On Labor Day weekend, my mom got free tickets to go to the Newport Aquarium, so, all 7 of us drove about an hour to the “Coast”. Newport is home to 2 famous Oregon lighthouses, the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, and the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. The Latter is probably the most photographed of the two, and we didn’t get to visit that one, bummer for me. The Old portion of Downtown is actually a working Fishing Village, which I’ll tell you about later in the post. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the aquarium. Here are a few pictures of the aquarium….
After we left the Aquarium, we went Downtown to have some lunch. My parents love to eat fish, and we, Tim and I are not big fish eaters… so we compromised and went to a seafood restaurant. Actually, Tim had Fish n chips for lunch. The restaurant we went to was a shrimp packing company. In the dining room, you can sit up to a bar, next to a big glass window, and watch the workers sort the fresh shrimp… the kids loved it. They watched a truck dump a full load of Shrimp into a Dumptruck for transport to the packaging plant. I had Popcorn shrimp for lunch… it was so good, and tasted so fresh. The Clam Chowder was excellent! I would go back there anytime! After having lunch, we went walking into all of the shops along the wharf… they have so many unique stores, it was fun just checking things out. All of this time, in the background you can hear the seals barking and bellowing and making noises. It was so funny, that the kids could hear it and were anxious to get closer to the docks, so they could see what the commotion was all about. So, we walked down to where the tour boats dock, and lo and behold, the kids were amazed to see a large group of Sea Lions sunbathing on an unused dock.
I love the name of this boat, because I am pretty sure Tim took the picture because of the name… I am positive that his “pastor brain” was working overtime… thinking about sermon illustrations while he was taking the picture.
From the dock while watching the Sea Lions, we can look west… and see the Yaquina Bay Bridge, and just on the other Side… the Pacific Ocean. In the picture of the bridge… if you follow that line of trees to the right… up on the hill overlooking the ocean we come to the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. Here is a little History about the Lighthouse from Wikipedia:
The Yaquina Bay Light is a lighthouse built in 1871—soon after the founding of the city of Newport, Oregon, United States. Located on the north side of the Yaquina Bay in Newport, it was only active for three years due to the establishment of the Yaquina Head Light in 1873, located three miles north of Yaquina Bay. The bay lighthouse was decommissioned in 1874 because the proximity of the two lights caused problems for offshore shipping and boating traffic.
In 1888, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began to use the lighthouse as a living quarters while it built the North and South Jetties at the mouth of Yaquina Bay. The United States Coast Guard later used the lighthouse as lookout and living quarters from 1906 to 1915, before moving to their more central quarters just above the busy Newport bayfront. During this period, the Coast Guard also built the eight-story steel observation tower that continues to stand next to the original lighthouse.
In 1934, the Oregon State Highway Division bought the property around the lighthouse for a state park. The park site included the lighthouse, coast guard observation tower, and acres of forested bluff, ocean dunes and beaches.
The Yaquina Bay structure is the only existing lighthouse in the state in which the living quarters are housed in the same building as the light.[1] Only a few of this type were built on the entire Pacific Coast. It is reputed to be haunted, along with the keepers’ house at Heceta Head Light and Tillamook Rock Light.[2]
The following pictures conclude our trip to Newport… The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, Sanddollars and Starfish on the mantel of the lighthouse and the Yaquina Bay Bridge from the Ocean side, and the beach on the Pacific Ocean. We hope you enjoyed the ride! … come along for our next trip to Depoe Bay, Lincoln City and Cannon Beach.
Recent Comments