A visit to Newport

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When: May 29th-30th 2010
Location: Newport, OR
Covered: Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport Bay, Nye Beach, Yaquina Head Lighthouse
What's not to miss: Noodle Cafe Restaurant

How did this trip happen? Truth be told, ever since we came back from India in December, we have not been out traveling anywhere. It was a busy 6 months getting settled and used to sucky rain and winter weather here in Oregon

Since this was the first long weekend this year that *might* have good weather we decided to check out the Oregon Coast aquarium that a lot of our friends raved about. More than anything we just wanted to unwind and not have to cook/clean or think of work/daycare for a couple of days.

So I got the Mr to book us a hotel. We ended up going with Rodeway Inn because of price and availability. We did not regret it. It was very close to all the attractions and decent. This sentence actually makes me smile because there are no *attractions* per se in Newport if you will. It has the look of a rundown town that was not very well cared for. But to make it sound appealing, you could say historic.

So we packed our bags and a whole lot of other things for this 1 and a half day trip. A kid and a minivan have made me quite the pack rat and I tend to take along almost everything I will need and also may need and sometimes even may not need,you know just in case

As luck would have it, it was going to a gloomy, rainy weekend, like that was a surprise. Only after moving to Oregon do I go to the beach packed with multi layer clothing and jackets. I know it is sad, but hey better than no beach I would say. I must admit though the cold is much more bearable when it is gloomy rather than when it is windy and sunny.

We reached only around 3 pm or so on Saturday. It is about a 2 and a half hour drive from Portland.We dropped our bags off and head to the historic Nye beach. It was beautiful and misty. The Mr and our little Master had no trouble going into the ice cold water. I refrain from such madness and settled to take pictures of them. V totally thoroughly enjoys the water. In some ways it is amazing how much that I think this kid should have been born as an amphibian.

After a lot of cajoling and convincing and me pretending that I would die that very instant if we did not leave for the confines for the car, we did. And headed to the waterfront or bay front whichever you like to call it. We wanted an early dinner and to settle down before it was late. We checked our GPS and found a whole bunch of stores in this area and decided to check one of them out. Here in the bayfront is where you have the Undersea Gardens, Ripley museum and a bunch of cute stores that are best visited without a toddler in tow. And it is here we found PARADISE.

We decided to eat at this Thai restaurant called Noodle Café and are we glad we did. We liked it so much that we came there for lunch the next day and ordered the same 2 dishes. I was secretly praying that she did not serve leftovers, like we would not have eaten that really! We ordered their Spring rolls, Thai curry Noodle and their Stir Fry Eggplant and all of the dishes were so delicious. This is the first time I have tasted Udon noodle in a thai curry and loved loved loved it! Once the Mr got his eggplant he forgot we even existed. I know this is a travel blog, but isn’t travel all about exploring exotic places, people and tastes. And bingo, the last one is what we did!

On Sunday, we visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium. A tip is to head there early so you can avoid the crowd that starts coming in about 11ish. You don’t have to get obsessive like us and be the first car that parked in the parking lot but you get the picture. I would rate this 3 on 5 stars. It is a nice place to visit if you have a kid or if you are in the area. I would not recommend driving all the way just to visit this aquarium. That said V had a lot of fun. He enjoyed the swampland and gave the Mr a lot of jitters when he touched the alligator with me. But really who would want to pet an alligator, what kind of love do you get from an animal like that?

From there we headed to Noodle Café for lunch and then to the Yaquina bay lighthouse. There was a very long line and V was not allowed to climb the top so we skipped that. The view from there was beautiful. I almost feel the Oregon coast is an angry lady. She has a lot of emotion and darkness as the water hits the cliffs and the rocks every time. There is nothing docile or warm about her. She is all so dark and mysterious and best enjoyed from the warmth of your room with a book and a tea to give you company. With that thought in mind, we headed back home.

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