We’ve been getting around to all the touristy spots to check out the small communities along the coast by Rockaway Beach. This is a perfect time of year with less visitors and great weather.
On the way back from a ride one day we stopped at the Port of Garibaldi. Garibaldi history extends far beyond the first European explorers and settlers. Tillamook people lived in the area from the Tillamook Head to Cape Foulweather for 12,000 years before the arrival of the first outsiders. The historic coastal fishing village on Tillamook Bay was founded in 1870 by settler Daniel Bayley, who named it after the Italian patriot Giuseppe Garibaldi. It’s a bustling little port with fresh seafood.
After walking around the marina we headed over to check out Pier’s End. The pier extends 760 feet into Tillamook Bay on a series of over 100 individual pilings. At the end is the historic Coast Guard lifeboat station boathouse. From 1936 until the 1960s, the Pier’s End boathouse was used for U.S. Coast Guard rescue efforts. Crews would launch boats by hand from the sloping floors of the boathouse directly into the sea. The exceptionally long pier was built so rescues could launch no matter the tide. The boathouse is closed to the public but we walked all the way out the pier. All that water is mesmerizing.
