Astoria is really a pretty town. From the hill where the Column is, you have a view of town, the 4-mile long bridge to Washington, and the ships in the Columbia River.
And since the town is on a steep hill, almost everybody has a view.
I don't know what this building is, but alot of the buildings by the river used to be canneries.
They're all closed now, but it used to be big industry here.
I was surprised to find hundreds of sea lions all over the docks.
Some of them were tattooed. When I Googled this, I found out something disturbing. Some of the sea lions are on "death row," because they eat salmon by the fish ladder at Bonneville dam. That's a no-no, I guess. Fortunately, this guy was not on the list.I heard that the "losers" hang out here - those with no mates. Seems like they need to have a party, maybe get to know each other better.
Fort Stevens is now a State Park, but was originally built in the Civil War as a military defense installation to protect the Columbia River from being invaded.
It was used for 84 years, through the end of World War II. Originally there were cannons here but during WWII, they replaced them with big guns.
When Lewis and Clark were in the area, they spent some time down the coast from here boiling sea water to get salt. There was a reenactment going on while we were here.
The participants were very realistic and stayed in character no matter what. Sacajawea spoke no English.
Potatoes and carrots were available to purchase so that you could trade them for beads. Blue beeds were very popular with the Indians. June had to trade a potato and a carrot just to get one little bead!
One day we had a weenie roast on the beach.
The weather was great - it even got above 70 degrees!
Now that looks like a fun weinnie roast! How nice for you to visit while the reenactment was going on. :)
ReplyDeleteAnother great tour. The sea lions look cute, but as I recall, they smell really bad!
ReplyDeleteI am so jealous lol I want to live there I just loved the pictures and I really liked the old picture you shared of the canning, it is so sad how most industries do not exist anymore. That is sad about the sea lions some of them on death row, it is so heartbreaking how people build up places around the wildlife and anything goes wrong the wildlife has to pay for it, thanks for the lesson and that weenie roast sure sounds good :o)
ReplyDeleteThats a very nice view!! I dont understand why they cant relocated the sea lions? Im sure its just as easy to do that as to kill them...*sigh*
ReplyDeleteMan wants it all but what does he do with it when he gets it? Makes a mess of it all.
I bet the beach roast was fun--WOW 70 would be such a welcome relief for us..
Enjoy.
It is too bad your L&C journey has nearly ended. I sure enjoyed reading your journal from beginning to end when you began the L&C trail. What a cool way to see the country and make friends.
ReplyDeleteWhen we visit our granddaughters in Astoria, we often take them down to see the sea lions. They are noisey and boy do they stink!
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous of the weather you've had during your visit, when we were there it was mostly cold, foggy and rainey.
I just love the photo on the hill, looking down on that big freighter. I'd love to see that in person!
ReplyDeleteAnd so it ends . . . But I know you will find lots of other entertaining places for us.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the wonderful travelogue. You made it interesting and very informative.....when's you next one? Dave
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