waking Tuesday morning meant packing, double checking the room, and saying goodbye to our wonderful honeymoon days. With the car loaded, we headed out. The plan was to take the Pacific Highway all the way home so we could stop at places along the way if we wanted to. The beach in Coos Bay was beautiful and the absolutely perfect spot to stop and grab more photos. 

Our trip was ending. It was sad, but wow, what a weekend! Married in the most beautiful spot we could have imagined, surrounded by our family. A gorgeous honeymoon weekend at the coast, one of our favorite places on earth. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect. 

Terry and I are back home now, facing the realities that is our life. Work, paying bills, doctor's appointments. But we have many blessings too, so the complaints of a trip back to reality aren't many. Our fur babies are at home, awaiting our arrival. I couldn't wait to see their beautiful faces again. We were met with wagging tail, meows, and fur baby loves. It was and is a beautiful thing.