Hatfield Marine Science Center

Sea Anemones close up when you lightly touch them.

Before Keiko the whale and the ($15.00 admission) Newport Aquarium, there was the (free!) Marine Hatfield Center.
When we were kids, we lived in Newport during the summer months. My parents were both school teachers so summers were spent traveling or staying at the beach. We would hop in the car and head down Hwy 18 driving through the Van Duzer corridor and depending on the trip spend our time in Lincoln City or Newport.
We had a great-uncle who lived in Newport who made Strawberry-Rhubarb Wine which is the only way I tolerate Rhubarb. Other relatives called Newport home as well. We kids knew if we were well-behaved we could finish with the relatives and hit the beach. First one to sight the ocean was a game we never tired of.

One of the highlights was the Marine Center at the end of the breath-taking Yaquina Bay Bridge.
We kids could touch sea anemones -quickly!, sea cucumbers & starfish. The giant octopus creeped us out with the help of an older sister & brother. And it was always free.
The Hatfield Marine Science Center is closely aligned with OSU and one of my son's friends has a job down there this summer.

Sole hiding in the gravel/sand

Wow - they have a science cam. On when they are giving presentations, you can ask questions - live! The OctoCam doesn't appear to be working but our friend is aboard the R/V Wecoma on a three-day research trip.

Hatfield Marine Science Center - still here, still free, still cool.