Washington D.C.: Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality NM

Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument
Saturday, August 10, 2019, Washington, D.C.

On my last trip to Washington D.C. in 2019, I visited the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument.  This National Monument is interesting for two reasons, obviously one is its connection to the National Women’s Party, a group in the United States that fought for women’s suffrage and other issues of women’s equality.  Second, the history and architecture of this building is so interesting!

The home was built between 1799 and 1800, and it was probably designed by Leonard Harbaugh at the beginning of his career.  He also designed many notable buildings in the early days of Washington D.C.  In 1814, the British partially burned the home during the War of 1812; the stories go that there was gunfire at the home directed at British soldiers.  The home was owned and occupied by the Sewall family until 1912.

Vermont Senator Porter Dale purchased the home in 1922, and renovated it.  Meanwhile, the National Women’s Party had purchased a different property nearby, which was seized by eminent domain to build the Federal Triangle complex.  On the hunt for a new headquarters property, organization co-founder Alva Vanderbilt Belmont purchased an option for the Sewall House.  They purchased the property in 1929.  In the 1950s there was a proposal to condemn the building and demolish it to build underground security vaults for the Senate building.  Thankfully, citizen opposition saved the building.

What was going on inside the walls was equally fascinating!

The fight for women’s suffrage in the United States is largely considered to have begun at the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1840.  I have visited that site as well, if you want to read more about it!  It took 80 more years of lobbying and protesting before white women finally universally gained the right to vote in the United States.  Of course, this all happened before the National Women’s Party owned the Belmont-Paul House, but since that time, the party has lobbied for other issues of women’s rights and eliminating sex discrimination, notably, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

The ERA was passed by Congress in 1972, and was ratified by some of the states, but it was not passed by enough states to become an amendment to the Constitution.  Since the deadline passed, a few more states have ratified the amendment, but of course, those are not legally binding.  Some detractors argue that after so many other laws have passed, notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, that the amendment is no longer needed.

The tour of the house included some of the artifacts of the party, like writing desks and clothing, as well as exhibits on the attempt to pass the suffrage legislation.  There were also banners that the women carried during their two and a half year picket of the White House.  You read that correctly!  Women involved in the National Women’s Party stood outside the White House from January 10, 1917, to June 1919.  They were there in all sorts of weather, and were arrested, beaten, and went on hunger strikes to protest their treatment in jail.  In response, prison guards forced feeding tubes down their throats, causing injuries that never healed.  The attempt to gain women’s suffrage was not always a peaceful undertaking.   

In 2021, the National Women’s Party ceased operations, and donated its papers and artifacts to the Library of Congress.  The legacy of this movement lives on in the education provided by the National Monument at the Belmont-Paul House.  It was an interesting place to visit! 

 

 

 

Salem Weekend: Silver Falls State Park

Sunday, September 1, 2019, Silver Falls State Park, Silverton, Oregon

On my weekend trip to Oregon in 2019, I took the day to go to Silver Falls State Park, and hike the Canyon Trail, also know as the Trail of 10 Falls.  This park is such a gem in the Oregon Parks System!

The park was once the site of Silver Falls City, which was located at the top of South Falls.  The community was largely a logging community, but after the land was cleared of timber, a local entrepreneur sold admissions to the falls area and hosted events where cars were pushed over the falls, and a daredevil even rode over the largest falls in a canoe in 1928.  His name was “Daredevil Al” Faussett, and yes, he survived the 177 foot drop.  That has all been cleaned up now.

In 1926, there was a campaign to give Silver Falls National Park status, but it was not approved, due to all the ugly stumps and mess left from its logging days, not to mention the carcasses of cars that were no doubt left at the base of the falls.  Instead, in 1935, Present Roosevelt named it a Recreational Demonstration Area, and the Civilian Conservation Corps moved in to build facilities, clean up debris, build trails and widen some of the trails behind the waterfalls.  Yes, the trails behind the waterfalls already existed, because the area was formed with basalt over sandstone, and the softer sandstone eroded over time, both to create the canyon, and to erode the narrow pathways behind some of the falls.

