Weekend in Newport, Oregon

Newport, Oregon: The weather remains terrible! Early this morning we had no rain, so took the opportunity to exercise along the bike trails between the jetty and South Beach State Park. (DT ran; I walked.)

The bike path in South Beach State Park


The grass-covered dunes in South Beach State Park


South Beach on a cold, windy day

Our fish & chip Corp of Discovery quest took us just south of the Yaquina Bay Bridge to the South Beach Fish Market. Several reviews have rated their fish & chips as the best on the Oregon Coast - not just best in Newport. Well, to be certain, it is an interesting establishment - a bit dingy - with a convenience store attached to one side. Outside they have a huge crab cooker and the group of men in the photo below are waiting for their crab to cook in the pot. (See the guy in the yellow coat? He is the same fishing Captain from the salmon photo two days ago!)

The South Beach Fish Market in Newport, Oregon

Inside the South Beach Fish Market, things couldn't be more simple. Place your order at the counter and they call your name when your order is ready. All fish is fried to-order and service was very fast, even though the place was packed. If you prefer to cook your own fish, they have a great selection of fresh fish and shellfish for purchase.

Order up! South Beach Fish Market


The chips were nothing special, but the fish was so fresh-tasting, with a nice garlic hit from the batter.


We also bought a nice smoked Chinook filet

By the time we finished lunch, it was raining hard and very windy! We needed an indoor activity, so we decided to visit the Hatfield Marine Science Center operated by that Dam School in Corvallis. OSU really has great exhibits in the science center explaining their research and why they are doing the research. (Your tax dollars at work - much of the research is in cooperation with NOAA.) Of course, much of the work centers on species survival, but they are also researching invasive species, undersea volcanoes, climate and other important issues that basically confuse me.

Hatfield Marine Science Center


Sea Anemones in the touch pool


Wolf Fish

The science center has a large octopus on display in a big tank as you enter the building. They think he is a male. The keeper let us touch the tentacles and feel the suction - pretty strong. On a male octopus, one arm has a smooth (tentacle-free) tip. He uses this end like a hand, for one reason only and for one time only - to "hand" his sperm to a female. He does this at around age two. Then he dies. Nice, huh? After the female hatches her eggs, she dies too. (Remind me to not come back as an octopus in my next life, okay?)

Octopus at the Hatfield Marine Science Center

Not having enough excitement - we drove to the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse (not to be confused with the Yaquina Head Lighthouse we visited yesterday). It is very small, in a keeper's house on a bluff at the mouth of Yaquina Bay. The park has a great picnic area, with beautiful views over the jetty and out over the Pacific (which we could not see because it was so foggy and rainy).

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse

We also drove twelve miles along the north shore of the Yaquina River to Toledo, Oregon. Not sure why we we did this, since it was too stormy to really see anything. Toledo is a busy town again as the timber mill is operating and the townspeople are trying to establish an arts and antique community for tourist traffic. There were so many herons wading in the marshy low-tide river, we stopped counting.

Tonight was the final installation of the "Best Fish & Chips in Newport" - Mo's Clam Chowder. Though famous for their clam chowder, Mo's also serve deep-fried seafood of all sorts. We went to the original location, opened on the Newport bay front in 1946. DT ordered (what he referred to as) the Kosher Special: clam chowder, made with bacon and topped with a huge mound of shrimp. I had the same thing I have been eating for three days - before I had gills on the side of my neck - halibut fish and chips.

Slumgullion - Clam Chowder with Shrimp


Halibut Fish & Chips from Mo's Original in Newport, Oregon

Mo's Chowder is a super casual restaurant with table service. The beer glasses say "Eat like a Pirate. Drink like a Fish." A huge plastic pumpkin sits on each table - loaded with (trick or treat?) packets of oyster crackers and saltines. The fish and chips were very good, but I will guarantee the fish was not fresh, but frozen.

So the winner of the best fish and chips in Newport? The Rogue Brewery. Hands down. They also had the best fries. (I am referring to the restaurant AT the brewery, not the restaurant on the waterfront on Bay Street.)

Tomorrow we will be back in Eugene and will be grilling lamp chops.

RV Park: Newport Marina and RV Park