Laninga's Travel Blog

We spent a few days in Seaside, OR.  Seaside is both a tourist area (huge beaches) and a historical area (Lewis and Clark ended their expedition here).  So we visited some of the sites and explored the area.

Lewis and Clark did a monumental 2 year exploration trip from Missouri to what now is Seaside.  Along the way, they charted new territory for the United States.  Their contribution is remarkable.  Once they got here, they established Fort Clatsop, where they endured a miserable and cold winter.  They ran out of salt, necessary for meat curing (each expedition member ate 10 pounds of meat a day!).  They boiled down seawater to reclaim salt and eventually had enough to support their trip back east.  The fort was abandoned, later to be restored and is now a National Monument.

Shortly thereafter, John  Astor established the first fur trading outpost on the west coast here.  This eventually grew into Astoria, today a thriving city.  Huge ships are in the deep water harbor to transport lumber around the world.  It is also a cruise ship stop.  The now famous Astoria Coluimn depicts the rich history of this area, as well as providing sweeping views of the area.

A stunning sunset just south of Seaside

Astoria waterfront with historic cannery

The Astoria Column. 164 steps to the top (we counted).

Detail of the "sgrafitto" depicting the area history

Fort Clatsop reconstruction. In 1806, Lewis, Clark, and 24 men endured a very wet and cold winter here.

The 2.5 mile long Promenade along the ocean shore in Seaside. Today was foggy.

The salt works, where they extracted 300 pounds of salt from sea water

John and Romola, along with Lewis and Clark, at the spot where their journey ended.