Christine ~ Settings For Your Novel

NEWPORT BAY, OREGON

Newport Bay is one of my favorite places to visit. On this sunny day in September the bridge spanning the water is a gorgeous site. If you like the Pacific Northwest for a place to set your story, Newport Bay is packed with things to do. There are seals on the pier and brewery’s to visit. A lighthouse at Yaquina Head can be toured and a Beverly Beach is close by. It’s a long stretch of sand, perfect for walking or running whatever your characters favor. There is shelling and on blustery days one can fly kites.

NEWPORT BAY: Things to do.

Newport, located on the central Oregon coast, has been a favorite tourist destination since the 1860s. The small, succulent Yaquina Bay oyster made Newport world famous, and a popular destination for seafood lovers. Now commercially grown, visitors can buy the oysters and watch them being processed at the Oregon Oyster Company.

The Oregon Coast Aquarium is one of the top visitor attractions on the coast. This 29 acre facility features, more than 190 animal species, including seals, otters, sea lions, tufted puffins and a giant octopus! The aquarium also has six acres of cliffs, rocky caves, tidepools and nature trails. Walk through the largest seabird aviary in North America, or visit the rocky coast exhibit, where sea lions, seals and sea otters splash and play. Many fish tanks, hands on displays and interactive computers are available for visitors use to learn about Oregon’s coasts and wetlands. It’s busy during summer, so purchasing or reserving tickets in advance is recommended.

Beach enthusiasts will enjoy the variety of beaches in Newport. South Beach State Park, two miles south of Newport, has a wide sandy beach adjacent to a picnic area and a campground. Yurt camping is also available there. Cobble Beach, which is part of the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, has abundant sea life in the rocky intertidal areas. See and touch sea urchins, sea stars, shore crabs and hermit crabs, and learn about life in tidepools. Nye Beach is one of Oregon’s oldest beach destinations. An expansive sandy beach is complimented by the shops, restaurants and lodging in the Nye Beach area.

Bay Boulevard is a popular tourist area, where restaurants, galleries, shops, and attractions such as Ripley’s Believe it or Not, the Waxworks Museum and the Undersea Gardens are side by side with working canneries and fish-packing plants. Visitors can also sign up for bay tours and whale watching tours on the bayfront. Crabbing trips are available, and many of the charter boats have facilities for cooking the crabs back at the docks, for an additional fee. Some lodging establishments have crab rings for rent, as well as crab cookers for guests to use. Parking can be hard to find, so it pays to go early, or visit during a walk around town.

Numerous fishing charters are available to take visitors out for salmon and bottom fishing. Crabbing and clamming are also excellent in Yaqina Bay. Crab pots, clam shovels and guns and other equipment can be rented at local tackle shops. They will also offer tips on tides and techniques for a successful trip to the beach.

Other favorite Newport activities include visiting the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area and the Yaquina Head Interpretive Center. Climb to the top of the 93 foot Yaquina Head Lighthouse, and see the spectacular view from Oregon’s tallest lighthouse. In the Natural Area, visitors can find coastal sea birds such as cormorants, murres, and guillemots, as well as harbor seals, sea lions and grey whales. The Natural Area’s system of manmade ocean tidepools at Quarry Cove is an entertaining place to find tiny tide pool creatures, and is wheelchair accessible. The Interpretive Center has many different displays, from tidepool life to lighthouse life.

The variety of places and activities for visitors to enjoy seems endless – a weekend won’t be enough time to see and do all the Newport has to offer.

SPOTLIGHT
The Newport Seafood and Wine Festival features the best of Oregon’s seafood and Northwest wines. It is held the last full weekend in February, and there’s lots of great food and drinks to enjoy.

Highlights include arts and crafts, live entertainment, exhibitors, professional culinary competitions, celebrity chefs, a chance to meet the winemakers, and amateur and commercial wine competitions.

Taken From:  http://www.el.com/to/newport/