Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Museums and Trolleys in Astoria!!

The first stop of the day was the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria Oregon.  What an amazing place with full size fishing and rescue boats inside.  
A big emphasis is placed on the Coast Guard here due to the treacherous waters at the mouth of the Columbia River.
The Coast Guard has even donated boats, now out of commission, to show how rescues happen.  This boat is at almost a 45 degree angle!!
This map shows boats and ships that have sunk at the mouth of the Columbia and beyond from the 1800's to date.  When the incoming tide meets the outflowing river, 40-60 foot waves are created.  That and sand bars with accompanying shallow water, has led to many deaths.
Due to the dangerous waters, special Bar Pilots have to be hired (to the tune of $214,000 a year average) to captain the ship across the bar.  Once through this treacherous section, additional pilots must be hired to take the ships up the Columbia River.
There are lots of ship models from old to new.  Each shows an amazing amount of detail and hundreds of hours of work.
Here's an actual diving suit with small pump for air, as seen in the picture behind.  As a diver, I would NEVER go down in something like this!!!
The museum is amazing and a must-see!  You can't miss it ... it's built next to this HUGE propeller.  Millions are spent keeping the deep water channel deep enough for these babies to traverse through.
Just outside the museum is the Trolley Stop.  It runs the length of the port area and the volunteer operators will give you lots of interesting history, including the movie this building was in before 100 mph winds blew off the top floor, and the location of The Goonies house!!
Another interesting tidbit ... these sealions are all males.  According to our operator, they all took a trip to California looking for girlfriends.  Since someone else beat them to it and none were available, they came back here to snack on salmon until they become a little more handsome, at which time they will trek to California again, looking for beach babes!!
This cutie pie didn't like that his owner ran into the building next door.  He's perched on the window and the rear view mirror!!  Certainly hope he stayed put.   It was a short trip, but an interesting one, learning about the buildings that burned, that most canned salmon comes here from Alaska with no label ... as the distributor sells the cans, labels are attached and that five micro-breweries have been located here in the old fishery buildings.
By now it's lunch time, and what better place than the Bridgewater Bistro.  No, we never heard of it before and had no recommendation to eat here.  It was just a shot in the dark that was a bullseye!!
The Fisherman's Sandwich (salmon) was just about the best I've ever had, along with awesome fries.  The peanut butter cheesecake drenched in chocolate was even better.  Patty had clam and mussel chowder that she loved.  Dan said his burger wasn't much to look at, but it was very good.  Prices were very reasonable ... we three ate for $34.00.  Watch where you step on the way out (next to the fireplace)!!!
After we got home, a quick trip to the quilt store was a success for Patty.  I found some nice material, but was waiting to hit the kite store for the Revolution 1.5.  I knew they were expensive, and it was confirmed ... $325.  I'm doing a little more research to see if it's the one for me, but so far it's numero uno!!

A couple of leftover images from the non-existent internet yesterday ... a drive to Long Beach found this van stuck ... badly.  I see a tow truck in their future!!
I just love the texture and lines the ocean makes in the sand!!
Here's the sand dollar I spoke of before ... seagulls pull them out and punch holes in the top, eating what's inside.  If you are quick and beat the seagulls, you can usually find them intact.
The only reason I was able to post a blog today is because I'm sitting at Micky D's in Long Beach.  They actually have the closest WiFi.  Pretty sure I'm the only one here on a computer ... and it's getting dark, so I'm off to my rig for the night.  














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