NEWPORT'S HISTORICAL DISTRICT

Wednesday, June 6 – After touring the lighthouses, we continued our day with a walk along the harbor to look at many of the fishing boats and the fish packing houses along the docks.

 

We saw one boathand carrying a nice size salmon along the dock for a paying customer. Not sure if it was a restaurant buyer or just a private citizen wanting fresh fish for dinner.

Of course, the sea lions were out sunning themselves on a couple of the docks. They sure know how to make noise....cool!

Look how pretty I am.

We then strolled along the small shops in Newport Historic Bay Front.

There are quite a few restaurants serving fresh fish, touristy type shops, candy stores, and several pubs. Again, we only made a small contribution to the local Newport economy.

Many of the buildings have murals painted on the side or front.

We then drove over to Historic Nye Beach, Newport's quaint seaside village offering restaurants, boutiques, ocean-view lodging, and art galleries. This area is not as economically successful as the Bay Front shopping district. It appears more of an area for locals looking for unique area to shop.

This particular Gallery had some wonderful hand-carved exhibits.

Some homes along the beach area.

With the clock finally rolling over to P.M., it was time to visit one of the Northwest's most lauded microbreweries, Rogue Ales.

It is headquartered here in Newport where the beer is brewed.  They have a restaurant that serves their beer along with several sea food dishes and a bar offering beer tasting with 40 Rogue brews on tap and a great view of the harbor.

We choose the bar for sampling 5 of their brews and sharing a Halibut and chips dinner  that was wonderful. Dad's Little Helper Black was there “beer sampler of the day,” which we received free. Our other tasters were St.Rogue Dry Red, Honey Orange, Dead Guy (their most popular seller) and our favorite Irish Lager.

They do offer daily brewery tours at 4 pm, but we choose to walk on a self-guided tour instead.

It's pretty neat the way they have the self-guided tour set-up. We followed along a marked walkway   through the brewery on our way to and from the restaurant and bar. We weren't even sure we entered the building through the correct door at first. There we found ourselves in the middle of a working brewery. The restaurant and bar are on the second floor above the brewery.

A couple of sailors chewing the fat at the bar.

Our favorite sign for the day.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

NEWPORT'S YAQUINA LIGHTHOUSES

Wednesday, June 6 – Before we begin this post, we must address the weather here on the Pacific Northwest coast. We have had many comments about the BEAUTIFUL, LOVELY weather we are experiencing. We must set you all straight…it has rained…hard…almost every day. We have had several hours of beautiful sunshine on a couple occasions and have taken full advantage of those times. So don't let the photos fool you. It's cold and raining most days here in the Pacific Northwest…like right NOW!





We explored the area of Newport, Oregon, today. Our first and last stops of the days were visiting the lighthouses.

We began at the Historic Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.


Yaquina Bay built in 1871 and decommissioned in 1874. It was officially restored as a privately maintained aid to navigation on December 7, 1996. It is believed to be the oldest structure in Newport. It is also the only existing Oregon lighthouse with the living quarters attached, and the only historic wooden Oregon lighthouse still standing. It was not open when we arrived so we were only able to take pictures from outside. It is located high on the cliff at the mouth of Yaquina Bay and just down the river from the historic Yaquina Bay Bridge.



It is said that Newport's iconic Yaquina Bay Bridge is the most photographed bridge on the coast. The bridge is located right next to the Lighthouse.



The City of Newport is the busiest working fishing port on the Oregon coast and none of the fishing fleet would find it difficult to pass under this bridge.

Our last stop was the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.


This is a working lighthouse now managed by the National Bureau of Land Management (BLM). We like seeing things managed by the National Parks because that allows us to use our Golden Age Pass to enter free!

The Yaquina Head Lighthouse is the tallest on the Oregon coast with a 93-foot-high tower. It stands 162 feet above sea level on a cliff overlooking the ocean.



The light can be seen about 19 miles out to sea. Its automated light serves as an aid to navigation along the seacoast and at the entrance to Yaquina Bay.

This lighthouse has a flashing white light instead of a rotating lens, like we saw, and reported on, when we recently visited the Umpqua Lighthouse. We did climb the 111 spiral stairs to the top to see the light and the view out the windows of the rugged Oregon Coast.





View from the top of the Lighthouse.

Another awesome lighthouse visit. We especially like the fact that the workers in the lighthouse were dressed in period attire. A nice touch!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

DEPOE…PART 2

Tuesday, June 5 – We then walked across the street to the Whale Watching Center. The men inside were very informative and showed us where to watch for whales (much closer to shore then we thought) and gave us some interesting information on whale watching. We didn't see any Grey Whales here, but we did see several at out next stop – Cape FoulWeather.

Really neat to see these monsters. They are feeding on millions of tiny shrimp-like creatures. These Grey whales hang-out in this area, and according to the men in the Whale Watching Center, make-up about 1 % of the Grey whales that migrate between Baja California, Mexico and Alaska.

This is a zoomed in photo.

At Cape FoulWeather, we observed these tiny squirrels running all over the area. Not sure what type of squirrel there are, but they were sure cute and friendly. A fella was feeding them peanuts and let Paul join in the fun. Probably a no-no to feed these guys!

It looks like someone had fed them before. Look at his pudgy body.

Also in this area is the Flying Dutchman Winery.

Backyard area where they make the wine.

They are the only working winery on the Oregon Coast and the farthest winery West in the United States. They feature Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Chardonnay, and Riesling.

It is family owned and one of the owners, Dan, was our Steward today. They have free wine tasting, and we were free to walk through their wine producing area and even enjoy a bottle of wine on the back patio while watching for whales.

View from the patio.

We tasted several wines and purchased a bottle of Coastal Blackberry. As an additional bonus, they were having a clearance sale on rain jackets. Paul's been looking for a rain jacket and took advantage of the sale to pick-up a nice jacket for the rainy weather we've experienced lately

Our last stop for the day was Otter Rock and the Devil's Punch Bowl. Devil's Rock formation is named for it's resemblance to a punch bowl. Appropriately named, we must say!

Otter Rock

Devil's Punch Bowl

This would be quite a sight in rough seas. What a beautiful sight!!!

So ends our visit to DePoe. Next stop…Newport.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!