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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Wolf once believed to be dead shows up near Crater Lake ... One of Oregon's two health insurance co-ops says it will shut down ... Rogue Valley gubernatorial candidate blasts Gov. Brown on climate change ... Wolf once believed to be dead shows up near Crater Lake ... One of Oregon's two health insurance co-ops says it will shut down ... Rogue Valley gubernatorial candidate blasts Gov. Brown on climate change ... DAY TRIPPIN' What's there to do on the Oregon Coast? Comment By Mary Zvonek for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mary Zvonek for the Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 27, 2015 at 5:50 PM Updated Mar 2, 2015 at 2:42 PM By Mary Zvonek for the Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 27, 2015 at 5:50 PM Updated Mar 2, 2015 at 2:42 PM --> You can be a travel writer Do you have a favorite destination or scenic drive that’s within a couple hours of the Rogue Valley? If so, email... » Read more X You can be a travel writer Do you have a favorite destination or scenic drive that’s within a couple hours of the Rogue Valley? If so, email us a 300- to 500-word story about it that includes directions, and send pictures if you have them, to Mail Tribune features editor David Smigelski at [email protected] . » Social News Editor's Note: Day Trippin' is a regular Monday feature that gives readers a chance to play tour guide and tell us about a nearby getaway. I am a Southern California beach diehard and lived there all of my life. Skeptical when my friend Sue invited me to go to the Oregon Coast for an overnight stay, I wondered what in the world we were going to do. Sue was returning home to Missouri and wanted one last trip to the coast she loved so much. On Saturday morning, we drove out from Jacksonville, and a couple hours later we pulled off by the lighthouse that guards Brookings Harbor from atop a hill that looks down at a quaint shopping village and boardwalk. We had chowder for lunch in the little village and purchased a kite to fly on the beach. Later, we had Espresso Madness ice cream cones at Slugs ‘n Stones ‘n Ice Cream and found art books at the Book Dock. We watched fishermen catch Dungeness crab on the dock, and then we headed north and stopped at Harris Beach and Samuel H. Boardman state parks. We sat and sketched for an hour on a cliff overlooking Spruce Island off Highway 101. Farther north, at a spectacular beach where large haystack rocks jut out all over the beach, we finally flew the kite. Late in the afternoon we pulled into Gold Beach, we checked into Ireland’s Rustic Lodges, walked the beach and went to dinner at a restaurant out on the jetty. After breakfast the next morning, we continued north. I wanted to stop in Bandon, but we had much territory to cover before heading home. We stopped along the way and bought cookies and lemonade from three 11-year-old girls who were raising money for a singing career. They sang for us before we headed on. We watched wind surfers zigzag back and forth across Floras Lake. Cranberry bogs were visible along the highway, and we went past the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, where we visited the interpretive center and hiked along the estuary paths. From there we were off to Sunset Bay State Park, the sea lion lookout at Cape Arago State Park, and then Shore Acres State Park, where we saw the most magnificent part of the Southern Oregon coastline. Tide pools are abundant along the coast, and Sue pointed out what she thought were the best areas to look for sea creatures. She had taken groups of children to the tide pools while teaching in Southern Oregon, and the beach at Shore Acres is one of the best spots to check out the pools, she said. We didn’t get a chance to do as much hiking along trails as we wanted to, no chance for a jet boat ride in Gold Beach, and no time for visiting museums, whale-watching, clamming or crabbing. We returned to Jacksonville by 7:30 p.m. Sunday and laughed along the way over the time we had. I guess I shouldn’t have worried about finding enough things to do on our trip. Mary Zvonek lives in Jacksonville. By Mary Zvonek for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mary Zvonek for the Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 27, 2015 at 5:50 PM Updated Mar 2, 2015 at 2:42 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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