Flying planes from the top of the Astoria Column.
A few days ago, I shared some pictures from my latest trip to the Oregon coast. My husband and I enjoyed time (and food and beer) in Seaside and Cannon Beach, but it was Astoria that we explored the most.
Since we hadn’t done much besides eat, drink and walk the pier, we thought it would be fun to try one of the “must do” Astoria adventures — climb the Astoria Column. The column sits at the top of Coxcomb Hill, overlooking the Columbia River.
The view from just the hill is fantastic… 
…but the view from the top of the tower (164 steps later) is tremendous!
And the best part is you can buy little wooden (compostable) planes from the gift shop and fly them from the top of the tower. Trust me — the wind gets pretty intense up there! Our planes took off with some serious speed.
Planes in hand, ready to climb to the top!
The other cool thing about the column is the murals that wrap around it, illustrating the area’s history. Here’s great link to see the mural close-up and to read about the “cartoons.” It’s a pretty cool thing to see up close.
It was one of those random adventures that really make a trip memorable and now that I’ve been to the top of the Column, I would totally recommended it. Though don’t try climbing it if you have a fear of heights — it’s a long way to the top!
Who knew that Astoria had ANY “must do” adventures! (Well, other than beer…)
And eating…but I guess that’s my “must do” adventure everywhere. 😉
Also, don’t bother if it is foggy out — you can’t see anything then! But I love your pictures!
Thanks! I was pretty impressed with the view. We found that little Scandinavian too — super cute.
This looks wonderful! The column and the views just by themselves would be amazing but the the murals and the idea of the small planes take it all up a notch!
The planes were SO cool — seriously such a great idea! The most hilarious part was that I had took a video of both mine and my husband flying them just to realize I never actually hit record. *sigh* Guess it’s an excuse to do it again sometime! =)
I haven’t been to Astoria for ages; this post has me pining to go back! Last time we were in PDX, I thought we’d zip up there (my memory convinced me it was a 20 minute drive), but in reality, we couldn’t squeeze it in. Beautiful job capturing the tower, the bridge, the sun!
I wish it was a 20 minute drive! I’d go there every weekend. =) And if you haven’t been in a long time you totally should plan a trip sometime. It’s worth it for the beer alone but the sights were pretty great too!