Upper Oregon Coast

I was recently watching a show that was set and partially filmed in Portland. The characters went to Astoria for the day. They took a ferry. This was totally inaccurate.

There is this really cool trolly. I didn't get to ride it this time. I just had to watch forlornly as it passed me by. Just like this little boy.

 Astoria isn't an island. It was named after one of the lessor famous Astors. Many people visit the Astor Column. It actually looks more like a lighthouse but it isn't one. The view is stunning, and many people climb the winding stairs to the top to fly a balsa wood airplane off the top. There isn't really any flat land in Astoria. It is all on a steep hill. It was featured in the movies Free Willy and Short Curcuit.

Most people drive on this bridge to go to Washington, which isn't an island either. It used to be a toll bridge but it is paid for now. Below is some of the roughest water in the United States. The coast guard uses the Columbia River bar to train. They have bar captains that make a $100K each time they guide a ship out of the river and into the open ocean.

 The ship Columbia is a functioning lighthouse. It stays in port and functions as a museum.You can see how small the galley and the sleep areas are and learn some of the history of the era that the ship is from.

 The wreak of the Peter Iredale. This is a ship that ran into the beach. There used to be much more to it when I was a child but it still holds some dear memories. You have to pay to go to the park where this is at now and there is limited parking but it is a fun spot to look for sea stars and muscles and limpets.

 The beach at Seaside. This is the historic site where Lewis and Clark ended their trail.

 This boardwalk once had houses for rent. Now many of them have been sold and torn down for the high rise more profitable ocean views. It is the only beach I have ever gone to with a swing set. The turnaround also has a bathroom that was coin operated. $.10 to get into the stalls.

This is my all time favorite aquarium. It is very old, one of the oldest buildings on the boardwalk now. They used to have the largest lobster I had ever seen and it has been the closest I have ever gotten to an octopus or a seal. The seals are loud and sound like they are burping. You can buy fish heads to feed them and they will bark for your fish all day long. One was named Clara which had a glass eye and was the loudest. she got fed the most.