| Thirty
miles south of Lincoln City, NEWPORT is one of several Oregonian
fishing towns laboring to turn itself into a resort – more successfully
than most, integrating pieces of the past with the more recent
development. The place also has an artsy undertone, manifest in a pair of arts
centers – one performing, the other visual – on long, uncrowded Nye
Beach. A more traditional attraction is the large and impressive Oregon
Coast Aquarium, across the river at 2820 SE Ferry Slip Rd (summer
daily 9am–6pm; rest of year daily 10am–5pm; $8.50), home to sea otters
and seals, the tufted puffin, and all sorts of aquatic species. |
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| The
Greyhound station is just off the main drag (US-101) on SW Bayley Street,
and the Chamber of Commerce is at 555 SW Coast Hwy (tel
541/265-8801 or 1-800/262-7844). The best place to stay is the Sylvia
Beach Hotel, perched on a cliff overlooking Nye Beach at 267 NW Cliff
St (tel 541/265-5428; up to $130). An attractive Edwardian building, the
hotel is named after the owner of the Shakespeare & Co bookstore in
Paris of the Twenties and Thirties, and each of the twenty rooms bears the
name of a famous writer; it also has dorm beds and a good restaurant. Less
distinctive lodgings include the Penny Saver Motel, 710 N Coast Hwy
(tel 541/265-6631; $45–60), and the Puerto Nuevo Inn, 544 SW
US-101 (tel 541/265-5767 or 1-800/999-3068; $60–80). There’s a cluster
of first-rate cafes and restaurants in Historic Bayfront
along Bay Boulevard, among them the Whale’s Tale (tel
541/265-8660), with a varied menu and occasional live music, and Mo’s
Original (tel 541/265-2979) and Mo’s Annex (tel
541/265-7512), two popular seafood restaurants. |