When you hike the Canyon Trail, you will pass 10 different waterfalls; you can walk behind some of the waterfalls for a stunning view!  On the 7 mile hike, you pass South Falls, Lower South Falls, Lower North Falls, Double Falls, Drake Falls, Middle North Falls, Winter Falls, Twin Falls, North Falls and Upper North Falls.  Winter Falls is at the end of a half mile spur trail off the main trail and Double Falls is on a 0.1 mile spur trail.  When I was there in early September, it was pretty dry from the summer weather; I would love to go back in the spring when the waterfalls are at their peak flow!

I was there on a Sunday, on Labor Day weekend, and the park was packed.  Next time I would go on a weekday if I could, and I would definitely camp in the campground there. I think that would be so much fun!

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you which waterfall is in which photo, but enjoy!

Salem Weekend: Oregon State Insane Asylum

Saturday, August 31, 2019, Salem, Oregon

In 2019, I took a Labor Day long-weekend trip to Salem, Oregon.  Some of the trip was for chores (getting new tires!), but I also had time for some sightseeing.

The Oregon State Insane Asylum, now known as Oregon State Hospital in Salem, Oregon, has a long and fascinating history. 

The Architecture

The hospital was built in 1883 as a Kirkbride Institution, and housed both men and women, and for part of its history, children.  Kirkbride plan hospitals were known for their cutting-edge (at the time) ideas for treating the mentally ill, based on the belief that natural light and fresh air were critical for one’s well-being.  Most Kirkbride facilities also gave jobs to patients who were physically and mentally able to work. 

There were several different architectural designs, but the most common was the “bat-wing” style, where wings of the building stretched out from a large main portion of the building.  There were 73 Kirkbride hospitals built; 33 Kirkbride institutions are still in existence in some form and on the National Register of Historic Places today.  Oregon State Hospital has one of the only remaining original Kirkbride buildings.  The building now houses the Museum of Mental Health, which is operated by a non-profit not associated with the hospital.   

However, the grounds still house a psychiatric facility, which is not open to the public. 

The Hospital

The hospital first began treating patients in Portland in 1862; the facility moved to Salem with the Kirkbride building construction in 1883, and is still operating today.  The facility treated both men and women, and for a period of time also treated children.  While the hospital did have some success in treating patients and returning them to their families, it was not without its controversies.  As with all of the state mental institutions, it had periods where it was horribly overcrowded, with over 3,600 patients at one point.   

The hospital practiced eugenics between 1923 and 1983, sterilizing over 2600 patients during the program’s history.  Lobotomies were also performed there until 1981.  In 1942, an accidental mass poisoning incident led to the deaths of 47 patients.  Sodium flouride, a cockroach poison, was accidentally substituted for powdered milk in the scrambled eggs.  It was tragic, and also sad that the kitchen had cockroaches in the first place, but probably not surprising.  

When the hospital was at its peak, there were tunnels built underneath the buildings that allowed staff and supplies to move between buildings without going outside.  This system of tunnels also allowed staff to move patients without having them be seen outside.  Some of the tunnels even had a small narrow gauge railroad to move supplies!  Most of these tunnels are no longer in use today, or are used as storage.  I guess that gives you an idea of how big the property is.  I only saw the main building, but there are dozens of buildings on the site, and it is much smaller now than it was in its heyday. 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

It will probably surprise you to hear, but the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was filmed here in 1975.  The cast was permitted to watch patients in their daily routine and even observe electroshock therapy treatments as a part of their rehearsals and to get into character.  The movie depicts some actual hospital patients and staff, who were used as characters and extras during the film.  Dr. Dean Brooks, the hospital’s superintendent at the time, plays a role as Dr. Spivey, the main character’s doctor.  When Dr. Brooks complained that the screenplay was unrealistic, he was told to rewrite his dialogue to make it medically accurate.  The film won several Academy Awards for its depiction of the mental health system and life in an asylum. 

