Astoria, Oregon
Our Monday dawned with a beautiful golden rose sunrise and the serenade of sea lions in Astoria, Oregon. Grey’s Bay was calm, clear and serene unlike how it greeted The Corps of Discovery in the fall of 1805. Lewis and Clark should have had Jason as their expedition leader!
After a fine breakfast we were able to watch the departure preparations of the Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast as it left for Los Angeles and then south to patrol the fisheries. This was an opportunity we don’t often get and it was worth being a bit late in entering the Maritime Museum.
Our docent at the Museum explained the evolution of the lighthouse and “played” their bell, which was tuned to A flat. The museum offered us glimpses of the history of the canneries in this area, fur trapping, fishing fleet, and shipwrecks, the Coast Guard and early Astoria. His expertise contributed to our enjoyment of this fine museum, as did the great gift shop!
We boarded the coaches for our shore excursion to the replica of Fort Clatsop, south of Astoria. Three of the local deer decided to come and “People Watch” as Jason explained to us, while we offered them the right-of-way on the highway. I hope we met with their approval. The orientation film at the Visitor’s Center, the Fort, canoe launch and the displays in the museum certainly met with ours. Discovering the bookstore was a major event for many of us. Sharon Grainger, our Naturalist, took many of us on a walk through the area of the Fort and pointed out the trees and plants that were seen and used by the Corps and Clatsop Indians. Though most of the trees seen there now are young, some old Sitka Spruce can still be seen that might have had members of the Corps walk under their towering branches. All too soon it was time to board our coaches and return to the Sea Lion for our lunch and afternoon activities.
Many of us decided to take the short coach ride to the Astoria Column and the spectacular views of the Coast Range, Grey’s Bay, Columbia Bar and up the river to Fort Clatsop. Some of us returned, from on top of the mountain, on foot with Sharon Grainger. We were treated to great nature walk through the woods and the historic part of old Astoria. Many of these homes are on the National and State Historic Registers while some of us returned to further explore the Maritime Museum. It’s difficult to believe that we will sail out over the Columbia Bar, where so many ships have been lost. Our fine weather is making everything perfect for us today. Then it was time to leave Grey’s Bay and return up the Columbia for Portland and our docking there tomorrow morning.
Our Monday dawned with a beautiful golden rose sunrise and the serenade of sea lions in Astoria, Oregon. Grey’s Bay was calm, clear and serene unlike how it greeted The Corps of Discovery in the fall of 1805. Lewis and Clark should have had Jason as their expedition leader!
After a fine breakfast we were able to watch the departure preparations of the Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast as it left for Los Angeles and then south to patrol the fisheries. This was an opportunity we don’t often get and it was worth being a bit late in entering the Maritime Museum.
Our docent at the Museum explained the evolution of the lighthouse and “played” their bell, which was tuned to A flat. The museum offered us glimpses of the history of the canneries in this area, fur trapping, fishing fleet, and shipwrecks, the Coast Guard and early Astoria. His expertise contributed to our enjoyment of this fine museum, as did the great gift shop!
We boarded the coaches for our shore excursion to the replica of Fort Clatsop, south of Astoria. Three of the local deer decided to come and “People Watch” as Jason explained to us, while we offered them the right-of-way on the highway. I hope we met with their approval. The orientation film at the Visitor’s Center, the Fort, canoe launch and the displays in the museum certainly met with ours. Discovering the bookstore was a major event for many of us. Sharon Grainger, our Naturalist, took many of us on a walk through the area of the Fort and pointed out the trees and plants that were seen and used by the Corps and Clatsop Indians. Though most of the trees seen there now are young, some old Sitka Spruce can still be seen that might have had members of the Corps walk under their towering branches. All too soon it was time to board our coaches and return to the Sea Lion for our lunch and afternoon activities.
Many of us decided to take the short coach ride to the Astoria Column and the spectacular views of the Coast Range, Grey’s Bay, Columbia Bar and up the river to Fort Clatsop. Some of us returned, from on top of the mountain, on foot with Sharon Grainger. We were treated to great nature walk through the woods and the historic part of old Astoria. Many of these homes are on the National and State Historic Registers while some of us returned to further explore the Maritime Museum. It’s difficult to believe that we will sail out over the Columbia Bar, where so many ships have been lost. Our fine weather is making everything perfect for us today. Then it was time to leave Grey’s Bay and return up the Columbia for Portland and our docking there tomorrow morning.
