Discovering Astoria

Thursday, September 21. Rest day in Astoria.

Even though we'd just had a rest day in Portland, we had planned to take a day off in Astoria to explore this coast city. Besides, the weather hadn't quite cleared up this morning, but the forecast for the weekend looks great.

So after a continental breakfast at the hotel, we unhitched our trailers, jumped on our bikes, and headed off toward downtown Astoria. We found the trolley tracks right beyond the hotel, and followed them down to the waterfront. Astoria is a city that began as a trading post for beaver pelts, but once fashions changed, lumber and salmon became the town's key industries. Immigrants from around the world came to be part of this boomtown, and their influences can still be seen throughout the city. In particular, there is a strong Finn influence here, celebrated every year with a Suomi Festival (held in July; we missed that one, too).

Our first stop on the waterfront was the Maritime Museum. This building is dedicated to all things nautical when it comes to the Columbia River, so everything from a map of lost ships (The Graveyard of the Pacific) to duck decoys are on display here. The river has a wild and woolly history, and still "makes waves" as ships hoist their sails and attempt to cross the sand bar at the mouth of the river.

After the museum we headed to the library, hoping to be able to upload some pictures. But their internet access was down today, as was the case with most of Astoria, so pix will have to wait.

We made a quick stop at Columbia Travel to get lodging info for the next few days, and then dropped into the Hotel Elliott just across the street. A $4 million restoration has turned this former flophouse into a luxury hotel. Maybe on our next visit we'll stay here.

Lunch at the Urban Cafe' was next on the list, including the chocolate hunk cake. These people know how to serve chocolate cake--whipped cream, ice cream (Tillamook Vanilla Bean), and a pitcher of warm chocolate sauce for you to drizzle on as needed. mmmmmmm.

After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon at a local coffee and book shop, watching the sun poke through as the wind blew the clouds eastward. I'm hoping that trend continues through the rest of the night, and we awake to clear, sunny skies. The dream continues . . .