Having just finished an excellent playthrough of Life is Strange, it suddenly dawned on me that I live not far from the Oregon Coast. Somehow. You know, like a decade and change after the game first came out and I first finished it.

And [gestures wildly at everything] being as bad as it was for the mental health, I figured maybe I could go see all this stuff. My knowledge of the geography of the Oregon Coast says Arcadia Bay as it is doesn’t really exist, but according to Dontnod’s interviews and such, it’s a concatenation of Garibaldi, Oceanside, and Cape Meares (among influences from other places, like nearby Tillamook, Lincoln City, and Depoe Bay.)

So I went! (I went alone, so since I was driving, I couldn’t take pictures on the road. I mean, physics had no problem with it, but the law was giving me the hairy eyeball.)

Garibaldi’s city plan was almost identical to that of Arcadia Bay, so I started there. I could smell the bay and I wrote postcards to my friends while I was sat at the pier.

And although the Two Whales Diner doesn’t exist, the two diners across from each other on the pier added their own contributions.

After I was done in Garibaldi, I headed out to Oceanside, but I ended up pulling over in Tillamook to snap this mural. For reasons.

So Oceanside was insane. The first thing I saw was a nearly vertical city, tons of big giant houses stacked on a hillside. And if that wasn’t enough, there were people in gliders doing lazy circles over the city!

Oceanside was supposedly the real life city that could be seen from the lighthouse, and I was excited to see how. After I spent some time on the beach, I headed up to Cape Meares, the real life inspiration for the Arcadia Bay lighthouse.

Rather than Arcadia Bay’s lighthouse jutting up into the sky from a tall tower, Cape Meares went steadily downhill, and most of the lighthouse was below-grade, and it was much, much shorter in real life.

And then I saw The Bench.

The bench for Max and Chloe.

The bench specifically for Max and Chloe.

Max and Chloe’s bench.

There’s actually two benches: one that faces the lighthouse, that one up there, and this one here, that gives the iconic view of the town.

There was also just really cool art drawn on that other bench too.

Also it was worth noting that as I was leaving Cape Meares down the road, I saw two deer bounding away from the road, almost symbolic. It was the perfect end to a great day.

Anyway, I had fun, and it was a very healing trip, and I’m so glad I went. Also yes I brought a Polaroid camera with me.

I hope you liked checking this all out!