Windows of the lovely Astor Hotel

Does anyone know the style of these delightful windows?

They can be seen on the Duane Avenue and 14th Street sides of the Astor Hotel in Astoria, Oregon. The building was constructed after the 1922 fire burned down its predecessor. I wouldn't know what to call the style. I called the building Art Deco based on various features and the look of its Commercial Street side opposite (shown here). If anyone can help me out with the style, I'd be very interested in what you have to say. I love architecture and styles, but this one isn't 100% in my vocabulary. One author called it "Gothic," and I didn't see that at all on the other side of the building, but these windows bear a hint of Gothic, if only a hint. As to the old hotel itself, several comments from the last post are worth printing here. Some were made on Blogger, and some on the Facebook page for this blog. By the way, I left two small heads at the bottom of the photo for scale and reference. I tried cropping, but I kinda like them there.

Branden Wilson: Don't forget that the top few floors are not even original. They were an afterthought built on years later . . .

Julie Winlund Evans: The bus depot was on the ground floor and I can remember watching the wooden 'dock' rot away over the years as the blackberry briars took over.

Kurt Hanson: I remember the ballroom, it was totally awesome and the little cafe on the corner where the toy store is/was? I also remember the bus depot - I can,t remember what year that was late 60's?

Lee Spangler: What is also cool is what is left of the interior of the main floor. We'll sneak in next weekend.

So, perhaps we'll have additional photos coming up. There's also a comic and game store on the corner of Commercial and 14th with a sign worthy of a photo. I'll see what I can do with that one some time!

There's a bit of sky here, and I like taking part in Skywatch Friday, but I have to admit that the photo was taken last Sunday when the sky was blue and the weather was glorious. That was just before the heatwave. Now the heat has been followed by the marine layer's inevitable clouds, and today so far it's completely overcast. It rained last night, it's cool today, and I'm not complaining!

Green waterside

On July 16th, I thought the river bank at low tide appeared strikingly verdant. The biggest patch of green is actually a slab of concrete, which is part of the paving that keeps the embankment from eroding. It's turned green with life like everything else that spends so much time covered by water. The tide rises and falls approximately eight feet here twice a day. The water was very flat when I took this, but depending on the wind, the waves are often quite impressive. Pilings are left from old buildings that have disappeared. It adds to the romance of the river, for sure.

I took this photo from the parking lot of the old Englund Marine building at the foot of 15th Street. There is a sidewalk at the top of the embankment, but people exercising or enjoying the view use the stretch of parking lot just as often. There are a couple of comfortable benches, too. The building on the left is the dispatch office of the Bar Pilots (a separate organization from the River Pilots), and the building directly at the end of the water is the outstanding Maritime Museum (and an unusual design), which will have plenty of photos of its own as time goes on. Here's a former post of a ship and buoy in permanent dock there. Active Coast Guard ships also uses docks at the Maritime. It's a little burned out by the exposure, but you can just see the clouds settling low into the trees on the hill.

Today is Think Green Thursday in the world of photo memes.

Waterfront Park

For Watery Wednesday, I give you Waterfront Park, which is a great place to go any day in any weather. It's at the foot of 14th Street along the River Walk. It was about 70 paces from the River Walk to this point on the narrow pier. As I said in an earlier post, "Don't picture green grass." It's a wooden pier where the public can walk out over the water and watch the river. There's not much more of the park on the left. There's a bench and one more interpretive sign about the tug and tow boats you'll see on the Columbia River. The plaque you see in the photo shows the pilots at work. One of the photos is a spectacular shot of a pilot in mid-leap between the pilot boat and the ship's ladder.

Here are two views of the pier from the upriver side: Astoria, Oregon Daily Photo posts from July 24, 2009 (daytime), and a sunset photo from June 20, 2009. Above, you can see what that canopy at the end of the pier really looks like. Since the top is made of plexiglas, it provides interesting reflections or windows for photos in various light.