The Museum of Mental Health

Today, the main Kirkbride building at Oregon State Hospital has been opened as a museum.  The museum examines the history of the asylum system, and details what life was like in the hospital.  There are exhibits with medical equipment, ones that show a patient room setup, and others that explain leisure activities that were offered at the hospital.  There is even an exhibit about the filming of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.  The museum is one of the only areas of the grounds where the public is allowed today, and it was a very interesting visit!  

The Dead

In 2004, Peter Courtney, an Oregon State Senator, toured the hospital and learned that over 5,000 sets of cremains were being stored in canisters in the basement of the original building.  These were the cremated remains of patients who were never claimed by their families.  The canisters were in poor condition, corroding due to the moisture in the basement (a common issue in the Pacific Northwest). 

The Oregonian newspaper did an investigatory article, and the hospital received a lot of criticism about their treatment of these poor souls.  As a result, the state allowed the hospitals to release the names of the patients, in hopes that some of the families might finally retrieve them.  Those who remained unclaimed were interred in a wall on the grounds, and a nearby building was redesigned as a memorial to those who died here.  The canisters they were originally stored in are displayed.  In my photograph, I tried to make them something beautiful!

 

Overall, it was an interesting and enlightening tour.  It raises a lot of questions about how we have treated the mentally ill in the past, and how we treat them today.  Although the asylum system certainly had its faults and there were bad apples among the staff, as well as mistakes made with treatment protocols, are we really doing any better now?  We have moved from the asylum system to a system where many of our most mentally ill citizens are either in prisons or homeless.  Can we really say we are doing better?

A Quick Visit to Washington, D.C.

Tuesday, August 6, 2019 to Sunday, August 11, 2019
Washington, D.C.

Back in 2019, when I was working for the water and sewer district, I had a chance to go to Washington, D.C. for a conference.  The conference was scheduled for Wednesday through Friday, but I was able to  pay for a couple of days on my own and fly home Sunday instead.  I always love when that is an option!

I was in conference sessions for full days when I was there, so I really only had the evening hours to explore during the week.  But I made the most of my time! The conference hotel (the Hyatt Regency Capitol) was right downtown near the Capitol, so I was able to get to several nearby places by walking!  When my flight arrived, I took the subway to Union Station, which was about a half mile from the hotel, and then I walked from there.  The first evening that I was there, I had dinner at the hotel, and enjoyed a glass of wine.

Union Station

 

Me

Wednesday at the conference I met a friend, a lady who was there from Kansas City.  We decided to get dinner afterwards and do a little wandering.  We found The Ministry Wine Bar down the street and had a delicious tasting of sparkling wines, along with my wonderful beet salad.  It was so good!  After dinner we walked over to the Capitol building and checked out the outside of the building, as well as the Supreme Court Building.  No matter how you feel about politics in our country, it is humbling to see where the work of our government occurs, and the site where men and women come together to interpret our laws and our Constitution.

Rose flight at the Ministry Wine Bar

Beet Salad at Ministry Wine Bar

A fire station near the Capitol

The Capitol in the evening

Fountain at the Capitol

The Supreme Court Building

Thursday after my conference, I walked over to the National Portrait Gallery to see some of the artwork.  It is open until 7 pm, so I had some time.  They have many portraits of former Presidents, including my man Abraham Lincoln!  They also have portraits of fictional characters, like Barbie!  It was a fun way to spend a couple of hours that evening, and it was less than a mile walk from my hotel.

Abraham Lincoln at the National Portrait Gallery

Barbie at the National Portrait Gallery

A diorama at the National Portrait Gallery

I have no idea what this tin foil creation is!

