Charming Astoria, Oregon

We began our visit to the Oregon Coast at the northernmost point of U.S. Highway 101 in Oregon, and that is the quaint and historic town of Astoria. Astoria sits at the mouth of the Columbia River and is known for quite a bit, including its history as the oldest city in Oregon, being founded in 1811, and also the first permanent settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. That is, the first settlement by English speaking Americans of European descent – the Spanish were in California before 1811 and, of course, the First Nations preceded us by a lot. Astoria was named for John Jacob Astor, who made his fortune in the fur trade west of the Mississippi, nearly driving the beaver to extinction in the process. It is also known for its history as the site of nearby Fort Clatsop, which was the home of the Lewis & Clark Expedition in the winter of 1805-1806. According to Meriwether Lewis’s diaries, which were popularized in the Stephen Ambrose book, Undaunted Courage, the winter spent at Fort Clatsop was cold, rainy, and miserable. The days that we spent in Astoria were, fortunately, quite pleasant.

We started our our time in town taking a ride on Astoria’s trolley. The trolley runs up and down a rail along the Columbia River and the conductors narrate the ride with interesting facts about the city and suggestions of things to do. The trolley reminded us of the streetcars we have ridden near home in New Orleans and, in fact, are of the same vintage, only “Old 300”, as this car is called, started out life in San Antonio and was retired for many years before it was sold to the city of Astoria, where it is beloved by residents and visitors alike. At $1 for a ride and $2 for an all day pass, it’s the best bargain in town.

For our first morning in Astoria, I had scheduled a ranger-led kayak tour, led by one of the staff at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park. The three-hour paddle on the Lewis and Clark River features a number of stops along the river for the ranger to provide commentary on the unique ecology of the area, where salt water and fresh water meet, a bit about the logging industry, which was a going concern until the late 1970s, and stories of the Lewis & Clark expedition. Of course, we also visited the replica of Fort Clatsop which was created about 20 years ago to replace the first replica of the fort, which was built in the 1950s and destroyed by fire in the 1990s.

In the afternoon, we stopped by the Flavel House, which was built by Captain George Flavel in 1886. Captain Flavel made his fortune as a bar pilot, meaning that he guided ships around dangerous sandbars at the mouth of the Columbia River. He later branched out into other businesses, eventually running the town bank. The house is over 11,000 square feet and takes up a full city block. It was also used as a location in the movie “The Goonies.”

As we walked around Astoria, I couldn’t help but notice the historic Liberty theatre, opened in 1925 during a time of major prosperity for Astoria. We checked the schedule and found that, on our last night in town, a performance of the Columbia River Symphony was scheduled. Deciding that it would be worthwhile to go, if only to see the inside of this beautiful historic theatre, we walked the two blocks from our hotel, the Norblad. The Columbia River Symphony is a community orchestra led by Cory Pederson, a local musician who has led school and civic musical groups in the area for nearly two decades. The concert we heard was a summer pops program and included fun pieces such as Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Beauty and the Beast, and Perfect Symphony, popularized by Ed Sheeran. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable evenings of this trip so far.

The Norblad Hotel

Just in case we hadn’t experienced enough historical places and experiences in our time in our short time in Astoria, we found out near the end of our stay that our hotel, The Norblad, built in 1924, is the oldest hotel in the oldest settlement west of the Rockies (again, by English-speaking Americans of European descent), which, of course doesn’t make it the oldest hotel west of the Rockies, but, you get the idea. It’s old, relative to other buildings in this part of the world. It’s also haunted and has been featured on the Travel Channel’s series, Ghost Adventures.

There’s so much about Astoria to love – it’s also known for its craft breweries and restaurants, the Oregon film museum (featuring everything you wanted to know about “The Goonies,”) the Columbia River Maritime Museum, and nearby Fort Stevens State Park.