Exploring Newport, OR | Fall 2023

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse is the oldest standing building in Newport, Oregon. It was built in 1871. 

Newport is one of my favorite spots on the OR coast. There's not one, but two lighthouses. On this visit, we checked out the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. A couple of years ago, we visited the Yaquina Head Lighthouse and you can see my post here. You can see my other post about both Yaquina Bay and Yaquina Head I did years ago here. 

When I was a teenager, I remember checking out both lighthouses with my parents and they were such special experiences. Both lighthouses offer quite different experiences when you go inside of them. At Yaquina Bay, they have bedrooms set up like they originally looked in the late 1800's when the lighthouse was first built. This is a quick and fun attraction in Newport. I enjoyed photographing the lighthouse all of these years later! This was also my sons' first time there. They have been to the other lighthouse one time in 2021. We also checked out the view of the Yaquina Bay Bridge, which is by the lighthouse. The fog hadn't burned off yet that day, so the views weren't too clear. 

After going to the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse Park, we drove a couple of miles to the historic bayfront. Here is where you'll find gaggles of sea lions! This is quite the tourist destination in Newport. It's so fun watching the sea lions hang out, swim, and watch them fight for space on the docks with their fellow sea lions! My sons couldn't get enough of the sea lions, and we even watched them some more after dinner. 

We also walked around and looked at the shops. We went in the Newport Candy Shoppe and got some Chocolate Covered Pralines and Salted Caramel Covered Pralines. There are candy stores galore here, along with seafood restaurants, and gift shops. We decided on Clearwater for dinner, a nice waterside restaurant, which I'll cover in my next post.