Friday was the last day of my conference, and that evening, I met up with Alexis, a girlfriend that I went to high school and did 4-H with.  She had another friend visiting too, so it was a party!  We met at the Hill Country BBQ market, a delicious BBQ restaurant about 3/4s of a mile from my hotel.  It was a fun evening and a nice walk to and from the restaurant.

Sliders at Hill Country BBQ

Saturday I went to the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument.  This home has an incredible history, but notably, was owned by the National Women’s Party beginning in 1929.  The Party was integral in the fight for women’s suffrage, and the Equal Rights Amendment.  I toured the home; so I will share more about it in a separate post.

The Capitol during the day

That afternoon, I met up again with Alexis and her friend for lunch at the Old Ebbitt Grill.  Old Ebbitt began in 1856 as a saloon and boarding house, and become one of the iconic political hotspots in Washington, D.C.  It has moved several times, but has been at its current location since the 1920s.  If you hang out there, you are likely to see some politicians!  Of course, we were there on a Saturday, and there were no politicians to be found, as far as I knew.  We did have a fabulous lunch, and I had the shrimp and grits off their brunch menu with a glass of white wine.  So delicious!

Old Ebbitt Grill

 

Shrimp and Grits – Old Ebbitt Grill

After lunch, we walked over the W Hotel and went up to their rooftop bar.  It is nice to have a local friend to show you around!  The hotel is kitty corner from the White House and has incredible views!  The cocktails there are quite spendy, so it isn’t something I could afford to do all the time, but it was fun to check out how the other half lives, and look out over the White House!

The White House from the W Hotel

 

Me at the White House

From there Alexis, her friend and I parted ways, and I went to go check out the Smithsonian’s National Gallery of Art.  It was fun to spend a few hours checking out the exhibits.  Of course, there is so much to see there that a repeat visit will definitely be in order!  That evening I had dinner at the hotel bar, and had a delicious chicken Chop salad, and spent the evening relaxing before my flight the next morning.

National Gallery of Art

National Gallery of Art

My Chop salad at the Hyatt Regency

Sunday I flew home and it was once again back to the daily grind of work.  I had such a fun trip to Washington, D.C.  The conference was interesting, and I learned a lot, and I was able to fit in a lot of sightseeing into my free time!  I hope I’ll be able to get back there again soon.

 

 

Lassen Volcanic National Park Getaway

Sunday, July 14, 2019 to Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Lassen Volcanic National Park, Shingletown, California

During the summer of 2019 I headed back down to California to go to Lassen Volcanic National Park.  It had been on my bucket list for a while, but I was able to score a reservation at one of the cabins in the Manzanita Campground in the park.  A trip was born!

We headed to Lassen on Sunday morning, from Weed, California; the drive was a little less than 2 hours and the weather was beautiful!  Once we were in the park, we checked out the Loomis Museum at the north end of the park.  The museum has exhibits on the types of volcanoes in the park, the eruption in 1915, and the animals in the park.  It was a relaxed afternoon, just checking things out.  The kids got Junior Ranger booklets to fill out to get their Junior Ranger badges.

Lassen Peak

We checked in to the Manzanita Campground, the park’s largest campground.  The first night, we had a tent site.  The sites are large and open, you can see all your neighbors, and tents and RVs are largely mixed together.  It is a great campground; it was warm during the day, but it did get cold at night.  Maybe best of all, the bugs weren’t bothersome!  We checked out Manzanita Lake; one day it would be fun to canoe or stand-up-paddleboard on the lake.  The lake is right on the edge of the campground.

The campground also has a general store, with souvenirs, grocery items, ice cream and even beer and wine.  I got a t-shirt, an enamel mug and a bottle of wine to share.  The wine is long gone, but I still have the shirt and the mug!  That evening we made steak and corn on the cob over the fire, and had smores too!  It was a wonderful, peaceful evening around the fire, chatting and watching the crackling fire.

Saturday morning dawned sunny and bright, and we made breakfast on the camp stove.  We didn’t want to dawdle, so there would be plenty of time for exploring!

