Day 49 - 6/2 - Brett and I spent the entire day in Newport, Oregon. We slept in until 9am which is practically unheard of on this trip as we typically get up around 7:30am. After a shower and some breakfast, we headed to the beach at South Beach State Park where we stayed the night before. It was super foggy and we couldn’t see much of anything when we got out to the sandy beach but we did enjoy the walk through the tall grasses and yellow flowers. We headed into town and our first stop was Nye Beach. Historic Nye Beach is a picturesque little area - however, I have no pictures to share. Brett was hungry and finding a suitable establishment for clam chowder was all that was really on his mind. After finding such a place and enjoying a very tasty lunch, we headed to the Oregon Coast Aquarium per my request. I was so excited about going to the aquarium as it has received high marks from numerous people and groups.

We arrived to a rather full parking lot with several school buses and considered turning back - but I decided not to let a lot of small children scare me away. We proceeded inside, paid the hefty fee, and started our journey ‘into’ the sea. It really was a nice place. It was not what I had hyped it up to be, of course. But it came pretty close. They had something that neither Brett nor I had ever seen before - colorful blown glass artwork in the fish tanks. It was amazing! We both loved it and took a good amount of time exploring the ‘Oddwater’ exhibit. We watched intimidated children stick their hands into a manta ray and dog shark touch tank only to be surprised at how slippery smooth they were. After we finished with the three indoor exhibits, we headed outside and watched the seals and sea lions swim around their tank for a bit before investigating an exhibit called ‘Passages of the Deep’.

This was the second facet of the aquarium that impressed us. We first noticed artwork lining the walls of the exhibit, they were fish prints which traditionally was used in Japan for recording the size of a fish. The artwork is very captivating. For me, it was because the eyes are handpainted after the fish is painted and printed and the eyes make the fish very ‘real’ to me. It was a very nice exhibit that many people just walk by without noticing or appreciating. However, once we wrapped up with the fish prints, we found the masterpiece of the exhibit - walk through under water tunnels. There were three different tunnels highlighting three different types of underwater environments. We enjoyed the third stretch the most, which was the shark exhibit. We happened to be there on one of the two days a week that they feed these hungry fish and were able to witness the shark feeding. Big sharks swooping in for the large pieces - sharks fighting over pieces - and smaller fish eating up the tiny leftover shreds. It was really interesting to watch and funny to listen to the four young girls in the tunnel at the time who didn’t know it was feeding time. ‘That shark just ate another fish!’ ‘Oh, my gosh, he is eating a fish!’ - it was rather amusing. Before leaving, we learned that the tank used for these under water viewing tunnels was once the home to Keiko, the orca whale from the Free Willy movies.

Somehow we still found time to explore another lighthouse along Oregon’s 363 mile coast, photograph the Newport bridge, and sneak some internet time, before heading back to South Beach State Park. We arrived just before the ‘Hospitality Center’ at the campground closed and were able to snag some delicious popcorn. It was a very full day and yet we only drove 15.7 miles.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHafVjF9E9M