Swimmingly
Mar. 9th, 2025 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrSomewhere in the middle of an exceptionally busy week--meeting Tuesday (abruptly cancelled), sale set-up Friday, sale on Saturday, studio open house Sunday--we managed to eke out a day off for both of us, and drove down to Newport for a holiday.
Drove up to Corvallis and across on 36, hit town just in time for an early lunch at Nana's Irish Pub. Good Scotch Eggs, and Denise enjoyed her oyster roll; my cod and chips really needed salt. I'm always hopefully ordering it on the coast, and always disappointed. You'd think I'd learn...
Afterwards, we went over to the Oregon Coast Aquarium for the afternoon. We hadn't been in several years so it was good to be back. Denise knees have been giving her grief, so we borrowed a rolling walker, with seat, from our former choir director, a brilliant decision, as it turned out. Having a place to sit down whenever necessary, and even roll forward a little without standing, made the day much more manageable for her.
It was lovely sunny, though still pretty chilly outdoors, but we still caught both the otters and pinnipeds at feeding time, and I dropped in on the aviary. Puffins were in winter plumage, so no dramatic white cheek patches, though they'd gotten in some horned puffins since the last time I was there.
Spent a lot of time poking around the tidepool exhibit, gazing at the brightly colored fish in the coral reef tank, watched a three-foot long spotted moray circling its enclosure, blissed out with the jellyfish, and even managed a pretty nice watercolor of the copper rockfish.
The big walk-through tank originally built for Keiko the orca has been divided into three habitats, shallows, mid- and deep water pelagic. Five-foot sturgeons and gliding bat rays fascinated, but nothing compares to having a shark swim right over your head. Didn't see the octopus, sadly. Really wanted to try an paint one from life.
Decided to take the long way home, down the coast highway to Florence, watching the waves roll in from China. And then home for supper. All in all, a lovely day.
Drove up to Corvallis and across on 36, hit town just in time for an early lunch at Nana's Irish Pub. Good Scotch Eggs, and Denise enjoyed her oyster roll; my cod and chips really needed salt. I'm always hopefully ordering it on the coast, and always disappointed. You'd think I'd learn...
Afterwards, we went over to the Oregon Coast Aquarium for the afternoon. We hadn't been in several years so it was good to be back. Denise knees have been giving her grief, so we borrowed a rolling walker, with seat, from our former choir director, a brilliant decision, as it turned out. Having a place to sit down whenever necessary, and even roll forward a little without standing, made the day much more manageable for her.
It was lovely sunny, though still pretty chilly outdoors, but we still caught both the otters and pinnipeds at feeding time, and I dropped in on the aviary. Puffins were in winter plumage, so no dramatic white cheek patches, though they'd gotten in some horned puffins since the last time I was there.
Spent a lot of time poking around the tidepool exhibit, gazing at the brightly colored fish in the coral reef tank, watched a three-foot long spotted moray circling its enclosure, blissed out with the jellyfish, and even managed a pretty nice watercolor of the copper rockfish.
The big walk-through tank originally built for Keiko the orca has been divided into three habitats, shallows, mid- and deep water pelagic. Five-foot sturgeons and gliding bat rays fascinated, but nothing compares to having a shark swim right over your head. Didn't see the octopus, sadly. Really wanted to try an paint one from life.
Decided to take the long way home, down the coast highway to Florence, watching the waves roll in from China. And then home for supper. All in all, a lovely day.
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Date: 2025-03-10 06:10 am (UTC)The walk-through tank is my fav, though.