We decided to start at the south end of the park and work our way back up to the north end, where the campground is located.  We started at the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center and checked out the exhibits, and of course I got my Passport stamp!

We checked out the thermal features and walked part of the boardwalk.  Unfortunately, the boardwalk that goes to Bumpass Hell (yes, that is actually the name) was closed for trail rehabilitation when we were there.  I will have to go back to see it!  There are mudpots, where boiling mud bubbles and lets off steam.  It isn’t as spectacular as the geysers of Yellowstone National Park, but it is still a cool natural feature to check out!

Lassen Boardwalk

Lassen Mudpots

Me Lassen National Park

I loved all the Bristlecone pine trees that were growing in the area, and we stopped at a couple of overlooks and trailheads to check out the views and the landscape.

Lassen Volcanic National Park

We wanted to do a hike, but not one that was too difficult, so we hiked the King’s Creek Trail.  This trail is 2.3 miles round trip, although you can connect with other trails for a much longer hike.  Although the hike starts at approximately 7,300 feet in elevation, the trail itself has about 700 feet of elevation change over the course of the trail.  This is one that starts by going down, so you have to go back up a little at the end!  All that said, it is a beautiful hike, through grassy meadows with a creek crossing over a log bridge.

King’s Creek

King’s Creek Meadow

Lassen NP

The trail takes you down a hill, and the waterfall is right next to the trail, giving you nice views of the cascade.  It’s beautiful!

King’s Creek Falls

That evening, we had a reservation for a one bedroom camping cabin.  The bedroom had two twin bunk beds, and the outer room had a queen futon.  So the cabin could sleep six!  There was also a table and two chairs, a heater/AC unit and a lantern.  It was a nice setup! 

That evening we had another nice meal over the campfire, and enjoyed sitting around the fire talking and drinking wine.  It was peaceful, and quieter in the cabin section of the campground.

Lassen Cabin

 

Lassen Chipmunk

The last morning that we were there we went to an interpretive talk about the pioneers who traveled through what is now the park to reach the lush farmland in Western California.  The rangers spoke about the pioneers methods of transportation, how to cook over a fire, and what it was like to travel so many miles in a covered wagon.  The kids finished their booklets and earned their Junior Ranger badges. 

We did a little more hiking, and checked out the huge rocks near the trail.  It was a wonderful end to a nice trip.  One day I’ll make it back to Lassen to check out more of the park.

 

 

 

 

Lassen Volcanic NP History

Lassen Volcanic National Park is located in northern California, and its mountains are part of the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest.  This park is unique in that it is one of the few places in the world where visitors can see all four types of volcanoes; Composite Volcanoes, Lava Domes, Cinder Cones and Shield Volcanoes.  Lassen Peak, the mountain for which the park is named, is the largest plug dome volcano in the world (plug domes are a type of lava dome).  The park also contains thermal features similar to those made famous by Yellowstone National Park, including mudpots and fumaroles.

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Human habitation in the area began thousands of years ago, and four tribes lived and traveled in areas of the park.  The Atsugewi, Yana, Yahi and Mountain Maidu all made use of park areas seasonally for hunting and gathering.  They continue to use these areas today to preserve traditions and celebrate their history.  White settlers first entered the area in the 1830s, and Peter Lassen, a Danish blacksmith, settled in the area.  The Nobles Emigrant Trail then was established through the park area, leading settlers to the Sacramento Valley further west.

Lassen’s claim to fame is that it is one of the few volcanoes in the United States to have erupted in recent history.  Lassen Peak began erupting in 1914, and continued off and on with eruptions both large and small until 1921. Thankfully, monitoring of the volcano had already begun and people living in the area had a warning prior to the eruption.  No one was injured or killed, although some homes and buildings were destroyed.  Prior to that, the most recent eruption in the park was the Cinder Cone, which erupted between 1630 and 1670 (mostly likely 1666, according to tree ring analysis).  The area had been designated as a Forest Preserve in the late 1800s, and then Lassen Peak and Cinder Cone were designated as two separate National Monuments in 1907.  The eruption led to the park’s designation as a National Park on August 9, 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson.

