A rainy day on the Oregon coast is not a ruined day. It's the default day, October through May, and the locals have figured out how to love it. Neskowin is especially good at this because it's small, quiet, and built for staying in. Here's how we'd spend a wet one.
Step one: go outside anyway
Counterintuitive, but true. The beach in the rain is empty, the light is silver, and the surf is louder. Put on the rain shell, leash the dog, and walk down to Proposal Rock. Twenty minutes is enough. You'll come back damp and awake and the cabin will feel twice as cozy for it.
If the tide is low, the Neskowin Ghost Forest is even better in the rain. The stumps of an ancient Sitka spruce forest, drowned by an earthquake centuries ago, poke out of the sand at low tide. Check the tide table; you want a low under about 2 feet, and the lower the better. The rain keeps the crowd to zero.
The stove
The Weekender has a wood-burning stove, and this is the day it earns its place. Get it going before you head out on the beach walk so the cabin is warm when you're back. Kindling, a couple of splits, door cracked until it catches, then close it down. Dry socks on the hearth. The dog will claim the rug in front of it within minutes.
We keep wood stocked. If you run low, the general store in town has bundles.
The hot tub in the rain
This sounds wrong until you've done it. A private hot tub with cold rain hitting your shoulders and warm water everywhere else is one of the great small pleasures of the coast. Towels by the door, robe on the hook, and a quick dash. The Weekender's tub is on the deck, so you've got the sound of the surf as a bonus.
Chowder and a pint
Pelican Brewing in Pacific City is 15 minutes north, right on the beach with a view of Haystack Rock (the Pacific City one, not Cannon Beach's) and the dory boats when the weather allows them out. The chowder is good, the beer is better, and the windows face the storm. On a big-surf day you can watch waves crash over the cape.
Closer to home, Neskowin has a couple of options on the main drag, and the general store does espresso, wine, and a solid deli case.
Indoor Lincoln City, 15 minutes south
- Lincoln City Glass Center. Blow your own glass float with an instructor. Book ahead. It's genuinely fun and you leave with a souvenir that isn't a t-shirt.
- Finders Keepers. Lincoln City hides glass floats on the beach from mid-October through Memorial Day. Rain doesn't stop it. Look above the tide line in the driftwood.
- Chinook Winds Casino. Not our usual style, but it's warm, it has a buffet, and it's there.
- Bookstores and thrift shops along Highway 101. Lincoln City has several. A used paperback and the stove is a complete afternoon.
Cook something slow
The Weekender's kitchen is small but complete. A rainy coast day is a soup day. Pick up clams or fresh fish at a market in Lincoln City or Pacific City in the morning, and let a pot simmer while the rain does its thing. Tillamook cheese and a baguette from the store handle lunch.
Storm watching, properly
If the rain comes with wind, you're in for a show. Cascade Head and Cape Kiwanda are the big viewpoints, but in a real storm the safest and most dramatic spot is a window. Our winter storm guide is written for Manzanita but the safety points apply here too: stay off the rocks, stay off the jetties, respect sneaker waves, and never turn your back on the ocean.
The best part
Nobody will ask you what you did today. The cabin sleeps three, so there's no group to organize. The rain gives you permission to read the whole book, nap at 3pm, and eat dinner at 5:30. Browse our Neskowin rentals for dates, and don't check the forecast too hard. Pack the rain shell. Come anyway.