A Seaside Excursion

 

The first year six of us spent a fall weekend at the beach, we had to look out carefully for the cottage we were renting, holding our breath that it was actually going to be decent. We stopped constantly for pictures along the scenic drive, and we holed up in our cottage on Sunday morning because of our uncertainty about any good churches in the area. We were between the ages of 17 and 20, many of us still in high school with part-time jobs at best. We counted every penny, drove in fear of snow, and couldn't change a flat tire. {Read more about our trip three years ago here}.

 

The tradition is still going strong. This time, the six of us met at a charming bubble tea place in town for lunch on Friday. The requisite car drama (there's always something!) was dispensed with before lunch, and we were on our merry way to the seaside! This time, when we stopped in our favorite Astoria thrift shop, the owner remembered us from two years ago. And when we reached Cannon Beach, we drove straight to the same, comfortable, cozy little cottage with its eccentric leopard print carpet that suits us just right.

 

We took rambling walks on the beach, elected not to do the hike we had planned (because the skies stormed and raged in a fascinating fashion all weekend), ate quantities of good food, attended a mediocre play, watched Bleak House (yes, all 8.5 hours of it!), laughed until our stomachs ached, soaked in the hot tub until the fumes made us ditsy, stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, and ate lunch at 4:30.

 

We discovered the best coffee of our lives (and that is saying a lot, coming from 6 coffee connoisseurs!): Sleepy Monk Coffee. The freshly roasted beans, the creamy richness, and the not-too-sweet flavor of the "foofy" coffees beckoned us not once but twice over the course of the weekend!

 

 

We re-visited the church that we had ventured to two years ago and were just as delighted! The pastor remembered us, and I was blessed by the commonality we all shared as one Body--dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Throughout the course of the weekend, we read through James, sharing our thoughts and applications in a wonderful, rambling manner such that everyone came away with something and all of us were blessed by the reading of the Word! {To see what we talked about two years ago on our beach getaway, click here!}

 

It seems as though we all might be a wee bit older this year than the first year we travelled to the beach together. God has been faithful to bring us along on our journey through life. But, ah, how thankful I am that my journey these last years has intertwined with these ladies' journeys and has included so many wonderful weekends at the coast!

Happy Thanksgiving!