OK, we confess, we've been bitten by the lighthouse bug. Why else would we have named our house Lighthouse Landing? It started slowly you see - when we first went out to Cape Arago and saw that lighthouse. It sits on an island and has been rebuilt several times due to storms. We used to be able to see it flash at night from our hot tub, but it was turned off in 2006. On a clear day, you can see it from a road near us that is a slightly higher elevation. It's about 8 miles away as the bird flies.
That led us to go see some of the other lighthouses in the area - Cape Blanco, Coquille River, Umpqua, Yaquina Head,Yaquina Bayand Heceta Head.. We got to see the Cape Meares light in January 2004 and since you can't see the Tillamook lighthouse from shore, we have seen all that we can.
You'll note from the pictures that we haven't managed to catch all of them on sunny days, but not everyone would bother to post a photo of a lighthouse during its renovation like Cape Blanco here.
The ultimate lighthouse visit was to Heceta Head. The assistant lighthouse keeper's house has been turned into a bed and breakfast and we went there for a weekend in May 2001. We arrived shortly after sunset so after dropping off our bags, we grabbed a flashlight from our room and walked up to the lighthouse. It was an awesome sight - the beacon slipping across the hillside and then penetrating the light mist over the ocean. I forget how far out to sea they said it was visible - it seems like it might be 21 miles during the right conditions.
The next morning we were served a gourmet, seven-course breakfast by our hosts, Bob and Carol. Breakfast lasted for over two hours and by the end, we thought we'd never eat again. Of course, that condition was only temporary. The next morning, we did it again. Somehow, this didn't seem quite as daunting. Either we were better prepared for it, or we paced ourselves better.
The house was actually at one time a duplex for the two assistant lighthouse keepers and their families, but dividing walls in the downstairs have been removed. We shared a bathroom that had a beautful clawfoot tub placed right by a half oval window that looked out at - you guessed it - the lighthouse. It was a great weekend and we would recommend it to anyone!
