Day 35 – Astoria OR

Today we did some sight-seeing in Astoria. We had a leisurely breakfast in the RV and headed out at 9:30. First we went to the Astoria Column. This is a tower on hill in Astoria built in 1926, one of a series of columns built in Oregon. It is 125’ tall and is covered with a kind of bas-relief called sgraffito (paint and plaster) depicting 22 exploration events of the area. There is a beautiful view of the ocean and (this morning) fog shrouded mountains to the east.

From there we went to the Columbia Maritime Museum. I was pretty impressed with the variety and depth of the exhibits here. I especially liked the ones on the bar pilots who guide all the ships into the river. It was an hour well-spent.

It was time for lunch, so Bill got Yelp on his phone and we ended up across the street at a place called Bowpicker. It is a converted gillnet boat. They serve only fish (albacore tuna) and fries, and only have 3 picnic tables on which to eat. It was amazing fish and fries. There seemed to always be a line to order, so we picked well.

We drove south into Warrenton to the Lewis and Clark Ft Clatsop where the Corp of Discovery wintered before returning east. We have now gone from beginning to end of the exploration. The interpretive center was interesting, and they had a nice replica of the Fort. Today’s photo is me and a statue of Sacagawea outside the center. There were two women giving a talk about flintlocks outside the fort. One of them (a college history teacher) had on clothes that the Corp members might have worn including a blue-beaded belt. I had read a story in one of the other L&C centers about Lewis wanting a sealskin robe an Indian chief had on. The chief would not trade for blankets nor other trinkets. He wanted the blue beaded belt that Sacagawea had on. Lewis made the trade getting the coat at the expense of Sacagawea’s belt.

From there we made our first Costco run since leaving Raleigh. Bill was starting to have withdrawal symptoms. We picked up some nuts, steaks, wine, some books for me, and a pair of my favorite jeans.

Back at the RV we enjoyed the sunset over our beautiful golf course view. Bill did make a side trip to the Coast Guard BX which is quite near the RV park.