Fall Road Trip 2023 - Coos Bay to Newport

The bronchitis saga continues. After the American Thanksgiving holiday (when everything was closed) we again found a medi-clinic, this time in Coos Bay, Oregon. And again, it didn't take long to get in with just one person in front of me. The doctor said I shouldn't still be wheezing like I am and recommended I see my family doctor as soon as get home to get x-ray and probably a nebulizer. I explained I don't have a family doctor and the long wait times to get an appointment at any sort of medi-clinic in Victoria. She didn't really respond to that but when she came back with another prescription, much to my surprise she also gave me a requisition for a chest x-ray at the local hospital. So off we went and, once again, the paperwork was the longest part of the process and I soon had an x-ray. Hopefully will know more in a few days when results come back. 

In the meantime, we carry on towards home. 

We stopped in Newport for the night and stayed at the Sylvia Beach Hotel, a grand old building located on a hill above the beach. Andrew had starred it in google maps some time ago as a potential and it turned out to be a great choice! The whole hotel has a book theme to it -- very suitable for two voracious readers. :-) 

Each room has an author or book theme and we got the Jules Verne room. There was obviously meticulous detail put into the decorating, from the porthole window in the door, the small barnacles on the bed posts, the submarine painted on the ceiling in the bathroom, the octopus toilet roll holder, and the jelly fish night light. Not to mention the book shelf full of books by Jules Verne. 

Video tour of our room and the hotel:

Other room choices were Dr. Seuss, The Color Purple, John Steinbeck, J.K. Rowling, Shakespeare, and many more. The Table of Content restaurant serves supper meals family style (we chose to eat at Zurita, a quiet Spanish tapas restaurant nearby) and a nice breakfast. Upstairs has a living room area with big comfortable chairs and couches where we hung out in the evening and enjoyed the mulled wine they serve every evening at 8pm. 

"Books" on the wall in Table of Content restaurant

All this and it was very reasonably priced! Needless to say, we would definitely stay here again. Be warned though, they don't have wifi. Shocking, I know! We simply used our phones as a hotspot when needed. 

The next morning, we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium which we've been to before but always enjoy. The sea otters and their antics are always a favourite, as were some of the birds. Some of the inside exhibits have been under construction since the last time we were here a couple years ago. Hopefully that's finished by the next time we're there. 

A fun video compilation from the aquarium:

We then had a relatively short drive to Astoria to finish the day.