We spent most of the day in Astoria, named for the Astor family which helped to settle the area. The morning was spent at the Maritime Museum and then at Fort Clatsop. Right before lunch we went to the magnificent Astoria Column, which shows the history of the area along its outer wall.
After lunch there was some time to walk around in town before the ship left Astoria for the famous Columbia River Bar. This graveyard of many ships is considered one of the most dangerous river bar crossings in the world because of the currents, tides, and sediment laid down by the river. The picture is of the lighthouse at Cape Disappointment on the Washington side of the Columbia. It is here that the Coast Guard trains its personnel in high-surf rescues.
