Posey Reed

Astoria, Oregon ~ March 12, 2011

Among the newer businesses in town is Posey Reed, selling antiques and collectibles on Commercial Street. Note the spring flowers. Yes, it is finally happening!

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Goodbye to Andrew & Steve's

Astoria, Oregon ~ January 31, 2011

Sometime in the last couple of months, Andrew and Steve's Restaurant closed its doors after a career of almost 95 years. In this case, it wasn't the economy to blame, but simply the march of time. Although I hadn't eaten there in a number of years, it was one of the first places I met people in Astoria when joined Toastmasters. That was a short-lived but welcoming experience. Above, you see the place from the back, which is right along the River Walk across from Baked Alaska (Doc's on 12th Street). It's also next door to the Sears building with its incredible murals. The front entrance to the building is on the corner of 12th Street and Marine Drive.

The rear of the building is also the location for this painting of historic Astoria. There are at least two or three others I'm aware of in the same size format and bolted onto different buildings along this stretch.

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Pier 11 on the Waterfront

Astoria, Oregon ~ January 23, 2010

For those not familiar with Astoria, Pier 11 is one of the town's most recognizable buildings. It sits on the water at between 10th and 11th Streets. In fact, the entire building is over water. The River Walk and trolley run between the railing and the building, and in real life you can see the water lapping down in the dark space on the right. The windows look pretty when you can see the sky on the other side, but at least one of the suites is no longer empty. I featured Malama Day Spa and the view from aloft in an earlier post, and Riki Fleischmann and her spa are featured this week on the cover of Coast Weekend. Speaking of windows, note that there's an unusual item displayed in one of the downstairs windows: a motorcycle. The location houses a restaurant (Rollin' Thunder BBQ), and the owner loves bikes.

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Orange Pansies in December

Astoria, Oregon ~ December 20, 2010

I was charmed the other day to find these orange pansies blooming in the red planter outside Clemente's Restaurant on 12th Street. I also hadn't noticed its neighbor before, the rock garden. I wonder what will be growing here in spring? I love all of the planters that have sprung up outside the city's businesses. I've thought of putting some outside of my place, but haven't done it yet. Maybe this will be the year.

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The Giraffe on Duane Street

May 27, 2010

Back in May I was walking up 15th Street nearing Duane, when I noticed two things I'd never seen before, and I cut over to get a better look. For one thing, I don't remember the sign commemorating the Lovell Auto Co. The date on the sign says 1910, but the paint looks new. For another thing, I thought someone had put a giraffe high on the side of the building. When I got closer, I could see it wasn't intended to be a giraffe - I had just found the bundled-up wiring on a lucky day. Here's the same building in another post seen from the corner of 14th and Duane.

Around the other side of the building on 15th Street was a similar arrangement, but this time it was clearly not a giraffe. The Blue Scorcer Cafe is located inside the glass windows.

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Growing Like A Weed

May 15, 2010

Have you noticed how fast everything is growing now? Flowers are flowering, bushes are bushing, the grass is as high as an elephant's eye, and the weeds are going crazy. Here James chops and prunes in the garden of a home in Alderbrook, the segment of Astoria at the far east end of town. It's a lot of work. If you'd like to call someone rather than do it yourself, you can call Cody Carpenter and his sidekick, James, at Timberland Lawn Care & Home Maintenance: (503) 440-2480. They have a whole list of services, and they give free estimates. Check 'em out.

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Second Sunday Market of 2010

May 15, 2010

The weather was perfect for the second Sunday Market of the year in Astoria, Oregon. I was away last weekend, so this was my first Sunday Market this year. I look forward to its start each year, and throughout the summer I look forward to market days. It's early for fruit and vegetables, but handmade things were around in abundance and old friends greeted each other happily.

The neon sign on the white building at 14th Street and Duane says, "The Banker's Suite, Bank, Ballroom." I didn't know the building when it began as a bank, but I've heard and danced to a rock band there, and I got wonderful treatment when it was a day spa. This web site will tell you everything . . . and don't miss the snazzy upstairs. In Astoria? Are you kidding?

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Daffodils at Number 10

Daffodils can be seen almost everywhere as Astoria glides into spring despite continuing changeable weather and daily and nightly downpours. I realized yesterday I'd gone out without my jacket, hadn't thought about it, and didn't need it for a few hours. So at least for awhile, the air was warmer.

This building at No. 10 Sixth Street is built over water. If you enlarge the photo, you can barely see light glinting off the river under the boardwalk. The boardwalk here is used for both the River Walk pathway and the Riverfront Trolley tracks. The building itself contains offices and the Lazy Spoon restaurant.

Earlier I showed the other side of the building in this photo, and the 6th Street Pier and viewing platform to the left in this photo.

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Comparisons: Then, Now, Then, Now

August 7, 2001

The photo I wanted to post today was this shadowy, worn, corrugated funk from 2001 (and before), as it's one of my favorite Astoria photos from my archives. But since it no longer exists, I thought I would update the location. The text on the sign used to read:

KNAPPTON
TOWBOAT
PARKING
ONLY

The building, at 12th Street and the River Walk, was refurbished a year or two ago (I can't keep track except through my photo archives), and now holds several businesses and some space that's still available for rent. I took the photo above this morning at approximately the location of the first photo. There are several windows now, and I don't know if they're in the same places as the old one in the shadow picture. (Note: Although this end of the building is at 12th Street and the River Walk, the other end is at 14th Street, hence the name "14th Street Pilot Station." There is no 13th Street here, so the building is one block long, and is named after the other end, which is probably the official address :)

I took this photo a year ago, on March 12, 2009. You can see the window on the right, and you can see why they call it the 14th Street Pilot Station. The pilot boat dock is the gray building on the left. You can stand on this deck or on the enclosed deck at the center of the building and watch the pilot boats come and go.

This year they pained the gray pilot dock building red, although the color is hard to see on this rainy day. I took the photo this morning when I took the picture of the window above. Our weather has been alternating sunny and stormy, which is normal for this time of year. At times yesterday, the scene would have looked more like photo number 3.

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