An Antique and Adventure Day 22 (Oregon)

Blog prompt: Today is National Cherish an Antique Day. What is something you own that you think will someday be considered a valuable antique? Describe it.

I have my parents dining room table that they had in China when they first got married. Now it is in my kitchen and it means a lot to me. There is a sliding drawer that goes both ways and it holds silverware my parent reupholstered the seats. It is a small table with a removable leaf and has four chairs.

Travel Notes:

This morning we were going to go to Mt. Saint Helens but most everything was con one side and napkins on the other. I'm not sure what kind of wood it is but I know losed because of the snow. So, we headed south into Oregon. Our first stop was Astoria; not because we knew what was there, but because it was the biggest name on the map after Portland.

When we arrived in town, the Columbia River Maritime Museum was the first thing we saw and I immediately got on the internet to find out the cost and what exhibits they had. It only cost $9 per person (which included the $1 off with AAA discount). The museum was really interesting with lots of artifacts. Our admission let us come and go all day so that worked out well since we left for lunch. The girl at the desk recommended that we go to The Ship Inn which was wonderful for lunch. It was a British type of restaurant so Don had fish and chips and I had a chicken pasty. From our table, we were able to see the Astoria-Megler Bridge which has been used in a lot of commercials. This town has also been in a lot of films like Free Willy, Kindergarden Cop, and the Guardian plus lots of other movies. After lunch we stopped by the Chamber of Commerce and met the nicest people. One lady spent a lot of time with us and made us feel like we were special and didn’t act like we were interrupting her from something else. I loved getting all the information about what to do in Astoria and surrounding areas. Then we went on the trolley ride which was the best deal we found on this trip. For $1 per person we had a 1 hour tour along the trolley route. After the tour we took a tour of the Lightship Columbia which was included in our museum admission.

After that we found a neat motel called the Lamplighter which is located downtown Astoria. I called different motels (so we didn’t have a repeat of last night!) and this person sounded pleasant and the price was just right. When we checked in, the lady who checked us in was not the one on the phone but she was really welcoming too! Only the downstairs rooms have internet access with an Ethernet cable so I’m glad I chose downstairs. They also served soup at 5pm in the lobby and a free continental breakfast in the morning. There was a Pig N’Blanket restaurant right next door which is where we ate dinner. Our room was comfortable and I felt safe so I would highly recommend that people come here if they stay the night.

After checking in, we went to a few antique stores down town and then drove down to see the sea lions that we saw when we were on the trolley ride. After that we drove to Fort Stevens State Park to see the Columbia River Bar, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. It is a really dangerous place for ships and they have to have a Columbia River Bar Pilot to guide them in and out of this area. In fact, we went to see the shipwreck of the Peter Iredale which wrecked in 1906.

See more pictures on Flickr – click HERE.