Astoria and Fort Clatsop, Oregon
After breakfast, we entered the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria. This exhibit is unquestionably, as Expedition Leader Trip described, one of the best maritime museums in the country. We listened to a brief presentation by a museum staff member about the hazards of the mouth of the Columbia River, the ‘Graveyard of the Pacific,’ and then viewed exhibits about whaling, fishing, canning, the U.S. Coast Guard and maritime warfare. The group split up and fanned out throughout the building, examining replicas of such ships as full rigged wooden frigates (such as the U.S.S. Constitution - its copper bolts supplied by a famed silversmith and patriot named Paul Revere), as well as whaling ships, coast guard launches and antisubmarine warships.
After exiting the museum, the group was happy to motor out to Fort Clatsop. The sky was blue, the sunlight strong. We walked through a forest of western red cedar trees to view a wooden replica of where the Corps of Discovery lived from December 23, 1805 until March 23, 1806. Many of us thought the seven rooms of the fort would have been cramped quarters for an expedition of more than two dozen people. Meriwether Lewis, however, described their situation as acceptable in his journal entry of January 16th, 1806:
“…no occurrence worthy of relation took place today. We have plenty of Elk beef for the present and a little salt, our houses dry and comfortable, and having made up our minds to remain until the 1st of April, every one appears content with his situation and his fare.”
Back aboard the Sea Lion we finished a lunch of chili and then rode a bus above town to the Astoria Column. This column was completed in 1926 by the Great Northern Railroad and a descendent of the man who founded Astoria. Those who climbed all 164 steps of the circular staircase inside the column stood on a balcony and looked out toward where the Columbia River mashes into the Pacific Ocean, as well as further south to a beautiful view of Young’s Bay and the Lewis and Clark River. If climbing the stairs was not enough to burn off our energy, we followed Sharon as she led a group on a two mile walk downhill to the city of Astoria.
In the late afternoon, Captain Graves pointed the Sea Lion out toward - but not to - the Columbia bar, a treacherous stretch of water that has sunk over two thousand ships during the past centuries. We stood on the ship’s deck with sunshine and fresh wind on our faces and peered toward Cape Disappointment, reputedly the foggiest place in the country. But on this clear day our view toward the cape was excellent, and everyone on this expedition was delighted at using this final excursion to conclude an excellent week of cruising along the Columbia River, in the wake of explorers Lewis and Clark.
After breakfast, we entered the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria. This exhibit is unquestionably, as Expedition Leader Trip described, one of the best maritime museums in the country. We listened to a brief presentation by a museum staff member about the hazards of the mouth of the Columbia River, the ‘Graveyard of the Pacific,’ and then viewed exhibits about whaling, fishing, canning, the U.S. Coast Guard and maritime warfare. The group split up and fanned out throughout the building, examining replicas of such ships as full rigged wooden frigates (such as the U.S.S. Constitution - its copper bolts supplied by a famed silversmith and patriot named Paul Revere), as well as whaling ships, coast guard launches and antisubmarine warships.
After exiting the museum, the group was happy to motor out to Fort Clatsop. The sky was blue, the sunlight strong. We walked through a forest of western red cedar trees to view a wooden replica of where the Corps of Discovery lived from December 23, 1805 until March 23, 1806. Many of us thought the seven rooms of the fort would have been cramped quarters for an expedition of more than two dozen people. Meriwether Lewis, however, described their situation as acceptable in his journal entry of January 16th, 1806:
“…no occurrence worthy of relation took place today. We have plenty of Elk beef for the present and a little salt, our houses dry and comfortable, and having made up our minds to remain until the 1st of April, every one appears content with his situation and his fare.”
Back aboard the Sea Lion we finished a lunch of chili and then rode a bus above town to the Astoria Column. This column was completed in 1926 by the Great Northern Railroad and a descendent of the man who founded Astoria. Those who climbed all 164 steps of the circular staircase inside the column stood on a balcony and looked out toward where the Columbia River mashes into the Pacific Ocean, as well as further south to a beautiful view of Young’s Bay and the Lewis and Clark River. If climbing the stairs was not enough to burn off our energy, we followed Sharon as she led a group on a two mile walk downhill to the city of Astoria.
In the late afternoon, Captain Graves pointed the Sea Lion out toward - but not to - the Columbia bar, a treacherous stretch of water that has sunk over two thousand ships during the past centuries. We stood on the ship’s deck with sunshine and fresh wind on our faces and peered toward Cape Disappointment, reputedly the foggiest place in the country. But on this clear day our view toward the cape was excellent, and everyone on this expedition was delighted at using this final excursion to conclude an excellent week of cruising along the Columbia River, in the wake of explorers Lewis and Clark.
