View From Inside The Jail !!

Arnold was here ... 

As were the Goonies ... so we were in good company in the Astoria County Jail, now a Film Museum showing bits and pieces of movies made here and in the surrounding Oregon area.  Their most famous is Goonies ... which most people have never heard of.  Check it out some time and see Astoria in a different light!!

It definitely looks like a jail ... and it felt like a jail inside.  Kudos to the locals who kept it intact by filling it with movie memorabilia ... after all, Clark Gable got his start here in Astoria in the early 1920's!!

Parts of it have been kept "jail-like" ... while some cells were filled to the brim with all stuff "Goonie".  

Pictures of the local Sheriffs were posted on the wall ... pretty shifty looking to me!!

The back room was set up with half a small pickup, a kitchen table and a window scene, where you can jump in and film your own movie.  I couldn't talk Patty or Dan into playing Kindergarten Cop, but we checked out every shelf of props ... and found this scary guy!!

I'm all about the "antiques" ... and this beautiful radiator was one of several placed around the jail.  Pretty beautiful for jailhouse heat.

One of the sites I hadn't been to was the Astoria Column ... circumvented by the road construction, Dan finally found the right road to get us here.  Built in 1926 by somebody related to somebody ...  just kidding!  It was built by John Astor's (founder of Astoria) great grandson.  A circular staircase takes you to the very top where you can fly balsa wood gliders to the lawn below.

166 steps later, we had a great view!!  I wandered around the walkway while Dan stayed plastered with his back to the tower ... a little problem with heights!!  Even though it was foggy, the view was amazing.

There is a name for this type of artwork, but I don't know what it is.  Maybe someone can help??  It is very beautiful up close and depicts the discovery of this area.

Lewis and Clark landed here on the North side of the Columbia river.  When it was decided they would  explore further South, they crossed in canoes and built a fort towards the upper left of this image.

Awwwww baby fawns!!!  On the way up to the column, these twin babies ran across the road.  We never did see "mom".  

On the way back to Long Beach, we stopped at Fort Columbia.  Built in the 1800's, it guarded the Columbia River.  Two 6" guns (one shown here) were later installed to keep them for history's sake.    The other guns used here were "disappearing guns" ... mounted on tracks that could be retracted and dropped below grade.  Anyone coming up the river wouldn't see anything until they were blown from the water!!  Pretty inventive!!

Many buildings remain, including the Barracks, Officers Quarters and the Hospital.

Patty took a closer look at the barracks (they were not open for tours today) and discovered these beautiful babies.  Although mom tried to land a couple of time, there was just no room!!!  

A late lunch at the Lost Roo resulted in a new Chowder find!!  Their Fisherman's Chowder was a close rival to The Fish Peddler in Bay City.  Stuffed to the gills, we spent a lazy afternoon back at the park, followed by ... what else ... more food.  Dan's barbecued chicken!!!