The Occasional Column 5.27.24
The Occasional Column 5.27.24
Memorial Day And The Strange Case Of The Missing Tourists
We moved to Newport, Oregon, almost two years ago.
It’s a tourist trap.
No, tourist trap sounds negative… it’s not that kind of tourist trap like the Wisconsin Dells or Orlando. It’s the good kind of tourist trap like Astoria.
There’s nature. The harbor. The ocean. Whales. Fishing. You get the idea.
That being said, Newport does have a “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not “MUSEUM”” right down on the bay front, thus proving that it’s definitely a tourist-focused city.
The Ripley’s doesn’t seem like it should be here. It seems like it should be located in Seaside, Oregon or The Wisconsin Dells (where it probably is). Or at least across the harbor in South Beach by the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
But, there it sits, the eyesore on the Bayfront. If you enjoy that kind of thing, I apologize in advance.
When a Labor Day or Memorial Day-type holidays comes around, I tend to recoil. Stay home. Don’t go outside. Play PS4 all day.
But not this year.
This year,
, and I decided NO. We were NOT going to let the tourists destroy what turned out to be a pretty sunny day, which is rare for us here.We gathered our resolve, packed some water and Aussie Bites, and headed to the South Jetty, prepared for any sized throng of Memorial Day Tourists we might meet.
When we got there, we were surprised. What was going on? Did somebody cancel the day?
It was dead.
Nobody was there.
Even on a non-holiday Tuesday in March there’s usually more people.
Did somebody call off Memorial Day? Did everybody have to go to work? There wasn’t even a traffic jam on the bridge.
Suspiciously, we pulled onto the road to Yaquina Bay South Jetty. It’s a nice area, state parky with nice places to sit by the water.
And there were spots available. Lots of spots!
Did I say there were lots of parking spots?
Miracles happen.
We sat by the water watching boats come and go for about an hour. There was more boat traffic than car and camper traffic.
We backed up our Honda CRV to the side of the jetty, opened up the back, and pulled out a couple folding chairs.
Then we just sat.
did a little sketching. did a little music listening. I did a bunch of nothing.I like to sit and stare when we’re in nature. K.L. always tries to get me to write, or journal, or at least “read a book from cripes sakes” (you’d think she’s from Minnesota or something).
But I don’t. I just sit. She didn’t even tell me to read a book today.
We WERE going to pack a picnic, but that was overwhelming, so we decided we would go get Subway, always a stellar decision.
When the appointed hour for lunch came around we upgraded on the spot to Cuisinako on the Bayfront. Asian Fusion. It was a massive upgrade from Subway.
If you’re ever in Newport, hit this place up. They have some of the best dumplings I’ve ever eaten… and I’ve had lots of dumplings.
After our awesome not-Subway lunch we headed to The Yaquina Head OUTSTANDING Natural Area, just a ten minute drive on the 101 to the North side of Newport.
This is the actual name of the place. It’s a Bureau of Land Management site. I have no idea how they designate a place OUTSTANDING, but this place actually is outstanding.
On the end of the coastal headland is the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. One of the most gad danged scenic lighthouses you’ll ever lay your eyes on. People come in tour buses to see the light, and it still works!
Since the three of us are Resident Non-Locals™, we treat ourselves to an “Oregon Coast Exploration” pass for $35 each year. I might have that name slightly off.
If you’re headed to the lighthouse as a one off, it’s gonna’ set you back seven bucks.
When we first moved to Oregon we were so broke we had to scrounge change from under the seats of our Saturn to pay the fee. But we did find enough quarters and it was totally worth it.
After taking the obligatory swing past the lighthouse (we go there about once a week), we headed down to our super secret overlook that nobody but the few know… and proceeded to sit for the next hour and a half staring out at the Pacific and Oregon coastline.
Surfers bobbed and caught some waves.
There was a Bald Eagle being chased by a Golden Eagle over the Pacific. Never seen that before.
All in all, not a bad day.
After our faces were appropriately red from sitting in the infrequent sun, we headed home, just a five minute drive away.
The nice thing about living here is that after going to the our designated tourist zones, we don’t have to drive for an hour or more to get home.
We live right up the road.
And the tourists were well very well behaved today.
