Seaside & Beyond

We were quite lucky with the weather the entire week, except for one day. So our choice was to stay inside the house or take a drive up or down the coast. We thought it would be good for us to check out Seaside, about 10 miles north of Cannon Beach since the hubby’s family reunion later this year will be in the area and at the time we considered staying at the Worldmark Seaside.

The town of Seaside has a different feel than Cannon Beach. CB is more laid back while Seaside is a bit touristier. As I said earlier, the day was overcast, rainy, and major fog layer the entire day. We didn’t walk the streets, just cruising down from one end to another. And it certainly didn’t take long to finish the town.

We continued north bound to Astoria, a historical seaside town, significant as being the oldest American settlement west of the Rockies. This is where the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean. On this day, a cruise ship stopped in the town. And all of sudden, the quiet town was filled with visitors. It is a good thing for the town, as it certainly can use some flow of economy. We crossed the Astoria-Megler Bridge, stretches 4.1 miles from Astoria, across the mouth of the Columbia River, to Point Ellice in Washington. The marine layer was so thick on the day, that we could hardly see anything. When we were crossing the bridge, I felt like this is the bridge to nowhere, rather strange!

On the way back, we stopped in the Fort Columbia State Park. The fog set heavily on the tree lines above the military housing, made for perfect romantic setting of pictures even though we were rushing back to the car as soon as we could!!!

We had one more stop before heading back to CB. We went to the Columbia River Maritime Museum. If it is relating to water, boat, and fishing, Tom is definitely interested. We spent at least an hour inside strolling around the exhibition. We watched a short film about the Columbia River bar, where the river joins the ocean. I love the history on salmon canning; enjoy the vintage labels used on the salmon cans.



P.S. The pictures were not so good since it was dark and rainy outside. I decided to upgrade them a bit using some PS Actions to convert them into vintage, B&W images instead. They turned out pretty good. You should see the original, they are so yucky...