The port stop for today is Astoria, Oregon. It is a quaint little town on the banks of the Columbia River. There were a lot of old houses built on the mountainside of the town. We got ready and headed for breakfast in the buffet, then packed all of our gear in out backpacks and got off of the ship at about 10:00 AM.
Port of Astoria, Oregon
There was a shuttle service that cost $7.00 per person that dropped us off in town, about 1.5 miles from the port. The shuttle cost was for the day, for unlimited rides, and also had a couple of other stops. We had considered walking, but the main selling point was that it also included a ride up to “The Column”, which is an observation tower on top of the nearby hill, about 600 feet in elevation above the town.
It was supposed to have great views of the river and surrounding mountains. We had walked up enough hills in San Francisco, so we were glad to purchase the tickets just to be able to ride to the Column. The only issue was that the local shuttle to the Column did not start operating until 1:00 PM, and we found out later that this was mandated by the cruise line so that they could sell ship’s excursions to the Column for the morning.
Columbia River in Astoria, Oregon
We rode a bus to the middle of the small town, and walked a couple of blocks looking at some of the local stores. We then headed to the Maritime Museum, located on the waterfront. The town also had a trolly that operated on old railroad tracks along the waterfront.
However, the trolly only made one round trip per hour, so it was not worth waiting on. The town also had a really nice asphalt paved river walk that was about 4 miles or more in length, and ran from the pier where the ship was berthed (Pier 1) to a converted fish processing building that was now stores, at Pier 39. There were also a lot of Sea Lions congregating on special docks near Pier 39, so we headed in that direction. It was about a mile along the river walk from the museum to Pier 39.
Sea Lions at Pier 39
The weather this morning had originally been mostly cloudy, and a little cool, but the sun eventually appeared and it warmed up to the mid 60’s. There was some wind, so the walk along the river was still cool.
There were a lot of Sea Lions congregating at the special docks at a protected harbor near Pier 39, and we walked out to take pictures. They were very loud, and you could hear them long before we got to the the area where they were located.
We continued out to Pier 39, but were really disappointed that most of the spaces for businesses were vacant. There was only one coffee shop in operation, and one restaurant that was not yet open. The building had been used for processing large fish, presumably salmon. There were large, old scales in several locations that apparently had been used to weigh the fish brought in for processing when the building had been used for that purpose.
Old Pilings Along The River Walk
We had seen the trolly pass by on our way out to Pier 39, so we thought about riding it back onto town, but that is when we found out that it was about an hour before it would be back here, and since there was nothing to really do at Pier 39 to pass the time, we decided to walk back. We never did see the trolly again, so it verified that walking was much quicker and a better use of our time.
We got on one of the shuttle buses at the Maritime Museum and rode it back into town to the stop that was set up for the shuttle to the Column.
The Column – Astoria, Oregon
We looked in a few more stores, and then went to the special shuttle stop for the Column. We wanted to take the first shuttle at 1:00 PM since the ship was scheduled to leave at 3:30 PM, and we needed enough time to get back to the ship before the rest of the crowds.
There was a volunteer giving directions at the Column Shuttle stop, so we sat on a bench with a couple of other riders and waited about 30 minutes for the first shuttle to arrive, and that is when we found out from the volunteer why the shuttle to the Column did not start operating until 1:00 PM.
Views From The Column
We were glad we had arrives early at the shuttle stop. By the time the first shuttle arrived, there was quite a line. However, the volunteer did a great job of making sure the people that had arrived first got on the shuttle first.
It was not a long ride to the Column, but it was quite a steep climb in some areas, and the bus struggled to make it up the hill full of passengers. We did pass by some of the older homes, some dating from the late 1700’s to the early 1800’s. There were a lot of flowers blooming and the ride was really nice.
Chuck & Stephanie at the Column
We arrived the the Column, and immediately were glad we had waited to come up to visit. The views were spectacular. There was a circular stairway inside, so we opted to walk up the stairs to the top of the tower and the views were even better. It was a tough climb, about 8-10 stories. Going down was much more pleasant. After a few more photos, we waited on another shuttle to arrive to take us back down into town.
Once we arrived back into town, we walked about a block to the shuttle stop for going back to the ship. We were glad we were not walking the 1.5 miles back, although we had to wait in line a bit before we boarded out shuttle.
Heading Back Out to Sea
After getting back on the ship we had planned on doing a little laundry, hoping that we might have gotten back tot he ship early enough so that the laundry was not crowded. We first ate a little lunch, and then gathered up out dirty clothes and headed to the Laundromat. We apparently just made it, there were two machines available when we arrived, but several people came in after us and were going to have to wait on washers.
We loaded up out two loads, checked the time for the cycle, and headed to the Calypso Bar for a refreshment while the clothes were waiting on the washers. The ship was scheduled to depart Astoria at 4:00 PM, and started to leave about the time the drying cycle was scheduled to be complete. Stephanie headed down to get the clothes out of the dryer, and I stayed up on the deck to take photos of the ship leaving.
Back Out Into The Pacific Ocean
We were several miles up the river from the Pacific Ocean, so it took the ship a while to get to the ocean, and passed by some nice scenery on the way. It was quite breezy now with the ship underway, and had turned a little cooler. I went to help out with the clothes, and we were both able to come back up to see some of the scenery long before we actually got out to the ocean.
We stopped back for another refreshment and decided that we would not get all dressed up for tonight’s formal night, we were too tired and did not want to go through that effort. We just opted to eat dinner in the buffet. There were some good food items, but certainly not the lobster dinner we assumed was being served in the dining room on the last formal night. But, the lobster was still not worth the effort of getting ready, waiting in line for a table, and taking two hours to eat dinner.
After dinner, we headed over to the Vines wine bar and had a couple of glasses of wine. They were having a special party in the Atrium, but not many passengers showed up.
We decided to head back to the cabin for the night, it was late and we were tired.