Nye Beach Perfect Spot For Romance

Here’s a hint: Valentine’s Day is Monday. (What would you do without us to remind you?)

If, by chance, you forgot and didn’t buy your sweetie a gift, consider spiriting said sweetie on a jaunt next weekend. You can announce your plans over Monday’s breakfast table, never letting on that Valentine’s Day might have slipped your memory had you not read Here & There.

Nye Beach along the Oregon Coast near Newport has been rated the West Coast’s most romantic beach by Sunset Magazine.

In slightly overwritten praise of Nye Beach, the City of Newport says: “Perhaps it’s the way the waves gently lap the shore. Or the feeling of seclusion that can be found just minutes away from Highway 101. Or maybe it’s the remnant of history forgotten in the quaint beach house and shops. Whatever the reason, Nye Beach in Newport is recognized for romance …

“Nye Beach is a place that time forgot, where quiet streets contrast with the hustle and bustle of other coastal tourist attractions. … The pace is slower, the beach is beautiful and secluded - the perfect place for Valentine’s Day couples to lose themselves in old-time romance and charm.”

Sounds good to me.

The beach is receiving its own TLC these days.

Newport and its residents “are making a strong effort to preserve and enhance the area’s special features that visitors have fallen in love with ever since the early 1900s,” said Darcie Meihoff, a Newport spokeswoman.

The city will spend nearly $1.5 million for the first phase of the Nye Beach urban renewal project, which includes streetscape improvements.

For more information, call (800) 262-7844.

The Yakima Valley Wine Country Growers Association says “keep that Valentine’s Day momentum going” with a trip there on President’s Day Weekend, Feb. 19-21.

“Enjoy life’s great pleasures, newly released red wines, favorites from past vintages and scrumptious chocolate treats,” the group says, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at the valley’s wineries.

Some of the valley’s wineries will stage the annual Lower Valley Hospice’s “An Intimate Red Wine and Chocolate Affair” on Friday, Feb. 19, at the Best Western Prosser Inn.

For more information, call (800) 258-7270, of log on to the Web site at www.yakimavalleywine.com.

Another suggestion

Don’t have enough time to travel? Then book a room at the Fotheringham House and Clark House, voted as among The Best B&B in the West by Sunset magazine.

Fotheringham House, 2128 W. Second, Spokane, is included for its garden and its nearly 55 varieties of old garden roses, many from mid-19th century plants.

“Roses peak in mid-June, but the gardens sprout color from daffodils and cherry trees in springtime, from maples in the fall,” wrote Julie Fanselow for Sunset.

The four rooms vary from $90 to $105. Three share two baths.

Another area B&B, the Clark House in Hayden, Idaho, also made the list, noted for its historic preservation. The European villa was built in 1910, fell into disrepair and was rescued by Monty Danner. It was once touted as one of the Northwest’s grandest homes and is now known as one of the West’s best B&Bs.

The house “blends contemporary furnishings and showpiece antiques, both in its spacious public areas and in guest rooms that feel like small apartments,” Fanselow wrote. (Sounds like my kind of place, all right.) Rooms run from $100 to $225. For more info, call (800) 765-4593, or go to its Web site: www.clarkhouse.com.

It’s never too early

Now’s the time to call the Cheney Cowles Museum to sign up for “Spring in San Francisco,” March 30 to April 3.

There will be visits to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, MH de Young Museum, Asian Art Museum, Yerba Buena Center for Arts and California Palance of the Legion of Honor.

The museum is offering three other trips - to Portland for the Stroganoff Royal Family Treasures Exhibit from May 21-25, a New York City Arts Tour from June 20-25, a Santa Fe Opera and Museums trip from Aug. 6-10.

Call 363-5323 for prices and more information.