Today is supposed to be another of our rare (maybe 4 per year) hot days. Yesterday was about 89 degrees with humidity, and today should be in the 90s. Since most residences and businesses don't bother to air condition in this climate, there are a lot of uncomfortable people on these hot days, and you hear a lot of complaining, including from me. You find that many people live here because they either prefer cool weather or are physically intolerant of heat. I also noticed as soon as I moved here in the summer of 2001, that many businesses have little or no air flow through the building, as they are packed in along the main streets like sardines in a can - narrow buildings with attached neighbors on both sides and the back. They're usually quite charming unless it's been hot outside!

As I write this, I see low clouds and fog in the marine layer on the river. This is where our cooling trend comes from in summer, but will it come in today, or will it wait until tomorrow as predicted? If it's hot enough inland, it sometimes comes in a day early.

The water sounds good!

One way to beat the heat on a day like today - one of the few really warm days we have all year - is to get into a cold river. You can do that here on Pier 39 via kayak or scuba diving, although some people have been going in over the side of the back dock at Coffee Girl. (Scroll down on their page if you need to.) Astoria Scuba & Kayak occupies one corner of the old Pier 39 cannery building. You approach via a wooden pier, and the building is already out in the water where you get any breeze there happens to be on a day like today, and you get a fabulous view, too. The building is quaint, funky, intriguing as a treasure hunt, and once again useful, with offices, a brew pub, Coffee Girl coffee house with the most amazing vew and deck, the scuba/kayak company and a number of offices. There's also a small museum with photos of the cannery's history, and some of the old boats used in the fishing industry, and nice people. It's just a great place to go - one of my favorite places in town. I'll have more pix coming up as the days go by.

Pier 39 has appeared in two posts already - this picture from the water side of the building, and this one taken inside Coffee Girl.

Happy Ruby Tuesday. Click the link for more pictures of red from around the world.

Music, popcorn, and weather to live for

Who could resist this bright yellow awning? It was stunningly, memorably, gorgeous, feel-happy weather here yesterday for the Astoria Sunday Market, most of which takes place behind me as I stand facing Humdinger Kettle Korn's tent. They're out for the market each Sunday. I chatted with Suzi (red shirt on the left) while her mom stirred the popping corn. I was on the wrong side for a photo as the popped corn was dumped into the big kettle on the right. They have an excellent and useful web site at http://www.humdingerkettlecorn.com/, complete with movie credits. It's actually fun to read, and for entrepreneurs, it's a great example of how a web site can enhance a business. This mother/daughter operation began on a farm and has grown to prominence in the area. They travel the Pacific Northwest, and show up each Sunday in Astoria. (Note, I had actually gone over to find a business that occupies this space during weekdays . . . you know who you are . . . we will talk soon!)

The weather was so perfect (not hot, not cold, and as you can see, the sun was out :) that cars and trucks were jamming Marine Drive (Highway 30) just behind me. Our two-lane one-way route between Portland and the coast. It was packed with people mostly moving through Astoria to points beyond, although there were plenty of reasons to visit Astoria this weekend, and many did. There were actually orange road construction signs and traffic controller so people could cross the street.

This weekend, there was a Lugnasa Festival put on by The Blue Scorcher and the Fort George Brewery (I think that's how it works), music events, art events and more. Once again, the band playing at Sunday Market (Floating Glass Balls; they have a wonderful logo and t-shirt - check it out!) provided quality music of the bluegrass-meets-the-Eagles variety. After the market, they played again at the Fort George Brewery. Sunday Market has been growing over the past few years and was packed yesterday. I someone in the band saying this was their only gig at Sunday Market this year, because so many groups want to play. This is certainly good for the people who enjoy coming out to the market, as the quality of the music just keeps getting better.

The River Walk, which runs just this side of the long red and white "14th St. Pilot Station" building had its share of traffic on foot, bikes, strollers, leashes, and skateboards. Just to the right of the pilot building is the narrow Waterfront Park dock, and on the back side of the building is the Columbia River and the place where the pilot boats dock. It's interesting, you can see them up close, and I'll post of photo one of these days. The red building is newly refurbished, and the part you can see in this photo (about half the building or less) is still available for lease. What a great location!

