It was overcast and kinda cool when we woke. Not unexpected... but not my fav either.
Docked at Astoria, we had plans to take in a bunch of tourist attractions here, but none started too early and our first attraction was mmmmm... breakfast. Vu was our waiter. He was charming, attentive and frickin' great at his job! We loved him instantly and it wasn't because he remembered I liked the Pinot Noir last night... although that helped, of course. :-)
We were also making friends. A lovely but reserved mom and daughter-in-law from Seattle area, hilarious Randee and Pat from Long Island and delightful Karen and Teddy from Oklahoma.
Docked near us was the Columbia. A lightship. Part of the heritage museum which is also not far away. We toured the lightship and the museum of course. Oh to have been on this boat in it's time... with its tiny bunks, tinier windows and less cheery crew, rocking and rolling on the waves at the mouth of the river.
We choose the right boat for a vaca, clearly.
Just when you think your brain drowned in maple syrup and peach compote at breakfast, you find out it still has the capacity to learn.
We learned that 2000+ ships have gone down in the little stretch of river-that-meets-the-sea. Waves are normally 6+' but reach up to 40' high. Sandbars are continually moving - to keep the captain on their toes! And since almost forever, one has been forced to hire a River Pilot to navigate and negotiate their way into, or out of, the river mouth and then up the river too.
Next stop: the Astoria Column. A strange artistic sight, perched on a hill overlooking this little town. I believe a monument to the people of the Great Northern Railroad... but don't quote me on that. Plus, I'd be lying if I said I remembered much more except that I climbed it for the area's most impressive view.
The town of Astoria. Famous for being the mouth to giant river and for several movies filmed here:
1. The Goonies
2. Free Willy
3. Kindergarten Cop
There was also something about a Mutant Ninja Turtle movie ... I lost interest here.
Four rivers meet and merge right here. Little wonder the sandbars keep moving!
American Cruise Lines has there own buses for us. Because we are special. :-)
The drivers are the same all week. They meet us at every stop. It's actually pretty nice to see a familiar vehicle and face driving it. They all have jokes, insider info (because they are local) and water ready for us.
Flavel House: The dream home built for himself and his family, by uber successful Captain George Flavel and not lived in for very long. Capt Flavel was the first river pilot I think... He made a fortune doing that but diversified his financial interests into real estate around town too.
It's reputedly one of the best preserved examples of Queen Anne architecture in the area. It was donated to Clatsop County with the condition that it and it's grounds be kept in good repair and used for public purposes. Not once, but twice, was there talk of tearing it down in favor of a park! Good Lord! Then concerned citizens organized themselves and it was made into a local history museum instead. To this day it is managed by the Clatsop County Historical Society.
The pieces in the pics are either original to the house, which were donated or purchased back from people who bought it in the original estate sale, or are items that are from the same era and would be similar to those once in the house.
I tried to get Donnie to cook me lunch, but she suggested that we head back to the boat instead because Chef Michael's oven was better.
Bath anyone? Sounds simple enough, but this house was among the first to have indoor plumbing!
Home Sweet Home!
Donnie and I took our cookies and potato chips to the cabin and switched to channel 2 on American Song TV. They were playing The Goonies all day long and she had never seen it. We fixed that while getting in some R&R before cocktail hour.
Back on the river, later that day, we cruised upstream towards Kalama. The river is wide and the channel about 57' deep. It is continually being dredged and the millions of tons of sand that are removed each year, make little islands.
Tankers filled with grain, logs and more, were making their way back to Hong Kong or Japan or from whence they came. It's a watery highway!
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