Day 10: Astoria, Oregon

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Astoria, Oregon

Saturday, October 6



How many of you knew Astoria was named for John Astor? Don't answer that - rhetorical.

So - here we are in Astoria after what can only be described as one heck of a ride last night! It seems those 40 knot winds along with 15 to 20 ft seas really, REALLY get you rocking; and not in a good way. I had some strange dreams which included rocking in several iterations - and that's all I'll say about the dreams. Sleep did not come easy, and I found myself nursing a rather nasty headache. Not a migraine, thankfully- but darned close. I've a feeling it has to do with pressure change and exposure to some allergan, Oh well. Noone wants to hear about that, and I don't want to talk about it.

We have to clear customs here in Astoria, so no going ashore until the deed is done. We were called floor by floor after all the excursions had been cleared. It took about 5 seconds. The border agent opened my passport looked at me and said enjoy your day. Guess I look innocent....I'll leave it there.

Astoria is yet another of America's small towns. Charming. Finding its way in a new econome (can you say Beer) and succeeding. The confluence of the Pacific Ocean Columbia river make for a perfect fishing area, but sadly the fishing/canning industries have moved on. In its place, micro-breweries, bars, distilleries all entrepreneurial endeavors started by industrious artisans of all kinds. I think there is a future here (though not for me, too damp).

The Riverwalk (kind of a stretch given Vancouver and Chicago as background for us) but OK....the riverwalk took us from the ship to downtown (ahem) Astoria, where we found charming Art Deco buildings finding new life as housing, museums and hotels. The walk (about 1.3 miles) on such a glorious day was just what we needed to clear our heads from the night before (see above). Not really certain of our destination nor purpose we did what we do best. Wander. Saw a few breweries (have I mentioned there's a microbrew explosion in Astoria) a charming glass blower...we had hoped to see him work, but alas no. Unfortunately, for these two glass collectors nothing worth drooling over (saved us some cash). Walked some more. Ran into BE & Jeremy at the Buoy Bar....a microbrewery. Have I...oh never mind. Beer and College football were on their agenda thus far. We are not beer drinkers, neither of my teams were on TV - so back to the ship.

On our way back we ran into Lee & Perry so we all decided to head on back to the ship together. Asking after Lee's toe (she'd banged it fairly well the other day) we heard that she'd taken quite a fall along the riverwalk. Tough as nails, Lee proudly walked back to the ship to nurse her wounds. A shout out to the kind gentleman and his wife who cleaned her up and helped her get back on her feet. No broken bones, thank goodness! She's one tough dame!

Back on the ship, we stopped for a quick bite to eat - a hot dog at Waves. Christopher and I parted company, I went straight to bed, he went up to read. I slept for over an hour - headache somewhat dissipated, but still kicking. I decided to do some reading and a little writing after my nap- catch up on the blog, find another book on the reader. All in all given the circumstances a good day.

Christopher, back in the room thinks it a good idea to head up to Horizons for sail away. Why not? Horizons was busy as Tea had just ended (nothing like the Empress...just saying). Anyway...we found ourselves a nice table for two and stared out at the horizon (get it?). Sorry. Had to. Just. Had to. Got a shot of the sunset, then heard a helicopter overhead. We knew the Harbor Pilot was going to be "choppered" off the ship - I don't even want to know how. Guess it had just occurred portside; we were starboard.

Time for dinner with the gang in Polo. All are present and accounted for.

Polo is not my favorite restaurant, and I'm not very hungry so I'm going to take it easy tonight. Perhaps just a salad. SO....I ordered the foie gras (since we can't get it in CA...that law went back into effect, right?) and an Entree Cobb salad. I was hoping for some healthy greens and the regular cobb fixings....NOPE. It was a deconstructed cobb salad. WTF? Where are the greens? A measly romaine leaf with 4 prawns on top, cubes of avocado and blue cheese along one side and sliced cherry tomato on the other in a bed of tomato sauce. Next to the tomatoes, an english muffin topped with a round of bacon. Not. What. I. Wanted. Didn't stop me from eating it. Must admit, it was tasty - but perhaps mentioning the salad as a deconstruction (oh hell - who am I kidding - no one would ever order it). Service was a little stilted at best tonight- perhaps we are feeling sad as the cruise is coming to its eventual conclusion and we're all being hypercritical...whatever the reason, we didn't get out of the restaurant until 10 pm (reservations were 7:30). Go figure.

I understand there were some among the group who went on to the casino, some went in to Martini's and we went to bed.

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