Wandering the Docks

After my brothers and I meandered up the majestic Oregon Coast, we settled into the town of Newport, where we had an excellent lunch downtown at the Chowder Bowl at Nye Beach.

Of course, I had a chowder, the "Slumgolian Chowder," which was a lovely thick clam concoction, with a sprinkling of tiny Pacific shrimp. Delicious.

Stomachs full, we descended upon the docks.

In a way, this was one of my favorite places that we visited. I've always liked factories, working class places and things. As we approached the docks, the crab traps, waiting to be loaded on to ships and pressed into action, caught my eye:



But what I loved most was walking along the docks, and taking in the various boats. Being a work day, some were being loaded, unloaded, worked on. Some were just at rest.





The artistry, craftsmanship, and the wear of honest toil on the boats commanded my interest:







Until I reached the outermost dock, and looked out over the bay to the iconic Yaquina Bay Bridge, which these fishermen look upon and travel under day after day. A landmark, a milestone, not a tourist destination:



We lingered at the docks for a while, then did a little shopping downtown where I bought a T-shirt with a deco style drawing of the Yaquina Bay Bridge on it for my son.

As we left Newport, we stopped at the bay lighthouse, where I was able to get some nice shots of the bridge from the outside of the bay:



And that was where the camera ran out of memory.

We visited two historic lighthouses as we traveled back north. I didn't get a single photo of them, but that was okay. The pictures I had shot were here and now and alive with the day. The lighthouses were historic and cool to see and learn about, but they were someone else's history.

Wandering back through these photos evokes the unseasonably warm, perfectly clear, late September day that my brothers and I spent together.

A day that will always be special.