2023-09-17 Columbia River

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This blog is about our cruise on the Columbia River with our friends Jim and Phyllis.

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September 17 – Portland, Oregon

We had an early morning pickup and were at the airport a little after 6:00am. No idea why the cruise company booked us such a very early flight. We were at the hotel around 11:30. The Saturday Farmer’s Market was going on about a block from the hotel so we walked down to see what they had.

At the corner was a beautiful 1870’s Italianate mansion. It was saved from the wrecking ball when the neighborhood in which it resided was demolished. It is now a museum and theater for live performances.

Then it was on to the farmer’s market.

Lots of eateries and the usual farmer’s market shops of fruit and vegetables,

local honey and jellies,

meats and seafood, lots of plants and flowers...

Abutilon Red Tiger

and lots of shops with crafts and interesting items for sale.

There was even a Hawaiian Shave Ice place (which we passed on). We settled for falafels and humus for lunch at a food truck. Best we have had since our trip to Turkey.

At 2:00 in the afternoon we were able to check into the cruise and get information for our embarkation tomorrow. While standing in line we chatted with John and Gladi from Wisconsin and Steve and Paula from Florida.

Jim and Phyllis didn’t arrive until late afternoon. We are joining them on this trip (they booked first). So good to be traveling with them again.

September 18 – Portland and the American Empress

For our shore excursion today we opted for a Hop-on-Hop-Off Tour. Many cities have Hop-on-Hop-Off Tour that are run by a company of the same name. So that is sort of what we expected. However, the American Steamboat Company did a take-off of Hop-on-Hop-Off tour using their own tour buses. They set out a route around the city with stops at places of interest. These buses drive from port to port to meet us the next day for more tours.

According to the guide, during World War II the was concern among rosarians that the roses in Europe would be destroyed due to the fighting. A large rose stock was sent to the city of Portland to be cared for during the conflict. The city was successful in preserving many roses and many were returned to Europe. And Portland kept many for the city. The next stop on the tour was the beautiful rose garden in Washington Park.

It seems the roses like the climate in Portland. It is rather late in the blooming season but the gardens were ablaze with roses. We had a lovely time wandering the gardens.

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More Washington Park Rose Garden
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After touring the gardens the guide handed out donuts before we got back on the bus. Portland is known for their Voodoo Donuts. The Voodoo donut shop provided a wide assortment of their offerings, including a Voodoo.

Next stop was a lovely Chinese Garden, Lan Su. Much of the garden was a collaboration with artisans from China. There were decorative stone walkways, lotus pools, pagodas, red lanterns and the large, interesting limestone rocks like those we saw in many gardens in China.

And there were many lovely flowers.

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More Lan Su Gardens
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After touring town we taken to the boat, the American Empress, where we settled into our rooms and did a bit of exploring of the four decks. The Empress is a sternwheeler that is operational. However, we were told that most of the power is supplied by regular engines. But most of the time the sternwheel rotated, making it look pretty authentic. Even the décor on the boat resembled the décor of the 1800’s from the heyday of steamboats.

As we sailed out we had good views of one of the bridges in Portland.

In the evening we enjoyed a performance in the lounge. The boat has a quartet…piano, percussion, base/guitar, and tenor sax/flute. The group was very good. Eric, the Cruise Director, provided vocals.

September 19 – Astoria, Oregon

Our first stop was Astoria, Oregon. This city is situated near the mouth of the Columbia River. The mouth of the Columbia River is made treacherous by the presence of many shoals and bars, known as the Columbia River Bar. This is one of the most treacherous stretchs of water int the world. And something like 2000+ boats have sunk here. The area is known as the “Graveyard of the Pacific”.

Our first stop on our Hop-on-Hop-off tour was the ornated Victorian 1885 home of Captain George Flavel, a prominent maritime pilot and entrepreneur.

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More Flavel House
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Flavel made his fortune when he became one of the first pilots that was able to navigate the Bar, so he was able to build a fortune piloting boats into and out of the Columbia River. To this day, every boat coming into the Columbia River must have a licensed Columbia River pilot aboard to assist with the navigation. There are currently about 122 pilots licensed specifically for working the Bar. Their work is very important and dangerous (jumping from a pilot boat onto a rolling ocean-going vessel, and visa versa, can be dangerous). Their annual salary (average $550,000 per year) reflects the importance of their work.

Astoria was the terminus of the Great Northern Railway. In commemoration of the railway and the Astor family’s contribution to the city, a large column was constructed at the top of a hill overlooking the Columbia. The Astoria Column was built in 1926, is 125 feet high and topped with an observation deck and has 164 steps on the interior Spiral Staircase.

The exterior was beautiful and fascinating. It is decorated with a sgraffito frieze or mural. Sgraffito is a decorative art form used often in the Mediterranean area. The frieze spials all the way to the top and depicts various historical events and Oregon scenes. If unrolled, the 7-foot wide spiral would stretch 525 feet.

The frieze was made by layering seven layers of differing colors of stucco (dark browns through light tans/creams) over the concrete tower. The artists then made the design by scratching ito the layers until getting to the color layer they wanted. The technique didn’t hold up so well in the wet, Oregon weather. The design has had to be restored a couple of times.

Paul climbed all the way to the top and got great views of the city, the river, and the surrounding mountains. The views were great.

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More Views from Astoria Column
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We were given little airplanes to throw off the top of the tower. There were a lot on the ground around the tower base.

After boarding the boat, we headed back up river for more great cruising.