The house at 12th and Grand

Maybe it's no surprise that this harmonious and balanced house on the corner with its unusual, but very pleasing colors is one of my favorite buildings in all of Astoria.

The face of the house is on 12th Street; let's turn the corner onto Grand.

Across the street from this house is one of the strangest streets in a town of unique streets. You can see it in this earlier post.

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Transition

On Sunday I walked up the Astoria hill and around one of the residential areas. I love this transitional shot, showing the moss from the torrents of winter rain and also a bush filled with spring flowers. In fact, I was surprised at how many green shoots and new flowers I saw out today. It seems that only yesterday it was winter. I'm sure the seasons will jockey for awhile before it feels like spring has sprung.

I took today's photo on 12th Street approaching this intersection with Grand. Check out the top and the bottom photos on the linked post. Here you will also see the lovely green house that peeks into the current photo on the upper right. I took some more photos of the house on Sunday; maybe I'll post one tomorrow.

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Astoria Coffehouse

August 29, 2007

Astoria Coffeehouse on 11th Street between Marine Drive and Commercial is one of my favorite places to go for a good cup, good eats, nice folks, and pleasant ambiance. It's not on the water, but only a block and a half from it. You can see passing ships from the sidewalk tables on a gorgeous day like this day in August 2007, or on a day like yesterday. It's also only about three very short blocks away from where I spend most of my time.

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Old cannery scale

October 17, 2009

This old scale and the view are just a couple of the things I enjoy about the Pier 39 building, which used to be the Bumblebee Canning Company. The doores to the left take you into a comfy, atmospheric and much-loved coffe house called Coffee Girl, where treats (scones, lox and bagels, fruit/granola parfait with lox on the side - yumm) are served along with one of my favorite cups of coffee. It's the original place where coffee was served to the cannery workers. We'll be back, don't worry. Here are some other posts featuring Pier 39 and Coffee Girl. The inside of Pier 39 is essentially a roofed-over outdoor museum. I hope it never changes much. Thank you, Floyd!

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1863-1947, RIP

Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon ~ June 5, 2003

Fort Sevens is huge and varied. I've already shown several photos of the beach and other parts. You can read about the military history of this area in Wikipedia. It's only about a 10 minute drive or so from where I live.

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Driftwood in February

Fort Stevens State Park, Warrenton, Oregon ~

February 3, 2006

If you like driftwood, you'll find it in winter on the Oregon beaches. Brought in by the storms, it accumulates along the dunes that separate the beach from the forest and grasslands. The park is large and varied, incorporating ocean, forest, bike trails, lakes, and old miltary bunkers, and it's all about 8 miles west of Astoria.

I took the photo standing a few yards from one of our favorite sites, the wreck of the Peter Iredale. It's such a picturesque and interesting spot (and easy to get to) that I've already used it three times on this blog: sunset, bones of the ship (one of my favorite photos on the blog), and sunset with ship's bones. These photos are taken just a couple of miles south of the jetty series at the mouth of the Columbia River. Fort Stevens also holds this military cemetery. A person could do an entire City Daily Photo blog on Fort Stevens and never run out of material. Don't get me started, I'll end up like Jacob.

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Can anyone explain this building?

I've been wanting to show you this building for a long time. As interesting as it is, it's hard to photograph. I finally gave up on "good" and just went for "expository." See the very odd angles of the front section? Note the interesting eaves brackets. It's not the only place in Astoria that has this type of ornate eaves bracket, but the other buildings don't have simiar "things" on the front. Is this a cross between a turret and a portico? Maybe someone can help me out. Also note the cement arch behind the power pole. Just for the record, this building is on Exchange near 16th.

This time it's not the angles are not the digital camera doing its thing, it really is a building with strange lines. Is this an odd blend between Victorian and Craftsman? Again, I have not taken time to do the research, but I always enjoy looking at this place and wondering about it. I would also like to rip off the electrical wiring and conduits and plunk it down into an idyllic rural setting. It makes me think of a lodge from around 1910.

This arch also intrigues me. Going with the idea of a turret, maybe the arch is a secret entrance to a fortress camouflaged as an apartment building.

About 10 feet deep in the recess of the arch is a door, apparently locked. The door is for people, not for vehicles, so thisi not one of the built-into-the-hillside garages one sees locally. In any event, I consider this odd place one of Astoria's man-made wonders.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.