Anniversary Uno

It took us a couple of weeks to decide exactly where we wanted to spend our first anniversary (Victoria Canada, Winston, Oregon and a handful of beaches were all in the running) but we finally decided on…

I had asked for the extended weekend off work which I had to work 10 days straight to get (which was kind of the worst) but in the end it was so worth it. We left Friday in the morning and made the very long yet beautiful drive. We decided on Newport because I really just wanted somewhere new that we don’t always go to (like Lincoln City, Seaside or Long Beach). Newport is just far enough away that it takes that little extra motivation to make the drive down.

We stayed at the Best Western Plus Agate Beach Inn. Mostly because it seemed like everywhere else wasn’t really that available. The only thing that matters to Cody in choosing where to stay is the view and here we were not disappointed. We got a nice view of the beach and as an added bonus could see the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse which was really neat.

One of the best treats of the whole weekend was the weather. We had at 80 degree days every day we were there. Neither of us had been to the beach when it’s that consistently sunny and warm. We both came away with sunburns which was a first for us from a northwest beach.

One bummer was our beach was rather windy when we were actually out on the sand. Let’s just say we got a special natural spa treatment from the sand whipping against our feet and legs but it was fine when we got our feet in the water which is how it should be anyways. 

windy windy windy

Cody's casual "candid" beach photo like his favorite president Bill Clinton

It was so clear the first night we could see the sun go down bit by bit right over the horizon. It was really neat.

Highlights of the Weekend:

 Oregon Coast Aquarium.

This is one of my favorite places but like I said earlier it’s just a little extra bit of a drive out here so we loved having it minutes away from our hotel. I remember when our family was moving to Washington our parents used this aquarium as part of our bribe mainly because this used to be the home of Keiko or Free Willy. Alas you don’t get to see a killer whale up close when you come here but there are exhibits are always great. We got to go to both the river otter and sea lion feedings where they give you facts on the animals and the sea lion feeding comes with bit of a show (flips and such). There’s some neat jellyfish tanks and always a weird looking fish or two. And one of the best is the shark tunnel you can walk through and have a bunch of different kinds of sharks and rays and fish swimming all around you.

 

this is what I get for wanted a nice picture of the two of us

shark tunnel!

There was a cute board at the end where kids could ask questions about the ocean and this one had just about the cutest answer

Yaquina Bay and Yaquina Head Lighthouse.

Another really fun feature of Newport is there are two historic lighthouses really close. The Yaquina Bay lighthouse you can walk inside and they have each room staged to look like how they would’ve looked when the original lighthouse keeper and his family lived there.

The Yaquina Head lighthouse is the one that we could see from our hotel. This one you unfortunately  can’t go inside but they do have a great visitor’s center complete with a guy dressed up as the lighthouse keeper who can tell you facts about the lighthouse and what it was like to live there. The best part of this lighthouse is the view. And with the weather being GORGOUS the water and sky were bluer than I have ever seen at the Oregon Coast. I guess I’m just so used to the color grey at our beaches that it still just puts be into shock when it looks like a normal beach. They also have a tide pool area that you can walk down to and explore the different animals. There are huge rocks that are home to hundreds of sea birds and it’s a favorite hangout to the harbor seals. We even were surprised by two who popped their heads up not too far from the shore. Upon walking back up to the car we saw a group sun bathing on some rocks. It was kind of neat to see these animals at the aquarium and then get to see them down the road in their natural habitat. (P.s. if any of the Taylor’s remember the family reunion from way long ago we made a trip to these exact tide pools.)

Yaquina Bay

Inside Yaquina Bay Lighthouse (unfortunately the ladder to the tippy top had a lock on it..)

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

over exposed picture but it was the best I got coach

This is what I get for wanting a nice picture of the light house. Cody has good timing with his jumping apparently.

There. That's better.

I love when sea anemones are closed up and they have shells and other collections stuck to them

View of the lighthouse from the rocky shore beach

The two cute sea lions playin in the water

I mean come on.. look at the color of that water! Has Oregon Coast water ever been that blue?

sea lions sun bathing

Newport Historic Bay Front.

This is my favorite place in the city. The main street that our hotel is on seems like a normal city street with regular grocery stores and a bunch of auto dealerships for some reason. But once you go to the Historic Bay Front you feel like you’re in a beach town. They have a wide variety of shops and places to eat all amidst the fishing docks (complete with smell). My favorite is a little boardwalk you go out on and look down and it’s a group of sea lions favorite napping place. There’s always a handful there bathing in the sun and talking to each other. It’s fun just to sit there and watch them. There’s also a Ripley’s Believe It or Not and a House of Wax museum both that are just a little too sketch for me to go. Also I’m afraid of wax figures. The best place we ate was on the bay called Local Ocean Seafood which I’m pretty sure is the place Megan got sick from a batch of bad fish tacos and Cody remembered as being not good but we think they turned themselves around and most likely got a better chef and menu because this place was always busting full of people which is always a sign of good food.

Newport Bay Bridge

The cute sea lions on the wharf (see video below)

One of Cody's favorite restaurants in Newport. Great sushi and even better bentos.

Low light: So there’s was a chiq little street called Nye Street that we got the “trendy” vibe from and they seemed to have a couple of good places to choose to eat from so we decided to give it a go. We walked around a couple different shops but we were mostly there after 5 and it seemed that a lot of the shops closed at 5pm. We found a place called the Chowder Bowl that got 5 stars so on Saturday night we decided to give it a try. I always try and have at least one bowl of clam chowder every time I go to the beach. So we show up and I notice something a little off. I figured out it was that the lights were off but I thought hey maybe it’s sunny so they’re enjoying the natural light. But upon walking in and being greeted we are informed that half the town’s power is down and all they’re serving is clam chowder and salad. We decided to stay for a bowl. And the clam chowder was very very yummy just not quite as satisfying of a dinner as we hoped. So after leaving we tried to find somewhere else for the rest of our meal. We headed to the bay front and saw that a lot of the places had lights on so we thought we’d call the Chowder bowl back and see if they had power too. They did! So we headed back there but ended up quite disappointed with the rest of the food we got. We should’ve just headed back to the hotel room and been fine for the night. I guess when the universe sends you signals like the power being off you should probably not fight back.

 Overall our trip was amazing. It was so refreshing to have four whole days off of work and no responsibilities whatsoever. It made me reminiscent of all our summers together when we were dating and had no cares or worries. The sunny weather just made it that much better.

It’s really crazy to think about how fast a year goes by. It sure doesn’t feel like we’ve been married for a whole year and really in the scheme of things this is only the beginning…. And I can’t wait for the rest!