Today the park has a lot to see and do; visitors can hike, snowshoe and ski in the winter, camp, and see wildlife.  There are hiking trails up the mountains, in the wilderness, past waterfalls, and boardwalks built around the thermal features.  Manzanita Lake in the northern section of the park has a large campground, a museum and a store.  The southern section of the park has a fairly new Visitor’s Center.  Sadly, some areas of the park were significantly damaged by a fire in 2021, but many sections of the park have reopened since that time.

I spent three days and two nights camping there in 2019; one night in a tent and one in a camping cabin.  I had a great time, and will tell you about my visit next!

Lassen NP

 

Westport Weekend: June 2019

June 21 – 23, 2019

Last year I went to the beach at Westport, Washington on the weekend of the summer solstice!  We wanted to ring in the beginning of summer in style!  Now mind you, the coast in Washington in the summer is not guaranteed to be warm, and may be downright freezing, so don’t be expecting any photos of shorts and people lounging in the sand.  We still had a great time!

Lelani and I left work early on Friday and drove down; we were camping and wanted to make sure that we had plenty of time to get set up and get dinner made.  Other friends were joining us too!  She headed down to my work to pick me up and we stopped off for lunch at Kona Kitchen, a great Hawaiian place near my work!  We soon found out that we might have been better off eating on the road…

As usual, traffic in Seattle on a Friday afternoon was terrible, but at least we were entertained by tracking our progress against “the head”…

We camped at one of the Loge Resorts (yes, my spelling is correct); if you haven’t been to one, they have been converting old motels into new hipster-chic facilities.  The one we stayed at had camping (both tent and small RV sites), hotel rooms, and a hostel dormitory.  There was a stage with music on weekends, fire pits, and communal BBQ’s.  It was a fun place to stay, and the tent site was covered; that came in handy because it rained!  Drawbacks were the fact that you were approximately 4 feet from your neighbor in the next tent site over.  My neighbor snored, so the earplugs I always carry when I travel came in handy.

Saturday we checked out the harbor, where we watched people crabbing and fishing, and listened to the seabirds overhead.  We went to the beach too, and enjoyed some time spent searching for sand dollars and walking the beach.  You don’t have to spend too much time searching for sand dollars there; you really just have to wander around picking them up, as the beach is covered with them!  If you go though, make sure to only collect the dead ones, which are already white or a faded tan color; the live ones are a purplish black color.

Westport Marina

Me, Derek and Lelani

Me and Lelani on the beach!

Shaka on the prowl

She loves fetch!

My collection of sand dollars

That afternoon we visited the Gray’s Harbor Lighthouse – you can climb to the top and see the view, and the third-order Fresnel lens.  The lighthouse was completed in March 1898, and stands 107 feet tall with 135 steps to get to the top.  It is worth it though – that view!  Originally, the Gray’s Harbor Lighthouse sat about 400 feet from the waterline, in the last 120 years, the beach has experienced significant accretion, so it is now about 4,000 feet from the water!  I always enjoy seeing lighthouses when I travel and I especially appreciate when I can climb to the top.

Me with the Gray’s Harbor Light

Look at all those steps!

Third-order Fresnel lens

We also visited the Westport Winery; they have an extensive tasting list consisting of a few whites, lots of reds and several fruit wines.  They had a sparkling wine that I really liked, and I purchased a couple of bottles to take home.  That evening we made a delicious dinner of steak shish-ka-bobs and corn on the cob, and ate our dinner while watching a guitarist perform on the outdoor stage.  It was fun to see!

Smores!

A great performer!

