Astoria, Oregon
Tuesday, September 27, 2005, opened with M/V Sea Lion steaming through the Columbia River estuary towards the Columbia River bar. The bar is the interface between the Pacific Ocean and the River—a treacherous navigational hazard which has cost over 2000 ships sine 1792, with over 200 lives lost. The combination of high winds and waves, unpredictable currents, and shifting sea channels makes the bar the most dangerous crossing anywhere in the world. Fortunately, the Sea Lion reversed course before we were irretrievably bound for Japan, and we returned to a dock at Astoria, Oregon, for a leisurely breakfast.
Our first land bound assignment found us in the Columbia River Maritime Museum, one of the finest institutions of its kind anywhere in the world. The designs, displays, and interpretations brought many of us back for a second visit later in the day. The first-rate gift-shop may have been the magnet.
The highlight of the entire week’s cruise was undoubtedly the Lewis and Clark Visitors’ Center at Fort Clatsop. After all, this trip is entitled “In the Wake of Lewis and Clark,” and we had finally caught up with the intrepid explorers when they ran into the Pacific Ocean and had nowhere else to go. In the third year of the Bicentennial observances, Fort Clatsop, named after local Indians, is a Mecca for all enthusiasts. The displays, the replica of the fort itself, the nature tour led by Sharon Grainger, and the expanded gift shop, were attractions that nearly delayed our departure.
In the afternoon, many of us bussed up the hill to the Astoria Column, an historical triptych modeled after Trajan’s column in Rome. We shopped in bustling downtown Astoria, the first American outpost on the Pacific Coast (1811), and relaxed under the influence of the Captain’s cocktails. No one regretted the day, the week, the trip, the history, or even the historians.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005, opened with M/V Sea Lion steaming through the Columbia River estuary towards the Columbia River bar. The bar is the interface between the Pacific Ocean and the River—a treacherous navigational hazard which has cost over 2000 ships sine 1792, with over 200 lives lost. The combination of high winds and waves, unpredictable currents, and shifting sea channels makes the bar the most dangerous crossing anywhere in the world. Fortunately, the Sea Lion reversed course before we were irretrievably bound for Japan, and we returned to a dock at Astoria, Oregon, for a leisurely breakfast.
Our first land bound assignment found us in the Columbia River Maritime Museum, one of the finest institutions of its kind anywhere in the world. The designs, displays, and interpretations brought many of us back for a second visit later in the day. The first-rate gift-shop may have been the magnet.
The highlight of the entire week’s cruise was undoubtedly the Lewis and Clark Visitors’ Center at Fort Clatsop. After all, this trip is entitled “In the Wake of Lewis and Clark,” and we had finally caught up with the intrepid explorers when they ran into the Pacific Ocean and had nowhere else to go. In the third year of the Bicentennial observances, Fort Clatsop, named after local Indians, is a Mecca for all enthusiasts. The displays, the replica of the fort itself, the nature tour led by Sharon Grainger, and the expanded gift shop, were attractions that nearly delayed our departure.
In the afternoon, many of us bussed up the hill to the Astoria Column, an historical triptych modeled after Trajan’s column in Rome. We shopped in bustling downtown Astoria, the first American outpost on the Pacific Coast (1811), and relaxed under the influence of the Captain’s cocktails. No one regretted the day, the week, the trip, the history, or even the historians.
