Astoria (the Grand Tour, Part the First)

The Astoria Column from the Riverfront Trail

 In June of 2024 I turned 60 and wanted to celebrate with a bit more than a day trip to the coast, or even an over-nighter. Taking a week or so to tour the entirety of the Oregon coast by bus seemed like the very obvious thing to do. But for me, June and July on the coast is just too crowded. So I'd wait until August to make the journey from Astoria to Brookings on public transit. 

(To be sure, I did make a day trip to the coast on my birthday. There happened to be a minus tide, so I went to Seal Rock for the day. But that is a subject for a future post).

I made a series of hotel reservations, for Astoria, Garibaldi, Lincoln City, Florence, North Bend, Brookings and Bandon. I'll describe each in their own posts. But first, let's get to Astoria, the staring point for the whole endeavor.

From Eugene, Amtrak is the way to get to Portland to make connections to Astoria. Oregon Point operates the route between Portland's Union Station and the Astoria transit center, with stops in Cannon Beach and Seaside along the way. Oregon Point ticketing and reservations can be made through Amtrak's system. It is a bit more expensive than the regular intercity buses on the coast. A handful of years ago, Clatsop County's Sunset Empire Transportation District operated a route between Portland and Astoria. It ran along the Columbia River, and was part of the NW Connector network of transit systems. 

As is the case with most of my bus trips to the coast, arrival time in Astoria was too early to attempt an early checkin at my hotel. Instead of killing the time just walking around for a few hours, I caught the Astoria Riverfront Trolley and rode it to the end of the line, to then walk back along the riverfront trail.

"Old 300," the Astoria Riverfront Trolley

Operators and conductors on the trolley are all volunteers. The librarian from the Seaside Public Library happened to be leading the trip I took. We learned from her that all of the flat land in Astoria is reclaimed from the Columbia River. There is no room for urban growth in Astoria. Spectacular old houses dot the hills, turrets reaching yet higher. The "Goonies House" is here. It was made famous in the Stephen Spielberg movie. Visitors are advised to park at the bottom and hike the hill. There is little if any parking, and it is a neighborhood where people live. I did not make the hike.

Hillside in Astoria

Where there is new construction in Astoria, local regulations mandate that houses in new developments not look alike. This prevents the cookie cutter housing that pops up seemingly everywhere these days. 

New Housing Development in Astoria

It is a three-mile walk along the riverfront trail back to my hotel. More than other cities with rivers, Astoria has some really cool stuff along the waterfront. Derelict canneries and other equipment, birds, and even the pilings pose when the light is right.

Abandoned cannery

Derelict cannery boiler

Cormorant

Pilings on the Columbia River in Astoria

Pig 'N Pancake is a small chain with five locations along the coast between Newport in the south, and Astoria in the north. There's a sixth location, but it's in Portland. The one in Astoria is located next door to the Atomic Motel, where I was staying. Or rather, where I was going to be staying. It was still a bit too early for me to comfortably ask to check in early, so I went to eat. 

I had the blueberry waffle, topped with blueberry compote and whipped cream. I made it a combo, adding bacon and scrambled eggs. In past visits to the Pig 'N Pancake, in Newport and in Lincoln City, I've had some of their specialties: eggs Benedict with Dungeness crab, and razor clams and eggs. As delicious as they sound.

The Atomic Motel

The Atomic Motel had a retro design that was a nice change from the uniformity of feeling that most motels seem to share. I picked it because of its proximity to the transit center, seven tenths of a mile. I checked in, only to drop my bags on the bed, and then hit the road again. There'd be time to relax when darkness came.

A few years earlier I had traveled to Astoria in late December, planning to make pinhole pictures around town. Well, it snowed. A lot. I was trapped in Astoria for a week. I could walk around, but it was truly treacherous. On the south side of the peninsula on which Astoria sits is a bridge. The Old Youngs Bay Bridge is Conde McCullough's earliest coastal bridge, dating to 1921. I wanted to make some pictures of it, not covered in snow and ice.

To get to the bridge, I could take one of two routes. Two and a half miles along the water on the perimeter of town, or two miles, directly over the hill. It would have been easiest to walk around, but I've done that before, and it would be the route I take back from the bridge. There are some really steep streets in Astoria. The kind that have appeared in dreams where I cannot get a footing and keep slipping backwards. Fortunately, the route I took over the hill featured steps in the sidewalk. 

8th street sidewalk with steps

There's a park and boat docks next to the northern end of the bridge. I took a load off for a bit. Film holders can get heavy. The weather was beatiful, the exact opposite of my previous visit. I made pictures of the bridge from different angles, and crossed it. A ritual of mine is to walk across the coastal bridges. If I'm lucky, a loaded log truck will pass me. It's a cheap thrill, but quite a rush. The Old Youngs Bay Bridge is the most comfortable of the bridges to cross. The sidewalk seems a bit wider, and the traffic is less than the others I've walked. 

Old Youngs Bay Bridge

In 1964 a new bridge, connecting Astoria and Warrenton on Highway 101 was completed. It was named the New Youngs Bay Bridge. I haven't checked, but this would have been when the Youngs Bay Bridge became the Old Youngs Bay Bridge. But, what's in a name?

Entering Astoria where Highway 101 Business and Highway 101 meet sits a Whispering Giant. It is one of a series of sculptures by artist Peter Wolf Toth honoring indigenous peoples. There are at least one in each of the 50 states, as well as a couple in Canada and one in Hungary. The one in Astoria is called Ikala Nawan and honors the Clatsop, Chinook and all the tribes of the Pacific Northwest. It is also precisely the type of thing I find and see, where a motorist might see something pass by too quickly to comprehend, if they see it at all. It's so easy to miss an 18-foot head on the side of the road.