Kebabs ready for the BBQ

Then, before dark, we headed out to the beach to watch the sunset and have a campfire on the beach.  See all those clouds in the photo below?  That made for a pretty much non-existent sunset, but oh well!  It was still pretty, but it was soooo cold and windy that night!  I really had to bundle up!  Are you sure this is summer?

The next morning Lelani and I went for an early morning walk on the beach before we packed up our gear to head home.  We found a little restaurant downtown, where I had hashbrowns, eggs, and fried oysters; it was so delicious!  About noon, we got on the road for another long, trafficky drive home…  What a great weekend though!

Downtown Westport

Delicious seafood breakfast

Our opinion of the traffic

 

Astoria Weekend: Lewis and Clark!

Day 2, Saturday, May 25, 2019

Astoria, Oregon

After visiting Seaside, we decided to head over to the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park.  I have visited before, but Jeff and the kids had never been there.

Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery spent the winter 1805-1806 here in this approximate location; they named their camp Fort Clatsop.  When the expedition left the West Coast in the spring of 1806, they gave Fort Clatsop’s structures to the local Native Americans and the fort was eventually reclaimed by nature. A replica was built when the site was designated as a National Historical Park in 1958, but sadly it burned in 2006; a replacement was built in 2007. The replica is thought to be historically accurate, having been built from sketches and descriptions that Lewis drew in his journals.

We checked out the museum in the Visitor’s Center, with its artifacts.  Beaver hats and pelts, a Coastal tribe canoe, grasses and foods that the Native Americans in the area used, as well as historic muskets and examples of clothing that the expedition members would have worn.  It is always interesting to revisit a place.  We also checked out Fort Clatsop, and the kids enjoyed exploring it.  There wasn’t much space for 30 people to spend a cold, rainy winter!  Jeff and I enjoyed wandering and following after the kids, relaxing and reading the signs.

The kids did the Junior Ranger program and got their badges; just in the nick of time too, because it started raining pretty hard!  I didn’t really take many photos since I had visited there before, and apparently I was more into taking selfies!  For more about the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, see my previous post.

That afternoon we went to the Fort George Brewery for pizza and some beer; while we were waiting for a table we checked out some of the nearby shops in downtown Astoria.  The pizza was delicious, and everybody was happy!  Jeff and I tried a couple different beers, it was nice to do some sampling and see what we liked.

Nearby to Fort George Brewery is the Reveille Ciderworks; one day I’ll visit there and try their ciders!  It just wasn’t in the cards that day because the kids were more interested in pizza than some of the “weird food” they have at food trucks.  Traveling with kids is a change of scenery for me!  That said, I was still able to get a couple of oyster shooters at Fort George – nobody else wanted any – it was so strange because they are so delicious!

 

 

Astoria Weekend: Carousels and Fishes

Day 1 & 2, Friday & Saturday, May 24 & 25, 2019

For Memorial Day weekend, Jeff and I had an opportunity to meet in Astoria for the long weekend. It was so much fun!

I left work a little early and drove down to Oregon in heavy, agonizing traffic. Blech. I was expecting it, since it was Memorial Day Weekend, but that part was not fun…  I got there about 7:30 and Jeff and the kids were already there, even though they had to drive more miles. There’s a benefit to not having to drive through Seattle! I was excited to see them, so I quickly forgot about the long drive. That evening was pretty quiet; we drove around Astoria a little bit to get our bearings before dark.  I have been there before, but Jeff never had.  After dark, we got some snacks and had a relaxing evening in the hotel room, catching up.

On Saturday morning we decided to start our day in Seaside, a touristy little beach town on the Oregon Coast about 20 miles south of Astoria. With kids in tow, we made our way to Pig N’ Pancake – a kind of themey IHOP type place that kids love, because of course, they have lots of kid friendly meals. They also have adult friendly meals, including a Kielbasa skillet and a Taco omelette, in addition all sorts of pancakes, crepes and blintzes! Something for everyone and our server was friendly and attentive.

