Road Trip to the Coast: Newport, Oregon

(Click the photo for a larger view)

Newport, Oregon is a fishing village that was founded in 1882. It sits on Yaquina Bay and is the home of Rogue Ales (a microbrewery), the Yaquina Bay and Yaquina Head Lighthouses, the famous Yaquina Bay Bridge, and the totally awesome Oregon Coast Aquarium.

The Oregon Coast Aquarium was the home of Keiko, the orca used in the filming of the movie Free Willy. His tank has been converted into an exhibit called "Passages of the Deep" which has a clear tunnel that you can walk through, where you are surrounded by all manner of marine life, including sharks. I've visited it twice, and it's awesome.

We started out the day trying our hand at catching crab under the expert tutelage of my brother-in-law. I soon tired of that (mostly because it was quite chilly) and set off to have lunch with some other family at the Rogue Ale Distillery. We had amazing (and expensive) Kobe beef burgers and Dead Guy Ale. Yum.

Finally, we made it over to the famous Newport waterfront, where we visited seals, and perused the delightfully touristy shops, where you can buy anything from salt water taffy to shark teeth. All in all, it was a wonderful day.

Photos were taken with my Nikon digital SLR.