Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)
After some checking, it turns out that Fort Clatsop was rebuilt and is now open.
How wonderful that you will get to see Janice on this trip. Fantastic.
Welcome to the Columbia River Maritime Museum
The city's signature museum is the Columbia River Maritime Museum, which is right up there with the best museums in Oregon. Portland, of course, has some larger museums, but Astoria's maritime museum is outstanding for a city with a population of about 10,000 residents. More than a few of the thousands of visitors who will come Astoria's way on more than 20 major cruise line port stops this season will find their way into the museum.
The showcase display is a 44-foot retired Coast Guard rescue boat. It is shown as though it were riding a huge wave crossing the Columbia River bar. The display tells how the boat was onced rammed by a 10,000-ton lumber ship in Yaquina Bay. The rescue boat disappeared beneath the wreckage of a wharf and no one thought it would ever float again. But when the wreckage was cleared, it bobbed to the surface and righted itself, just as it was designed to do.
Outside the museum on the Columbia River is the Columbia Lightship No. 604, the last of its kind. It stayed anchored most of the time out at sea to serve as a navigational aid, until it was retired in 1979. The museum admission of $8 includes a non-guided tour of the lightship.
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