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| The Oregon Coast |
There is a place,
covered by the mists of fog, where mermaids sing and dragons roam.
In this place, the air is filled with salt that pixies feed off of as
they dip down towards the oceans depths, gathering star fish to place
in the night sky. Bent and beautiful looking creatures tear apart
crumbling castles made of sand and sailors hear the sirens song as
they try to navigate through the night.
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| Hook |
Growing up in
Oregon, I have always been surrounded by images that feed my hungry
imagination. However, when I was younger, I tended to dream about
adulthood whereas now, I dream of Neverland. One thing has not
changed through the years, though. I have always had a fascination
with the Oregon coast line. I remember when I was a little girl, I
was always made to sit in the back seat during car journeys. In true
Oregon fashion, the clouds would be thick and grey the moment we
arrived at the beach and would threaten to release salty drops of
rain without any warning. I loved this though. I loved looking out a
rain spattered car window and watching the waves crash against the
shore as we drove by. I loved the rocks that jutted from the water
or the way that the air smelt crisp and fishy. During those moments,
when no one talked and old
rock tunes wound their way through the car
speakers, I used to look out over those rocks and think that if I
could only see to the other side, I would catch a glimpse of a
mermaid or some other little creature that we had yet to discover.
These images came directly from watching way too much Hook as a kid
and thinking that the scene with the mermaids swimming through those
green waters was probably the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Of course, since
those days, I have become a bit more dark with my fairy tales. The
once simplistic beauty of a mermaid has become a bit more sinister as
I imagine it luring wanderers to certain death. The pixies of my
dreams have a bit more of a tricksters side than they once did and
this magical land where you are said to be happy is only joyous as
long as you don't ever want to return home.
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| "Fight! Fight for my master, defender of the house-elves!" |
The little hunched
over goblin like creatures with hooked noses that I used to imagine
climbed the rocks, are nice though. Goblins like that are always
nice. Think, House elves. :) But of the none Kreacher variety.
Anyway....
I am not
necessarily a fan of Oregon. I can acknowledge its beauty and think
that the lush green trees and the rolling hills are sights to see,
but I think there are much prettier things in this world than what I
have around me. That being said, I have yet to see a coastline that
tops that of Oregon's. So, yay on you Oregon. You've managed to
convince a girl who doesn't really understand the hype that people
give you, to love your coastline enough to make it the setting of the
novel she's writing.
I visited the red
rooftops of Heceta Lighthouse in Florence Oregon, over this past
week. I am always struck by the color that those roofs produce in
the gloom of the fog and the way that the light still shines
brightly, cutting through the grey surroundings. Its something out
of a painting. Now, Heceta is one of the only lighthouses I've
visited but I keep coming back to it. It's said to have a haunted
little history and one in which I love.
Legend has it that
the caretakers of the lighthouse had a small girl. One day, while
the girl was out playing, she passed away. As all good ghost stories
go, we don't really question the details of how this girl died but at
least this story does have a grave to back it up. After the child’s
death, the mother became so distraught, that she threw herself over
the cliffs edge, falling to her death. It is said that she still
haunts the groundskeepers house though, looking for her child and
waiting for her to come home. Locals have dubbed her the Grey Lady;
a name that is all too fitting given the state of the weather most of
the time.
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| Photo by Caitlyn Tendick http://www.flickr.com/photos/97205176@N06/ |
The Grey Lady has
a certain penchant for construction workers it seems. In one of the
more infamous stories, a man working on the groundskeepers cottage,
came face to face with the Grey Lady inside the attic. Startled, he
fled from the attic, breaking the attic window in the process. His
fear became so much in fact, that he left the attic as is, leaving
the shattered glass scattered across the attic floor as he fixed the
broken window from the outside. That night, some of the guards heard
scraping coming from the attic above. When they went to investigate
the next morning, all the glass had been swept into a neat pile at
some point during the night.
Needless to say,
these workers didn't wish to return to work afterwards.
Items are said to
be moved within this house, images of the Grey Lady herself are said
to have been captured through the attic window as she stares
mournfully out at sea, and sometimes, late at night, you can see her
wandering around the bay, looking for her little girl.
Ghost stories
aside, Heceta Lighthouse truly is a pretty lighthouse. It's one of
the originals left in Oregon. Every time I see it up close, I tend
to dance around the land, looking out over the sea, pretending to see
ships coming over the horizon. These ships are of course pirate
ships.
There is a lookout
point not too far down the road from this lighthouse though where you
can stare back at the structure and suddenly, the thoughts of ships
and the excitement of being on the coast, disappear a bit. Here,
standing off in the distance, is this beautiful column of white and
red, looking out over the ocean, all alone. There's something so
pretty about it. It's like when you look up at the stars for the
first time when you're a little kid. Suddenly, you feel very very
small.
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| Photo by Caitlyn Tendick http://www.flickr.com/photos/97205176@N06/ |
Heceta is of
course one of the many things that the Oregon Coast has but in my
opinion, it is one of the best. After hiking up to the lighthouse
you only need to drive a bit further, crossing over a terrifying
bridge (which my friend drove over about three or four times this
trip because she kept getting terribly confused) to get to Mo's.
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| Photo by Caitlyn Tendick http://www.flickr.com/photos/97205176@N06/ |
Yes. Mo's.
It is the fish
restaurant on the coast where you can sit and gorge yourself on
actual fish as opposed to the cardboard imitations that you can find
in your frozen food isle at the grocery store. It is also the place
where every table has trivia cards with questions on it that barely
anyone knows the answer to and your eyes are always bigger than your
stomach. A garage door is opened during the nicer days of the summer
in order to open up the restaurant even further. The story goes that
after Mo's first opened, a woman had parked her car outside of the
restaurant and instead of putting it in reverse when she meant to
leave, she drove straight through the establishment. They decided to
put a garage door in place of the wall after that, proving that the
owner had a sense of humor that most in this world do not. To this
day, that same garage door, remains.
You can eat at the
original Mo's in Newport and across the street is a
small little dock where the seals hang out. Unfortunately, you are
reading this blog and cannot hear my marvelous seal impression but
I'll have you know, it's kind of amazing.
Also, this is
Otter Rock.
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| Photo by Caitlyn Tendick http://www.flickr.com/photos/97205176@N06/ |
Not to be confused with the actual area of the Oregon
Coast called Otter Rock. No, this is my friend, who is very well fed,
and who has no fear what so ever.
If you have not
had the chance to visit the Oregon Coast, take it if the opportunity
arises. If anything, look up some of the pictures that have been
taken there over the years in order to get a sense of what I mean.
Also, does anyone else have the horrid habit of having this scene pop in their mind when they're around a beach?
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| THE FEELS!!!! |
If you would like to read more about Heceta or Mo's, click on the links below.
Heceta Head Lighthouse: http://ouroregoncoast.com/florence-guide/1404-the-gray-lady-at-heceta-head-lighthouse-an-oregon-coast-ghost-story.html
Like me on Facebook and message me if there is something you want to see me blog! Also, if you are a fan of the scene above (which no one should be) go to my Pinterest page and check out the Nerd Love board. You will not be disappointed. You can find the link on the right of your screen.
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