Oregon Coast, USA  South of Gold Beach, OR

Yesterday Isabelle's Travel Guide published a list of the world's Top 5 Most Beautiful Beaches. It was a list of personal favorites — Our planet features some spectacular coastal scenery, and it's a big job to see and rank them all. Isabelle's selections are enticing indeed. Her call for readers to share their opinions made me think of Oregon's Gold Beach.

There's too much of the world I haven't seen yet to make any kind of definitive claims. But the most dramatic section of coastline I've ever visited is the Pacific in the northwestern United States. Last year Rufus and I spent three days making our way down 300-some-odd miles of this stunning scenery from Astoria, OR, on the Washington border, to the Redwoods of northern California. I've never met a beach that I didn't like, but this magical experience is what ranks Oregon's shoreline at the top of my list.

From morning...

to afternoon...

to sunset... this journey provided all-day awe-inspiring sights.

Apart from the stunning vistas, the thing that struck me most about this scenic drive was the fact that it was so relatively quiet and pristine. Most towns we passed through were tiny, and few and far between. Beachfront property is prime real estate, and development along most coastal areas I've visited is dense. But Oregon's larger cities are an hour or more inland. The coastline is protected with a long string of state parks.

I remember sitting on a quiet beach eating local cheese and drinking local wine telling Rufus I wanted to write a thank you note to the whole state of Oregon. I failed to do that, until now: Sincere thanks to Oregon for such an incredible experience. You stole my heart, but that's okay — just means I'll have to visit again one day to retrieve it.

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