As some of you may remember, Animated Meat first came to life in 2008 as a way to document some sights that managed to slip through the cracks of most popular travel websites. You may also remember that the original website was built on Apple's now defunct iWeb. From there, it migrated over to WordPress where it met an untimely demise at the hands of Russian hackers. Many of those old, pre-2012 entries have found a new home here in the Before the Now section. I would consider these posts as my starting place as a writer, probably comparable to a musician's first demo tapes. They are very rough, but I took them all seriously and wrote each one with passion. While I would like to believe that I have matured in my abilities as a writer, it is my hope that I carry this same blind passion into all of my new efforts.
Seated high above the town of Astoria is the Astoria Tower. Constructed in 1926, the tower tells the story of the Pacific Northwest in frescoes.
While the tower provides a nice diversion, in my opinion it’s worth the drive up just because of the view if the Columbia and surrounding area. Saying that it’s dramatic would be putting it lightly.
There’s no map for this one. All you need to do is aim for the highest point in the city. On top is the column.
If you don’t know, Oregon’s own Rogue Brewery makes some pretty fine beers. One of my personal go-tos is Dead Guy Ale.
They beauty of the Rogue Public House is you can get some of that nice beer paired with well prepared food. As the menu shows, this is substantial pub grub. Don’t plan on being to ambitious after eating here. After a little walk around the pier, the only thing we were good for was sleep.
Even if beer holds no appeal to you, the Pub is worth a stop. This place is literally right on the water.Actually, it’s right in the middle of the water. The views go well with the food.If you drink beer, be careful.They have a full selection of T-shirts. Do you really need a beer t-shirt?
In the seaside town of Astoria sits Pier 39, a historic 133-year-old pier that sits out on the Columbia River. For us, the draw initially was the Rogue Public House.
Don’t confuse this with the Pier 39 in San Francisco. While the Astoria may one day hope to have the same in tourist trade, the day we went, it was free from the crush of visitors. In order to get there, you actually have to driver over a wooden roadway. Good thing they have spared no expense in its restoration.
We made a stop at a Mecca for devoted beer drinkers, the Rogue Public House. After some food and a few beers, we were off to explore the rest of the pier.
Once upon a time in America, we actually had a booming fishing trade. Cannery Row in Monterey was actually the center of a sardine fishing community prior to becoming the home to the Monterey Aquarium . And Pier 39 in Astoria was home to the Bumble Bee Seafoods cannery. This has to be one of the greatest corporate logos of all time.
The machines on the factory floor have been silent for a long time now, probably victims of globalization and a cheap labor force somewhere overseas. One of the walls has the signatures of all the former employees. I have a lot of respect for Allen Cellors. I can’t imagine canning fish for forty-six years straight. He started his job when FDR was president and made it all the way to Regan.
The real draw to Pier 39 is the view at the end of the pier. Seated out in the mouth of the Columbia River, the pier offers a commanding vantage point. This is the kind of place where you could take a picture every day for a year and never get the same one twice.
