Well, If you ever decide to take the highway 101 trip, there are a few places you can stop along the way for some interesting sights. When we first took the drive in 1980, the accommodation was very limited, but over the years it has changed dramatically. Now there are places to stay and eat all along the route. Thirty years ago, the road followed the old coastline, and since then it has been straightened and widened and even bypassed. You can still access some of the old towns and coast, but it is slow going, all the roads will lead you back to the highway.
Seaside is one place on the north part of Oregon that has grown with many new hotels and restaurants replacing old establishments. The beach is very wide and flat. During the day it is crowded but early in the morning it is almost uninhabited and very easy to walk on. The food in the town is very good I might add, and the hotels are reasonable when it is not a long weekend.
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| Yaquina Head lighthouse Newport |
The next major town along the way south is Newport. Here there is a brand new Holiday Inn Express, that is quite reasonable. There is a Marine center here that is free. It is on the south side of town east of the highway, and is a very interesting place. A large aquarium is also located off this same road, but is somewhat expensive, and I don't think it compares at all with the smaller one at Honolulu, or the bigger one at Monterrey CA.
The Yaquina head lighthouse is one of 2 in Newport. Access to this one is from a side road leading west from Highway 101. There is an interpretive center there as well, describing how it was started and the way it is used today. It is still in service. There is another one right at the entrance to the river in Newport and this one can be accessed from the same road that takes you to the local seafood restaurants.
From the hotel is is a snap to get to the north side of the river where the fishing boats come in, and where fish processing takes place. Here you will find a number of stores selling the usual tourist stuff, a Ripley's Believe it or Not show, and undersea display, lots of good food and many Sea Lions. First the food, We have eaten any number of times at a place called "The Whale's Tale" where the food is just great. It is not the cheapest place around, and is low on glitzy decor, but the food is excellent. The decor is fisherman's village inside and out. In fact it is downright dingy, but it sure is good.
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| Sea lions at dock in Newport |
Across the street is where you will find a walkway that lets you view the sea lions, doing what they do best. They are all males and are all bellowing and moving around, getting into and out of the water. They are fun to watch. In some places these animals are so numerous they will climb on to your small boat and if there are enough of them they can sink your boat. The cage in the lower right of the picture has a gate on it so that injured seals or those trapped with fish nets or the like can be isolated and treated. If they didn't have this the animals would simply swim away or disappear under the water when tranquilized. There are likely hundrds of these mammals in the bay.
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