As someone who loves exploring all the natural beauty and unique activities that Oregon has to offer, I flogged myself for not even being aware of the Finders Keepers program in the central coastal town of Lincoln City, which lies four hours from Bend by car. Finders Keepers has been attracting beachcombers, whale watchers, wave watchers and anyone with a good fleece to the city’s seven-mile stretch of coast where “Float Fairies” have placed more than 75,000 handcrafted glass floats along Lincoln City beaches, and continue to do so daily, since 2000.
Now in its 25th year, I headed out to find me some floats! The glass orbs were once used by fishermen to keep their nets afloat, but the modern-day colorful variety in Lincoln City are intentionally left in the sand — and look great on one’s mantel or desk like a hollow snow globe.
I headed to the mouth of the Siletz River, a popular starting point for glass float seekers. With Doug firs to my right and harbor seals to my left, massive white caps crashed off the coast and sprayed me thanks to strong winds. I searched among the perennial ryegrass and the scattered driftwood. No luck. Which sounds like a bad ending to a short story. But finding a float is just icing on the cake: The real treat was walking along the shore and admiring its strength and beauty. You don’t need Netflix to chill and have something mesmerizing to watch.
Better yet, if you’re like me and most visitors who don’t find a float, there’s the Lincoln City Glass Center where you can safely take a stab at glassblowing. It costs $75 to make your own seven-inch float, which is the same cost as buying one in the adjacent shop.
The whole thing only takes half an hour, but you get to choose your own colors as well as an intricate design while gaining a greater appreciation for glassblowing artisans who stand a metal rod’s distance away from 2,100-degree heat (which could melt your fleece, hence why no one in the studio wears it). The craftspeople who work there make you do-it-yourself yet also help course-correct when your float starts drooping or becomes lopsided during the process of shaping molten glass. The only downside is seeing sunspots for an hour after you’ve finished fashioning your perfect float (that you return to pick up the following day).
Once failing to find a float is complete (or making one of your own, which costs more but comes with way more sentimental value), do as I did: Head to Beachcrest Brewing Company, located four-and-a-half miles south in Gleneden Beach. The brewery, cofounded by a husband-and-wife duo of musicians, Matt and Amy White, is one of five in the vicinity. Beachcrest is a welcoming hub serving up tasty pizza pies, live music that gets the barflies and kiddos alike dancing, and of course, beer. To honor 25 years of glass floats, the pub crafted Finders Keepers IPA, which tastes like hop cones floating in a pint glass and clocks in at a sessionable 5% ABV.
“Walking along the beach in Lincoln City and discovering a glass float creates such a fun and memorable moment,” Matt White says. “We wanted to craft an IPA that captures that same sense of surprise and whimsy… The bright, tropical notes and citrus aromas mirror the delight and excitement of spotting that telltale twinkle of a glass float hidden along the beach.”
Those other four nearby breweries are, from north to south, McMenamins Lighthouse Brewpub (which became the third brewpub in the McMenamins chain in 1986 and the first brewery on the Oregon coast), Rusty Truck Brewing at Roadhouse 101 (truly the kind of brewpub Swayze’s James Dalton would’ve felt at home at), Pelican Brewing at Siletz Bay (the fourth and latest in the Pelican chain that always offers some of the best views) and, just a few miles farther south, Depoe Bay Brewing Company at The Horn Public House. Depoe Bay is semi-famous as the world’s smallest, natural, navigable harbor and The Horn makes for a setting worthy of a seafarer, especially the upstairs tasting room overlooking the diminutive harbor.
Now, if only Lincoln City could find a way to fill those beautiful floats with beer.
This article appears in The Source Weekly March 27, 2025.
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Brian, you overlooked Gilgamesh Brewing in Lincoln City. Also a nice brewery to visit in the area. Both my wife and stepson have found floats. I’m still looking.