Astoria

We got a little side tracked from our mission of sharing our photo experiences from the trip to Oregon.  After our great experiences with Carol and the group in Central Oregon, we took our time getting back to the airport.

After leaving Tillamook, we continued north along the coast toward Astoria.  The road often turned inland a bit, giving us a view of rolling countryside dotted with family dairy farms.  I became a bit nostalgic because the farms reminded me of the dairy farms of Wisconsin.  I was born on a dairy farm and my 1^st memories are of life on the farm.

As we approached Astoria, fog & mist settled in making the area eerie and just a bit difficult to navigate.  The Astoria bridge suddenly appeared as an awesome apparition looming from the fog.  We found a place to stay, dried out a bit and headed out to explore Astoria at dusk.

We were enormously impressed with our walk through just a couple of streets of downtown.  Most of the older commercial buildings retained the tradition of named buildings.  Downtown has a comfortable mix of architecture from countless decades past.  For those uninitiated, Astoria is the oldest permanent community on the Pacific Coast. 

We know that this is an area that demands a revisit.

Pilot Boat Out of Astoria:  We learned that the waters are so treacherous, that two pilots are required to get the ocean going vessels up the Columbia River to Portland.  This pilot boat is taking a pilot specialist out to a vessel waiting in the Pacific to help it navigate from the ocean through the confluence of the Columbia River which is turbulent, fast moving and full of shifting sand bars.  Then the second pilot replaces the 1^st at Astoria to pilot the ship up to the docks of Portland.

Walking along the Columbia River waterfront, we came upon this great set of rocks and pilings covered with an extraordinary bright green moss.

Garage with float collection:  A wonderful burst of color found on a day of heavy overcast gray lighting.

Honeycomb chinese lanterns and masks in a store window.

The Liberty Theatre in Astoria.

What a great building.  Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to explore the interior but it is certainly on our short list if we return to Astoria.

This theatre, built in a Romanesque, with light Italianate features and a Hacienda, tiled roof style, Greek columns, and a Chinese paper and silk chandelier in the auditorium.  On paper this sounds like jumble of epic proportions. However, in life it works.
 If you find yourself going to Astoria, include the Liberty theatre in your exploration plans.