Can't-Miss-It! The Oregon Edition

Here it is... my can't-miss-it travel guide for Oregon with kids!
This one features Portland, Cannon Beach, Tillamook, and a little further south on the Oregon coast. Here goes. . .

For our Memorial weekend 6'th year wedding anniversary, we took the kids on a romantic (ha!) trip to Oregon! We started with our friendly neighbor city only 3 hours south of us: Portland!

*Can't-Miss-It place to stay:
To save some money and still stay in a nice hotel, try a hotel in Vancouver, WA, which is very close to Portland. We booked a family suite at the Heathman Lodge (I found a deal on it through one of the daily deal sites a few months ahead of time, score!!!), and that ended up being our most relaxing night of the whole trip, since there was a separate bedroom with a queen bed for the kids. So we were able to close the door, keep the baby in the main living area with us, and enjoy some peace and quiet after the older kids fell asleep!

The room actually had a tempurpedic bed and an awesome, HUGE jetted tub in the bathroom!

Our kids were ALL about the pool (the whole weekend, all they talked about was going to the hotels to go swimming. They love to swim!) So after swimming I filled up the tub, poured in some bubble bath, and turned on the jets to take a warm bath. I'd love to soak in a tub just like that every single day!!! The funny thing was how fast the bubbles multiplied with the jets going. The tub was completely overflowing with bubbles!

*Another Can't-Miss-It place to stay:
McMenamins Kennedy School in Portland. We actually didn't stay there this time, but we stayed there on a previous trip without kids and it is just the coolest! It's a historic elementary school, converted into a hotel, and each room is a former classroom! Our room had a chalkboard in it and everything. You can watch movies in the auditorium (free if you stay there!), hang out in the restaurants and brewery, and use the outdoor saltwater soaking pool.

*Can't-Miss-It for cheap lodging:
Definitely use the name your own price feature on Priceline! We put in a lower price than we thought we would get, and ended up staying in a nice Courtyard Marriott for super cheap just outside of Portland!

*Can't-Miss-It attraction:
Stunning Multnomah Falls! I've been here a few times now, and I just keep coming back! It's very close to Portland, and just beautiful!

Our family at the falls!

Um, what is she scared of? This picture cracks me up!

*Can't-Miss-It Portland Eats: A unique breakfast, lunch, or brunch at Pine State Biscuits. I heard about this place from the Food Network, and I knew I had to try it! The biscuit sandwiches were incredible, with tons of different toppings! I was wowed!

*Can't-Miss-It Attraction: The Portland Rose Festival!
Come during the festival (from Memorial weekend through the month of June) to see all the beautiful roses in bloom like we did. . .

Except. . . the roses weren't blooming. Yep, not a single one. We saw a bunch of leaves.
Here's what we DID enjoy at the rose gardens, however:
*A beautiful sunny day with a great view of the city

*Some really beautiful flowers (may not be roses, but they were pretty!)

*The Rose Garden Children's Park! I had no idea this was here, but it was a REALLY awesome park with a huge playground! My kids loved it!

*Our next Can't-Miss stop is. . . Tillamook!
Home of my favorite cheese (and yours too, right?) This is such a fun stop on an Oregon coast trip!

{Ain't it the truth!}

Plan on staying here for a couple of hours. That gives you enough time to tour the factory (not really an actual tour, but they have big windows where you can see them making the cheese), taste the delicious samples, and then get lunch or dinner in their restaurant and most definitely have some ice cream! I love the wide range of flavors they have available, and so did the kids!

*Can't-Miss-It rest stop. . .
One of the most beautiful spots on the Oregon coast, Paradise Cove!
(Yep, that's really all that was there. Paradise Cove??? I don't think so!)

*Moving right along to. . . Cannon Beach!!!

I had never been here before and was very excited to see this beautiful beach! And it truly was beautiful! But I would recommend going to this beach in July or August, because it was windy and COLD! So we didn't actually play on the beach or use the sand toys we brought. Everyone was just too cold! We took some pictures and then got out of there. Such a shame, because it was so gorgeous!

Haystack Rock!

{Here we are, freezing on the beach! At least it wasn't raining!}

*Definitely do not miss stopping in the adorable little Cannon Beach town! I liked it much better than Seaside, which is just a few minutes away. We ate lunch at Morris Fireside (this is actually buy one get one free entrees with the Prime Card is you have one!), and we loved the Cannon Beach Bakery!

