Whale Watching and Kite Flying On Oregon Coast
Lincoln County Offers Blown Glass Globes on Pacific's Surf
Apr 7, 2009
The beaches of Lincoln County Oregon are among the best spots in the world to find glass floats once used in Asian nations to support fishing nets.
Building on the thrill of finding one of those historic treasures, Lincoln City officials now employ local glass blowers to create more than 2,000 glass floats, which are then hidden along a seven-mile stretch of beach. Each one is valued at about $65 and free to keep for those who find one.
At the Jennifer L. Sears Glass Art Studio, guests may make their own float or sign up for more extensive weekend or weeklong classes on glass blowing. The process takes about 45-minutes and costs $65, but for those with enough hot air, the experience provides a one-of-a-kind souvenir of coastal Oregon.
For those who choose not to make their own, glass floats in numerous sizes and colors are for sale in gift shops throughout Lincoln County. Oregon’s oldest glassblowing operation, Alder House III, is nestled in a grove of ancient alder trees on the south side of the city and offers glass blowing demonstrations each day.
Kite Flying on the Oregon Coast
The beach at Lincoln City has been voted the best kite flying location in North America by Kitelines Magazine. Experts and amateurs benefit from the city’s location at the 45th parallel, where warm equatorial air and cold polar air mix, creating perfect air conditions. Three kite festivals a year and two kite shops in town keep the skies colorful all year long. The Summer Kite Festival, the last weekend of June, offers kite making workshops, contests, demonstrations and more. The Fall Kite Festival, in September, brings professional kite flyers from around the world.
Each March, an indoor windless kite festival, one of the few of its kind in the world, fills the gymnasium at Taft High School. No fans, no air conditioning or artificial breezes of any kinds, and still a wonderful display of color and art make this an unusual setting to learn about kite design from some of the best fliers in the world.
Whale Watching in Oregon
Depoe Bay is known as the whale watching capital of the world and brags that it also has the world’s smallest harbor.
Whale watching is at its best here from late November until mid-May as gray whales migrate from their summer feeding grounds near Alaska to the breeding and calving areas in Baja California. Area residents have reported seeing as many as 40 whales an hour.
About 200 gray whales are believed to make the coast along Lincoln County their permanent home year-round. Take a whale watching tour by boat, or simply prop up in a lawn chair on the beach. No binoculars are necessary.
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