Oregon Coast Holidays, Winter Travel and Paranormal Given New Twists

Spouting Horn at Depoe Bay

(Manzanita, Oregon) – Oregon Coast Beach Connection, otherwise known as BeachConnection.net, will soon give the holidays, winter travel tips, paranormal tales and funky factoids about the coast a bit of a twist and a little boost in profile. Several new features are spotlighting the season in various ways, offering travel advice for the coast with a few different angles, and providing a rush of useful information for visitors.

One gigantic section coming soon to the website will provide “As Many As 70 Reasons to Come to the Oregon Coast in Winter.” Another special story will assist travelers this Thanksgiving weekend who are heading to the coastal region. There are previews of winter and storm watching fun, festivals and events, and other hidden nuggets about the region during this season. There’ll be a comprehensive roundup of holiday events as well as travel advice for Christmas and New Year’s. Then, to finish the year off as well as start the new one, BeachConnection.net will embark on a massive project that will last two months, releasing odd and unusual facts about the coast every week through December and January.

One of numerous hidden spots on the coast

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said BeachConnection.net editor Andre’ Hagestedt. “It will be rather unusual in spots too, as well as extremely useful and informative. There’s a lot of interesting stuff coming down the pike that will keep people glued to what we’re doing. There will be more than a few surprises.”

Already live is the Fall/Winter Preview section, which archives tons of seasonal information from BeachConnection.net onto one web page. “You’ll find everything from seasonal holiday stuff coming up, secrets about storm watching and all sorts of travel advice,” said Hagestedt. “It’s like a one-stop shopping place for seasonal coast information.”

Coming by Monday, November 20 is the Thanksgiving Weekend Lodging Availability update. Lorna Davis, Director of Tourism Development for the Newport Chamber of Commerce, said this weekend usually finds most hotels maxing out on rooms, so it may be hard for those who haven’t made reservations well ahead of time. Visitors often make their lodging plans for Thanksgiving on the coast months in advance. Many lodgings are already completely booked.

Seaside in the holidays

“This is going to be very useful,” Hagestedt said. “What I’m hearing out there is that you haven’t made arrangements ahead of time, you probably won’t find a room out there. Plus, we’ll have info on which restaurants are open for the holiday in most towns, from Astoria down to Florence.”

A large story on holiday happenin’s on the coast is coming to the website soon, which includes massive information about New Year’s Eve celebrations and lodging specials. Considerable information on lodging availability for that holiday will also be featured later in December, as it too is a madhouse on the coast.

One of the more significant features for the upcoming season will be the expansive “Reasons to Come to the Oregon Coast in Winter,” filled with around 70 reasons to visit the area. “I haven’t done the exact count yet, but I believe we now have at least 70 reasons to visit the coast during this season,” Hagestedt said. “Last year’s reasons article was insanely popular, and it still gets sizable hits. There are some amazing travel ideas in here, like little known bits about storm watching, weird, funky sports you can do during winter, interesting events – just a ton of stuff about the winter season on the coast you probably wouldn’t have guessed. I’m delighted every year I do one of these stories.

Haunted legends are half the funof the odd stuff on Oregon's coast

“We asked dozens of people on the coast about this, wanting tips, and we got a huge response. It’s impressive. I promise you’ll be blown away.”

Finally, all through December and January, BeachConnection.net will provide a series of really unusual angles and a constant stream of surprises about the Oregon coast, called “Freaky Oregon Coast Facts.” Each week, dozens of odd and mind-blowing factoids and trivia about the area will be released onto the web, covering coastal shockers about its history, beach spots, weird science, weather, entertainment and of course tons about haunted places on the coast and other paranormal legends.

“The stuff we’re collecting right now is downright freaky at times,” Hagestedt said. “I believe we’ll have some 200 really trippy things to talk about over those two months.”

What is that green sea goo that gets all wet and slippery on rocks? That question will be answered

Items that will appear include celebrities currently living on the coast, strange, even rogue, theories about historical events, the discovery of a new reef for surfers, the brutal practice of getting shanghaied, the “mini summer” in the middle of February, why are there so many sea lions in Newport’s bay, bizarre ways jetties have changed nearby beaches over the last 100 years, an eerie legend of buried treasure, where to find sand that glows or sand that sings, a castle on the coast, secret shipwrecks, where can you find more whole sand dollars than anywhere else, and how lava flows hundreds of feet high helped create what we see on the coast these days. Also featured will be many wild facts about marine life and beach science, and why things are the way they are on the coast.

“If you really get into science, you start to realize the real stuff is way weirder than science fiction,” Hagestedt. “That’s the interesting delight about marine science. One good example is that this certain species of octopus at the Seaside Aquarium recently laid about 3,000 eggs, and they’re all expected to hatch little octopuses. That’s going to be very freaky, and you’ll see that all over the news soon.

“There’s a lot more to the Oregon coast than meets the eye. I‘ve always said that. And here will be proof.”

All upcoming winter, holidays and other features can be seen at BeachConnection.net, released over the winter months at various times.

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