#13- Climb the Astoria Column

Aaron and I have come to a conclusion.  The Astoria Column is highly underrated.  We have found that lots of people have not even heard of it, or if they have, they do not know what is so cool about it.  In fact, it is a great historical landmark in Oregon.  It is a column, built up on a hill up above the city of Astoria.  Painted on the outside are historical happenings in Oregon, from the Native Americans to the landing of Captain Robert Gray in his ship the Columbia to the arrival of the railroad in Astoria.  I wish there was a staircase around the outside so you could look at the pictures more closely.  Instead the stairs are on the inside.  However, there are some great pictures on the webpage for the Astoria Column that show close-ups of each scene (http://www.astoriacolumn.org/).  The drive itself, up the column was entertaining to us.  Once you get to a certain point on your journey up there, there are markings on the road that point you in the right direction.  They aren't arrows as might be expected; instead symbols that we thought looked a little more like a Mayan temple instead of the column "point" you in the right direction as you travel through some residential neighborhoods and then up the final curvy ascent.  


The view from the top is amazing.  We happened to go on a somewhat beautiful January day.  That is to say that from the top of the column we could see the rain moving across the landscape.  The sun and fog combined with the moving rain was fantastically beautiful.  We could see the bay, the Columbia River, and perhaps even the Pacific Ocean disguised behind sun rays bursting through clouds.  

One of the unique and fun things to do at the Astoria column, besides take in the view, is to buy a couple of basal wood planes at the Visitor Center.  We actually had a lot of fun flying these off of the top of the column.  A couple of them just spiraled down to the ground, but one of them caught a great air current and soared for quite a while before making a perfectly soft landing at the bottom of the column.  If you are up for simple pleasures, this is definitely one of them to enjoy here.

Flying planes off of the column while overlooking the mighty Columbia River.

    
The Astoria Column was definitely something I am glad was on my list.  Some people might find that the drive is not worth it, due to the fact that it is just a column that you climb up and enjoy the view, but Astoria itself has some great little restaurants and a few other attractions that can be enjoyed on the same trip.  Personally, for Aaron and I, the Astoria Column holds special meaning, but that is another story for another time.