Willamette Valley Getaway

I was recently fortunate enough to be able to travel to the Willamette Valley, west of Portland, Oregon, for a whole month. If you’re a wine person you’ve likely heard of the Willamette Valley, especially their world-class Pinot Noirs. I stayed in an Airbnb in a little town called Newberg and spent the month half working and half drinking wine (there were a couple side trips, too). It was fantastic!

Willamette Valley Wine Country

Wow! There are around 750 wineries in the Willamette Valley. It was difficult to figure out where to even start. There were a couple wineries I knew I wanted to go to, but beyond that I had no idea. I decided to just pick one close to where I was staying and go from there.

I went to 16 wineries in total while I was there. Thankfully, people who work at wineries are pretty good about giving you recommendations, both for other wineries that are their favorites and also things to see and do in the area. They give some good restaurant recommendations, too.

The people in the area were very friendly, the wine was first class, the restaurants were amazing, and the weather happened to be really good while I was there, too. I had an amazing time doing tastings at the various wineries and driving around the countryside. There were also several cute little towns in the area, with their own shopping and dining experiences. Let’s just say I never ran out of fun things to do!

Astoria, OR

One of my side trips was to a small, quirky town called Astoria, right on the confluence of the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean, and close to the border with Washington State. Beautiful scenery, and I know I’m dating myself, but if you’re a Goonies fan (movie from the ‘80’s) this is where it was filmed.

Astoria has a cute downtown area with shops and restaurants, and a lengthy riverwalk, but its crowning glory is the Astoria Column at the high point of the town. You can climb the 164 stairs to the top of the 125-foot tower and take in breathtaking views of surrounding mountains, the river, and all the way out to the Pacific.

I made sure I didn’t leave town without a stop at the “Goonies House,” which the current owner has made so that you can walk up to it and take pictures. There’s a great view from there, too, and one look at the house zings you right back to your childhood.

Cannon Beach and the Oregon Coast

I also checked out the town of Cannon Beach, Oregon. It’s a small, coastal town with a famous rock – Haystack Rock. I walked the many shops in town, grabbed some lunch, then headed for the beach, where I took in Haystack Rock and the many other beautiful views.

There are tons of beach cottages that line the coast in this town and most of them are vacation rentals. The town was so quaint and cute, and the beach scenery was so stunning that this destination may be on my list for a weekend getaway in the future!