Why I love Going to the Beach

I go to the beach so that I can shop at a quaint little nursery, check out a vintage consignment mall, and shop at a gift store for Christmas. Plus, for long walks on the beach and watching sun sets. We have been going to the same town, staying at the same hotel, and eating at the same restaurants for several years now. The hotel is an old fashioned motor lodge with attached cottages. I used to keep track of the rooms we'd stayed in, but this year just lost track. It doesn't matter, because each room is very nice with a character of it's own.

I guess I must be getting older, because I like the predictability of it, in fact I look forward to it. Last year I posted about our trip to Gearhart, Oregon, here. Just down the road from our hotel is a gift shop, nursery and florist shop.  The three are next to each other, seemingly connected. They are great individually, but to go from one to the next is pure joy for me. 

Pacific Crest Cottage had a gazebo made from old doors in the front, and had added a back yard garden for statues and lawn accessories.

Next door is the nursery, Back Alley Gardens. It is very small, but despite it's size it has a wide variety of plants and garden accessories. Of course I'm in love with the shed.

In the back is a covered patio that had several garden accessories we were both interested in:

A potting bench made with an old window 

A vertical gardening kit from Gronomics
(they also had the raised planter 
which is an accessible alternative to raised beds)

While looking at the plants I spotted these clay pots. After looking closer I realized that they were held with clips I'd seen on Pinterest. Even better was seeing the way they had used the clips on old window frames. I love this idea and now have another project lined up for Chris, but without the windows. Unfortunately, I didn't see these clips for sale. They had another more like a metal bracket. But I'm going to look this up and see what I can find online.

The terra cotta pot just slips inside.

I love simple, clever ideas like these windows.
They would add some needed color to my back fence.

After looking at the nursery we just stepped up onto the deck and entered Natural Nook Florist & Gifts at Fitzgerald's. Another gift shop with beach decor items and a florist in the back. They were finishing a wedding order while we were there. Weddings on the beach with flowers from this shop...

In the past we've talked about moving to Gearhart. We had since favored sunnier climates, but after being there for a few days it got us rethinking that plan.