Me and Jeff with Lewis and Clark

We wandered through downtown Seaside, and saw the historic carousel parked within an odd mall type structure, packed to the gills with touristy shops. We did find t-shirts and sweatshirts for reasonable prices to remember our visit. We saw a man making giant bubbles outside so that kids could play in them, and so parents could buy the kids their own giant bubble wand and bubble recipe. The kids ran through the bubbles for a while, but we didn’t buy the wand.

Seaside Carousel

Always fitting…

Right on the beach is the Seaside Aquarium, a small aquarium with over 100 species of fish and marine animals.  Interestingly, this little place is one of the oldest aquariums on the West Coast, in operation since 1937.  The building that houses the aquarium was originally built as a natatorium (that’s a fancy word for a building that houses a swimming pool), and piped water in from the ocean just steps away and then heated it.  The pool went belly up during the Great Depression and the aquarium took over the building.

The Seaside Aquarium is small and no frills.  You won’t find fancy staff demonstrations or huge, involved habitats, and large pavilions.  You will see small tanks, a touch tank and basic laminated cards with information about the animals who live there.  And you will find the seals.  The aquarium has eleven harbor seals who live there.  They have a tank right up front and visitors can feed the seals fish purchased there, but be careful!  These seals have learned that the best way to get some treats is to get your attention, and they will stop at nothing.  Each seal has its own schtick, including water slaps, belly slaps, twirls, jumps, squeals and even splashing the visitors!  Each seal has their own method, and apparently they are all self-taught and have not been formally trained.

The aquarium has bred these seals in captivity and was the first to successfully breed harbor seals; some of them are fifth or sixth generation!  The Seaside Aquarium also hold the record for the oldest harbor seal in the world; Clara died in 1979 at the age of 35.

The aquarium also has a tsunami fish; the last surviving specimen of five striped beakfish that lived for more than two years in the partially submerged hull of the Japanese boat Sai-shou-maru , after the boat went adrift during the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.  The boat washed onshore at Long Beach, Washington on March 22, 2013, after traveling more than two years and 4,000 miles from Japan. They could not release the beakfish in northwest waters, due to the threat of it becoming invasive so far from it’s native habitat; it is now on display here.

It was an interesting visit and didn’t take long.  We checked out the tanks, fed the seals and managed to not get too wet!

 

Arizona Getaway 2019: Endings

Day 3 & 4, Saturday & Sunday, March 16 & 17, 2019

After Mom and I left Chiracahua National Monument, we still had some hours in the day left, so why waste them in a hotel room?  I wanted to try some local wines, so we found the Arizona Wine Collective in Tucson.  It is a wine bar that features and serves an assortment of Arizona wines.

Arizona Wine Collective

I chose to taste through a flight of five and told my server what I typically like; crisp, dry whites and lighter, less oakey reds.  She explained what she would recommend based on my palate and I went with her recommendations.  I enjoyed four of the five wines she selected for me, so I feel like she did pretty well!  Sadly, I didn’t end up recording the wines I had, so I’ll just have to go back again!  I do wish they had bottles to take with you, but unfortunately, they did not.  I see an Arizona wine tour in my future.  It has been a while…

Arizona Wine Collective

The Arizona Wine Collective doesn’t serve food, but there are a couple of restaurants in the complex where they are located and you can get takeout delivered without charge.  Mom and I split a delicious order of nachos from the restaurant next door and it was more than enough for dinner for two.

The next morning it was time to head home…  We drove over to the Tucson airport and deposited our hamster car (Kia Soul) back at the rental place.  Then we sat outside for a while soaking up the Arizona sunshine before it was time to make our way through security.  I can never get enough of feeling the warm sun on my face!  Especially since as I am writing this I’m looking outside at an inch of snow, a temperature of 19 degrees and a windchill of 6, with a high temperature today of 26 degrees.  I need some warm sun!

Sculpture at the Tucson Airport

 

A Pegasus!

 

Until my next escape!