Ilwaco Cemetery

Near Ilwaco, Washington ~ December 2, 2011

One of our goals for the visit to the other side of the river was to help some people on Find-A-Grave.com locate their relatives. I got some nice photos in the beautiful late-afternoon light (Cold day, though! Very cold.) but due to bad planning on my part, we may have missed the one they wanted most. Lee tromped all over the cemetery looking for a particular name that I hadn't had the foresight to locate before we left. Actually, the marker may not be there, as others had failed to find it. So, that's a mystery to follow up on - an excuse to go back to Ilwaco on another beautiful day (with better planning). 

I did take some really nice pix of markers for the graves that we did find and soon I'll be uploading them to Find-A-Grave. This is a cool web site where you can locate your ancestors, relatives, genealogical search subjects, or conversely, supply photos and information for others looking for someone departed in your part of the country. You can enter requests for photos and info from far-away locations, or you can put yourself on an e-mail list to find graves of people in your area.

January 1, 2012: I've just discovered "Taphophile Tragics" thanks to Clytie, so am linking this post to it today. Thanks, Julie, this should be interesting!

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Expansive

Near Chinook, Washington ~ December 2, 2011

When it's a nice day here in the Pacific Northwest, it can be glorious. We'd just crossed the 4-plus-mile Astoria-Megler Bridge and were on our way to Ilwaco, Washington.

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Sand Bar

Astoria, Oregon ~ May 8, 2011

I took this photo from the Astoria Column with a 12x zoom. This is definitely not how it looks to the naked eye from that far away. You can see Ilwaco, Washington, on the far side of the river. The shipping channel is off the photo at the bottom, and the tall points of the bridge are out of sight to the left. As you can see here, the ships' pilots have to know what they're doing. Here you can see a photo of the sand bar taken from the bridge.

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Hardly Disappointing

Deadman's Cove ~ September 14, 2008
Cape Disappointment State Park, Washington

About half an hour's drive from downtown Astoria, across the Columbia River, and past Ilwaco, you come to a trailhead in Cape Disappointment State Park. Not far along, the trail opens onto this incredible cove that looks like it was designed for a pirate movie. There's an even more romantic touch than you can see here - a small island within the cove bearing artistically-placed rocks and trees. Mother Nature did an outstanding job. (Hollywood, eat your heart out!) The cove opens onto the Columbia River, but it's not too far from the ocean. In fact, it's very near the natural mouth of the river before the jetties were built.

I imagine this location has been used in a number of films, but I couldn't tell you which ones. I'll be sure to visit again this year when it stops raining, and also dig through the archives for more photos of this enchanting park. There's lots to see here, and trails to walk. And, with names like these, how can you go wrong?

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Ilwaco Art Walk

Thanks to an invitation from Stephanie, I spent several hours after work at the Ilwaco Art Walk yesterday evening. The Port of Ilwaco is in Washington, across the Columbia River from Astoria, Oregon, and a few miles downriver. It's a picturesque port for fishing boats and pleasure boats (but mostly private fishing boats by the look of it), and that's the direction in which I pointed my camera. On the other side of this walkway is a row of small art galleries and a few restaurants, some with lounges. The last art walk of the season sponsors a beach cean-up, and there was a drawing for prizes for those visiting all of the participating locations and getting your card stamped. It was quite festive, and the weather was perfect, provided you remembered to bring a light (?) jacket. Wine and snacks were offered by most of the galleries and shops, music was played at a few, and a good time seemed to be had by all. We ended up having appetizers at Pelicano's, and the local fried oysters on a bed of creamed corn were fantastic.