More Coastline Tuesday

Perfect weather day. Enough said. We walked in the morning. No pictures. We decided to go into Newport to Local Oceans for lunch with stops along the way.

Click on the galleries below to bring up scrollable windows with full size pictures – the gallery previews may show just thumbnails of the pictures. By the way, the pictures look much better on a tablet or a computer than they do on your phone. Just saying.

Rocky Creek

Rocky Creek Overlook and the Ben Jones Bridge are on a short loop off the 101 Coast Highway. There was a lighthouse here once – long gone.

And a panorama (click to enlarge)

Cape Foulweather

Captain Cook named Cape Foulweather. It’s the first Oregon land formation that Captain Cook spied in March, 1778 on his third world voyage. Cook coined the name for the fierce weather and rough ocean conditions that he and his crew encountered.) Here’s what he said about it:

“The land appeared to be of moderate height, diversified with hill and Valley and almost everywhere covered with wood. There was nothing remarkable about it except one hill…At the northern extreme the land formed a point which I called Cape Foulweather from the very bad weather we soon after met with.”

Had he come today, he might have chosen another name. Perfectly sunny and not a breath of wind.

The best view is from the little gift shop and ranger station. Alas, it is under construction, so you can’t see the view looking north. (The historic gift shop will be closed through August 2025 for a rehabilitation and restoration project that includes stabilization, sealing the weather envelope, restoration work and increasing accessibility.) The other views aren’t bad, however. You can see the gift shop and ranger station from a distance.

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and Bridge

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, not to be confused with my favorite lighthouse at Yaquina Head (to be visited maybe tomorrow), hasn’t been used since 1877. There is also a fire watch lookout tower The lighthouse is reputed to be haunted. The haunting is the subject of a fictional work by a local author called The Lighthouse Ghost Of Yaquina Bay. It is also one of the few lighthouses where the lighthouse keeper cottage is part of the actual lighthouse as opposed to being a separate building.

Yaquina Bay Bridge is very picturesque and has a notable history. Here are two views first from the Lighthouse area and then from the other side at Newport Harbor.

Then it was time for lunch at Local Oceans. I had exactly what I had last time. Elaine had fish tacos. Food was great but the service was uncharacteristically slow. I guess everyone is entitled to a bad day. No food pictures this time.

Then it was home to relax. Here are a couple of odd pictures from the balcony of a couple on the rocks and of a whale watch boat.

And finally two pictures that Elaine took on her phone (that she thinks are good ones of me). I actually sort of smile in the first one especially for Mary Dexter. The Nordkapp hat is from our visit on a Viking cruise to Nordkapp, the northernmost point in Europe.