Your adventure starts here
Visit Newport: a town that’s not too big for its bridges
By Eliot Sekuler
For the TODAY
With its majestic bridge spanning the Yaquina Bay, two historic lighthouses, wide stretches of sandy beach, picturesque harbor teeming with fishing boats, a world-class aquarium and myriad outdoor activities, it might seem that the Newport’s motto, “The Friendliest” is underselling the town’s abundance of attractions.
Not so, according to the town’s cheerleader-in-chief, Mayor Dean Sawyer.
“People on the street and our restaurant and hotel employees love engaging with visitors,” said Sawyer, who considers the town’s affability one key to Newport’s wide appeal. “We really appreciate them and do our best to make them feel welcome.”
Fishing and tourism have been the twin pillars of Newport’s economy since its earliest days. In 1866, the city’s founder, Sam Case, built a resort hotel called the Ocean House and, though access was extremely limited by a lack of roads and rail transport, the beauty of the area steadily gained attention. By the time the Oregon Pacific railroad connected Newport-adjacent Yaquina City to the Willamette Valley in 1884, Newport was well on the way to becoming one of the most popular destinations on the Oregon Coast. Some of the historic buildings in Newport’s Nye Beach area date back to the town’s tourist boom in the early days of the 20th Century and Nye Beach remains a popular destination for contemporary visitors.
“One great thing about Nye Beach is that you can come into town from Seattle or Boise or Portland, park your car at the hotel and not use it for the entire weekend,” said Mayor Sawyer.
“One of the most interesting places down there is an old hotel that gradually turned into a flophouse,” Sawyer said. “Fast forward to the 1980s when it was sold and turned into the upscale Sylvia Beach Hotel. Each room is themed to an author and there are no TVs and no internet. The owners want you to check in, relax, read some books and walk on the beach,” he said. The hotel’s 21 rooms attract lovers of literature from all over the world while its Tables of Content restaurant features locally sourced ingredients and fixed-price full-course dinners. Alice Walker, Ken Kesey and Jane Austen are among the authors honored with themed-rooms. Harry Potter-themed decor adorns the J.K. Rowling room and a Dr. Seuss room boasts a bright mural of a top-hatted feline.
The Nye Beach district is also home to Newport’s Performing Arts Center, home of the much-admired Newport Symphony and a center of the area’s cultural activities, “There are great restaurants at Nye Beach, too,” Sawyer said. “Sorella is a very good Italian restaurant. Nana’s Irish Pub is good and the Chowder Bowl is very good, too. Plus, there are wonderful shops in that area.”
On the southerly side of town, South Beach is home to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. Widely recognized as one of the country’s foremost aquariums, the 23-acre site includes North America’s largest seabird aviary, unique habitats for marine mammals and a walk-through tunnel that allows visitors to experience three ocean habitats. The facility is currently undergoing an ambitious expansion that will include a new children’s play area.
Not far from the aquarium, the Hatfield Marine Science Center offers visitors the opportunity to discover and explore coastal and marine habitats and environments with highly inventive, hands-on exhibits. And, a South Beach visit might well be topped off with a stop at Rogue Brewers On The Bay to grab some lunch and such exotic brews as Beachy Clean IPA or Dead Guy Ale.
Shopping and fishing are vividly conjoined on Newport’s historic Bayfront, where the processing plant forklifts and fish-laden trucks are cheek by jowl with souvenir shops, galleries, restaurants and the recently renovated venerable family attraction, Ripley’s Believe it Or Not. The Bayfront is home to the Pacific Northwest’s largest fishing fleet and Newport claims title to the one of the country’s largest annual catches of Dungeness crab, squid, shrimp and hake.
The booms and derricks of more than 100 commercial fishing boats line the five docks of Newport’s commercial marina and while many visitors enjoy simply watching the hubbub of marine enterprise, fishing enthusiasts will find ample opportunities to net their suppers. Fishing charters and guide services are offered by a number of outfits with offices on the Bayfront’s main street, Bay Boulevard. For a more casual experience, visitors who have secured permits can just grab a rod or a crab cage.
“You can walk right out and crab or fish off the docks,” Sawyer said. “Or, you can buy fresh fish right off the boats. Whether it's ling cod or albacore or crab, you can buy it directly from the fishermen.”
For an even more convenient fresh fish experience, visitors can sample the seafood at the Bayfront’s top-rated Local Ocean restaurant, where the fish display case shows each fish’s pedigree, including boat of origin and date of catch. And over at the Clearwater restaurant, diners can sup while taking in one of the Bayfront’s most popular features: the highly entertaining floating sea lion docks, where dozens of the enormous pinnipeds can be seen basking in the sun, jostling for a good sleeping position or belly flopping into the bay while incessantly barking and snorting and carrying on.
It’s a little under five miles from Newport’s South Beach to the most northerly of Newport’s attractions, the broad expanse of Agate Beach and the nearby Yaquina Head lighthouse, which, at 93 feet is the tallest on the Oregon Coast.
“The view from the lighthouse is wonderful,” Sawyer said. “You can see seals and an amazing variety of seabirds.” Nearby tide pools offer a fascinating scene of micro-environments and, added Sawyer, “there’s a stairway from the lighthouse down to a secret black rock beach, where all the rocks are polished black stone.”
“It’s a secret, but you can tell people,” the mayor said. After all, Newport is the friendly city.