Astoria, OR

Last month my wife and I drove down to Astoria, OR. A very nice drive from Seattle, once you get off I-5. Astoria has some beautiful Queen Anne style houses, actually the largest quantity of Queen Annes on the west coast after San Francisco. And a lot of them have not been monkeyed with (ie screwed up in bad remodels).

There is a lot to do here, especially as a tourist. There is a great farmer's market on Sundays, the trolley ride, the Astoria Column, the Goonie's house, historic museums, maritime museum, nice walks around the neighborhoods to look at some amazing architecture and of course a quick drive to some nice beaches.

We were able to get to Shipwreck Beach one day. As the name suggest there is a shipwreck here, the Peter Iredale from the early 1900's. At different times of the year the wreck can be completed covered by the beach or even more exposed then the photos I have taken here show. I would love to do a photo study on this.

While taking photos of the shipwreck during the sunset something amazing happened. Looking out on the pacific ocean right were the waves were starting to break, a swarm of birds just appeared spanning the whole length of the beach. I was speachless as I watched this amazing natural event happen. Everyonce in a while you would even see a line of pelicans fly by, diving down in between the waves, with a the swarming seabirds in the background. Luckily I was able to grab a couple of decent photos of the event.

I look forward to getting back down to Astoria again sometime in the future, even if it is just to go visit the beach.