Lewis and Clark

The mouth of the Columbia River had loads of interesting sights for our family. We started with the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center on the Washington side of the river and were so glad that we did! The center had wonderful displays that had something for each member of the family. Huge wall sized photographs marked the historic exploration of Lewis & Clark, with interspersed quotes from Thomas Jefferson, Meriweather Lewis, William Clark, Sacagawea and others. Activities for all ages were also along the way and a brief video that focused on the end of the historic journey.




Our oldest has heard the story of Lewis & Clark many times, but was still engaged throughout these exhibits and our youngest was certainly intrigued at every turn. We all learned new facts about the journey and the Corps of Discovery.

We were expecting more focus on the end of the journey and were pleasantly surprised to find such a wonderful presentation of the entire journey from multiple perspectives.

The upper floor of the exhibit hall housed an art gallery and information about the history of the lighthouse and Coast Guard. Had it been a clear day, we would have also enjoyed a panaramic view of the Pacific, but alas - more fog!

We turned to the outdoors and hiked a short but challenging trail to the lighthouse.

Heavily wooded, the trail helped visualize more of the environment that met Lewis & Clark near the Pacific! Along the trail we enjoyed seeing an area identifed as Dead Man's Cove. For the Pirates of the Caribbean fans in our bunch, this was fascinating! The cove has a very narrow opening at the ocean and piles of rubbled shells and battered tree trunks piled on it's beach.

Who knew we'd see literature on this visit? Tennyson's famous poem is framed to the side of the lighthouse.

Finally! The Cape Disappointment Lighthouse came in view and we explored the area at it's base.

Here's the history for the name of the location:

English fur trader John Meares, commanding the Portuguese flagged Felice Adventurer, gave the cape its lasting name. Unable to find Heceta's river, on July 6, 1788, he wrote in his log "We can now with safety assert, that no such river as that of St. Roc exists, as laid down in the Spanish charts" (Meares). He wryly assigned the label "Cape Disappointment" to the distinctive landmark.

We're unsure of how the Englishman missed the river, but there you have it - so close and yet so far!

We gladly returned to the truck for the short trek across the river for lunch in Astoria, Oregon.

The fog had lifted a little to show the view that the explorers were so thrilled to see after their journey of over two years!

While not impressive on the exterior, the Ship Inn served up the most amazing clam chowder the Clark family has ever known! We enjoyed a traditional English fish and chips dinner overlooking the Columbia River. Astoria is an attractive community with very visible English style architecture at every turn - lots of frame houses and beautiful gardens amongst the run down dry docked boats of all sizes.

We pressed on to catch the winter home for the Lewis & Clark expedition at Fort Clatsop. One of the rangers was concluding a presentation as Meriweather Lewis as we arrived.

All the structures are reproductions, but great care has been taken to assure authenticity.

The boys weren't sure how they'd like the winter in the barracks!

The captain's quarters were quite a bit roomier and we found a friendly park volunteer to share more information about the living conditions of the time period.

We explored a bit further toward the landing sight at the Pacific, but stopped one mile short! After our earlier treks, we were a little pooped and ready to return to the RV park.

All in all, it was a great day with a beautiful drive through the forest both directions and tons of new information to absorb. What a great way to learn!