Astoria

     So we decided after 5 1/2 years of living here that it was high time to check out some of this state.  Astoria was an easy and logical choice for reasons you'll see below.  After all, why go just for the fun of it?  Might as well make it educational too.  :)

     We had just 48 hours and a full agenda, but we did it.  Our first stop was at Fort Stevens, which was built and used during the Civil War as well as both WWI and WWII.  

                        

     It was Memorial Day weekend and they had some great re-enactments all day on Saturday.  Of course, the boys loved watching and hearing the different cannons go off.  Fort Stevens State Park is also home to the Peter Iredale shipwreck, the skeleton of a British bark that ran aground in 1906.

     We also visited Pier 39 and the Hanthorn Cannery Museum which has a big Bumble Bee display and many artifacts and pictures showing how the fishing industry and canning of fish has developed from 1875 to present.  We visited the Maritime Museum, too.  Check out this anchor and chain...

 

     Among the other places we visited:  the Astoria Column, built in 1926, it is 125 feet tall and sits on top of a hill, so after climbing spiral stairs (all 165 of them) we had some fantastic panoramic views.  The outside of the column has fourteen scenes painted or carved into the column which are fascinating to look at as well.

 

     We drove across the Astoria Bridge, which is 4.1 miles across the Columbia River, we watched a large group of male sea lions, we rode on the River Front Trolley after walking along the river boardwalk.  But the main reason for the trip was our visit to Fort Clatsop.  Adam, as a 4th grader, has been studying the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  There is so much history in that area in regard to Lewis and Clark, their winter lodging, their trade with the Indians and more. 

     We toured the exhibit, the boys participated in the Junior Ranger program, we hiked the trail out to the replica of the fort they built and lived in during the winter of 1805. 

     Overall, it was a great trip, we had a good time and should there come another opportunity, we would go back because there was more we wanted to do, places to visit, but we were out of time!