And your kids will not LET you miss Bruce's Candy Kitchen. Whoa, this was a sugar and sweets overload! They had every sweet thing imaginable, and the place was popular and very crowded. Don't forget to load your kids up with sugar right before a long car ride down the coast. Great idea, really!!! ;)

We ran out of time to do much in Lincoln City or Newport, but we did stay in a beautiful resort very close to those cities. I found another daily deal for the Salishan Spa and Golf Resort in Gelenden Beach. What an amazing place! The entire grounds were landscaped perfectly, and most of it looked something like this:

Our Premier room was really nicely furnished, with a cozy fireplace and beautiful views through our windows. We didn't get to use the golf course or the spa, but our family's absolute favorite thing was their AWESOME pool. It was most definitely a resort-style pool! HUGE, in a large greenhouse, and such a perfect temperature. We loved it so much we swam there at night and then again the next morning before we checked out! It's one of the best hotel pools I've seen. Our little fishies had a blast!

The Oregon coast is so great, I'm sure this guide could go on and on and on! But those are a few of the things we did and loved on our weekend of exploring Oregon! What should we do next time? I love new ideas!

Travel Tips and Tricks. . . Universal Studios!

I can't believe January was only a few short months ago. It seems like SO much longer since we've been in sunny and warm San Diego weather. I hope April showers really DO bring May flowers, because I want to go to the beach again!

The "last stop" for us on our Southern California City Pass was Universal Studios, a place I hadn't been to since I was 7 years old! I barely remembered it, and of course most things have changed since then. I didn't think there would be a whole lot for kids to do there, so we left the kids with my parents (!!!) and got to spend the day at Universal Studios by ourselves! It was SO great!

So Universal Tip #1 is. . . either leave the kids with someone else or skip it until your kids are old enough to enjoy it. There would have been a few things our little kids could have done, but not really that many. Most of the rides and shows are geared towards adults, teens, and older kids.

#2- For SURE go during the off-season. We didn't have to wait in very many lines at all, and most of the shows had no wait times either. I've never been when it's crowded, but Stephen remembers going in the summer as a teenager and waiting for hours for the Studio Bus Tour and all the different shows. Doesn't sound very fun to me! Most of the rides are short, so it would be a huge pain to wait a long time for them. They do sell a "Front of the Line Pass" you can buy if it's extremely busy, but it's pricey.

#3- Go see ALL the shows. They have all different ones depending on the year and the season. I thought they were all entertaining and fun. We also rode all the rides (I think we did every attraction except for House of Horrors.) My favorites rides were Revenge of the Mummy (short but scary and fun roller coaster!) and Jurassic Park (you WILL get wet!)

#4- You'll want to have your camera with you, at least for part of the day, to get a few character pictures. A lot of the characters they had there weren't too interesting to me, but I HAD to get a picture of Stephen with his favorite cartoon character (and my least favorite), Spongebob.

#5- I recommend starting your day the same way we did, by heading to the Studio Tour first. This tends to get the busiest, so you'll avoid some crowds if you head there first thing when the park opens. The Studio tour was great! They added a new section to it called King Kong 360 3-D. Billed as the world's largest and most intense 3-D experience, it really WAS scary and awesome and completely fun! The bus went into a dark tunnel and then suddenly we were surrounded by 3-D dinosaurs who were all trying to chase and eat us, and then King Kong showed up to pound on the bus and save us. The bus bounced and clattered around and we totally did feel part of the King Kong experience. Very cool!

#6- Unlike Disneyland (I could go there over and over again, easily!) I think of Universal Studios as a place that you only go to every few years. It just doesn't have that "I've got to come back here soon!" feel, at least not for me. I had a fun time there, mainly because I hadn't been in so long so most of it was new to me. But I would get bored of this park easily if I went too often.

#7- There are a lot of good food options right outside the entrance to Universal Studios. These would especially be great for lunches. But if you don't have kids with you and you want to eat one of the BEST burgers I've ever had. . . go for dinner after the park closes to 25 Degrees, right on Hollywood Boulevard. It's a burger bar, located inside the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel, and Stephen and I were seriously wowed by their thick, juicy, delicious burgers and yummy chocolate malts. You KNOW a place is good when you're still thinking about it and talking about it months later, and that's how this place is! Stephen and I both want to go back! I read about it in Sunset magazine (love getting restaurant recommendations from there!) and it even exceeded my expectations!

I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments about Universal Studios! I'm certainly no expert about it, and I know there's lots of good tips that I missed. :)