astoria 2009

Fun In An Obscure Place

Astoria Oregon is situated just upstream from the mouth of the Columbia River. It has had its place in european immigrant history multiple times starting with the fact that it was a near miss by the Lewis and Clark expedition: they went downstream to the -now - Washington side of the river and hunkered down in a beach enclave for the winter in never ending winter torrents.

Astoria probably hit its peak as a shipbuilding place during World War Two.

Today it takes advantage of scenery, recreational salmon fishing, an interesting history and a number of structures that have remained as reminders of that history.

Joe and Ann Claire, my son and daughter in law and I spent several days in Astoria in August 2009 drinking massive numbers of martinis and cosmopolitans, walking the docks and making friends with various bartenders and hangers on and n'erdowells. When our blood alcohol level allowed driving we visited some of the scenic and historical sites.

In no particular order, here are some of the pictures.