But I called it "the coast" because it REALLY IS the coast! When we were out there, I actually saw the difference between "the beach" and "the coast." There is an area that is indeed a beach but mostly, the town of Florence, Siuslaw, Coos Bay, etc., are coastal towns. They've got the boats, docks, seaside shops and everything. It was just awesome to visit. I love the water (even though I can't swim in it but I can certainly fish in it!) and I was just in heaven while we were out there. It was amazing to see the beach and I loved being on the seaside. I could stand on those rocks, looking out at the ocean forever. It's just so beautiful.
We went to the Sea Lion Caves while we were out there. The caves are the second largest in the world and the largest in America. We saw REAL sea lions! It was just breathtaking. Just watching them, I felt that they were truly majestic creatures. I wish I had been able to hear that barking howl they are famous for. Jennifer wasn't very comfortable being in the caves, though. I think she got a little claustrophobic. We also wanted to tour the Heceta Head Lighthouse but the tours are only available during March. So we made plans to go back next month. It was cool to at least see the Lighthouse, though. :)
We ate at the International C-Food Market. The restaurant has a VERY NICE nautical theme (not overdone) and the service was excellent. The waiters were so nice and very accommodating. I was taken aback at the price of the food, though. I never ate at a place with such costly meals before! My meal (a "Captain's Platter" of cod, prawns, scallops and oysters) cost $24. My husband's meal of Scandinavian Halibut cost $25! Wow! But the food was delicious. I liked the way it was served (on square plates!); the presentation of the dish was very pleasing to the eye. And like I said, the food was very good! The portions were not too big, not too small. It tasted very yummy. The smell of garlic was heavy in the air and we enjoyed the view of the docks while we ate.
After our meal, we walked along the streets and checked out the shops. We bought some saltwater taffy and I got some espresso-flavored fudge (yummy!!). We also got some coffee from the local coffee shop; I got a mocha latte and it was delicious! Then we walked along the docks, looking out at the ocean and watching the seagulls. I looked out at the boats and saw a place that was selling live crab. I told Jennifer and she said she wanted to see them catching the crab. Well, maybe next time; I couldn't tell if they offered rides out on the boat to watch them catch crab. We were planning to head out to Coos Bay from there but it was starting to get late in the day. It's almost two hours to drive back to Eugene so we decided to visit Coos Bay some other time. Maybe next month, when we go out there again.
Here are some of the pictures we took while we were out on the coast:
On Sunday, I was planning for us to go to church. But Jennifer said she didn't want to go; she wasn't feeling up to church. I debated going myself, just to try that suggestion from Nancy on leaving the baby in the nursery while I attended the services (thanks, Nancy!), but I had a bad feeling about leaving Jennifer. Something told me I just needed to stay home and be with her.
I'm glad I listened to that instinct, because later in the day, she was feeling really sick. She was nauseated for hours before she started vomiting. She had a fever and complained of stomach pain. On Monday, she had excruciating pain in her stomach and she was burning up with fever (her temp was 102). She was crying and screaming so bad because she was in pain. I tried to get her to take a cool bath to help lower her temperature but she cried out when I touched her skin. It was awful. I had her on the BRAT diet on Monday. We got her some yogurt but she refused it. Yesterday, she barely ate anything. I finally got her to drink some water in the late afternoon, and a few hours after that, she ate a little bit of corn. We have been giving her Tylenol for the fever (her temperature has been going up and down) and monitoring her. She is still feverish and sluggish today. It looks like she'll be missing a whole week of school. I hope she will be better soon, though.
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