Astoria is a quint town that looks like time forgot, say somewhere between the late 1800's and 1930. Heritage homes line the streets, there are trams, swing sets in the backyards, no high rises here. Downtown seems to be anchored by the Liberty Theatre which was opened in 1925 and was originally home to vaudeville acts and silent movies. The theatre underwent a $8 million dollar renovation in 2009, the exterior uses Mediterranean elements and continues that theme inside with 12 original oil paintings with all Venice themes. Today when we walked in there was a children's show about to be performed, Snow White - a ballet. Great community here were everyone says hello and goes out of there way to guide you to any site you would like to see.
We hiked up to the Astoria Column which was built as a salute to Astoria's early explorers and early settlers, It was a legacy gift of the Centennial celebration and one of the most prominent Astoria markers which towers 125 feet above the historical town. Yes we did climb the 164 interior spiral steps for the commanding views over the Astoria bridge, Pacific Ocean, Saddle Mountain and Young's Bay. We hiked up the main road to the tower but a couple locals guided us down the Cathedral Tree Trail, a very nice hike, very similar to one on our North Shore back home.
A stroll through town and along the Astoria Riverwalk brought us back to the ship for the 12:30 all aboard time. An hour later we emerged from the Columbia RIver back to the Pacific with the Pilot leaping onto his boat we are off on our last stretch back home.
Just put out the bags and the boxes, hopefully everything will be intact pier side.
A few photos of today, two parts...
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