Take a look at more things yellow on Mellow Yellow Monday.

Her Art Deco Majesty, the Astor Hotel

The Astor Hotel at Commercial and 14th Streets is the tallest building in Astoria, unless you're counting the column at the top of Coxcomb Hill. It's also one of the most striking due to its intriguing Art Deco design. The rear of this building has some outstanding windows that look totally different, and yet blend beautifully with the whole. I'll post them soon. You can read concise history of the building on the web site of Robert D. West, Astoria, Oregon. Scroll down to Number 14, John Jacob Astor Hotel. Briefly, it was built in the aftermath of the 1922 fire that burned 32 city blocks of downtown Astoria. It has an unexpected place in history in that cable TV was invented in this building in 1948 by Ed Parsons, and it became the location of the first cable TV company. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. In the end, Astoria could not support the large number of hotel rooms, and in 1968 it closed for eleven years. It's currently used for low-income housing for the elderly and others who receive Section Eight housing benefits. As it's only one block from the river, it affords a remarkable view.

The darker building in the middle is the newly-refurbished Commodore Hotel, seen in this earlier post.

The building in front is the one in this post with the striking Art Deco rounded window at the corner made up of small squares of glass.

Free as a bird

That may seem like a funny title for this photo, but I don't know how else to describe the feeling I had standing on the deck of the Cannery Pier Hotel watching these two vessels pass by. The air was pleasant - not hot, not cold. The breeze was gentle and beckoning. I almost felt the way I do when I'm on the prow of a boat or ship cutting through the swells, free and without a care. I'd never been to this viewpoint before, and it was amazing. You don't need to enter the hotel to get this opportunity, just walk up to the railing beside the building, and you feel a part of the elements. What is hard to convey in any photo is the enormous size of the ship and the bridge, the feeling of vastness. Try clicking on the image, it may help. The land on the other side of the river is the state of Washington.

This is my contribution to Scenic Sunday, where you can view pictures from around the world that various individuals consider "scenic." It's an interesting concept. I love the detail photos of buildings, people, and everyday life. Maybe "scenic" lifts us a little bit outside ourselves and into another realm. That's how I felt at the moment I took this photo.

Well, I goofed up seriously here, but I've been a day early all week! Crazy. Today is Saturday, yes, it is. I'm not changing the post :)

Down to the Waterline

It seems that it all comes back down to the water here in Astoria, Oregon - in this case, the wide Columbia River. This is typical July weather. We're starting to get some sun breaks today, but mornings have been heavily overcast, misty, and drizzly. With clouds like this, you can never be sure what the day will bring.

In the photo, you can see the top of the Astoria-Megler Bridge, as well as the long flat portion connecting to Washington. The row of windows with white frames in the distance is Doc's on 12th and Baked Alaska; the red building on the right belongs to the River Pilots, as does the light green building in the foreground on the left. The red bulding on the left contains the Wheelhouse Coffee House, a real estate office and property management company, and space still open for lease. Beyond the green pilings (exposed at low water), a dock only wide enough for foot traffic is a public waterfront "park" (don't picture green grass) leading to the canopy to the right of the red building, where you can watch the river, ships and the sky in all weather. They used to have a radio speaker inside the canopy where you could hear actual conversations of the river pilots. At some point it stopped working, and I hope they bring it back. You may have to click on the photo to enlarge it if you want to see all that I described.

. Happy SkyWatch Friday.

Where's Hitchcock when you need him?

This building sits at the corner of 12th Street and the River Walk. It also sits at the corner of 12th and Marine Drive. It's a very short block, as the streets adjust to the curve of the river. I took this photo on July 18th, and sun's glow had grown even deeper in color than when I had snapped the photo of the Art Deco building in this post. The style above looks a little bit Art Deco, although it doesn't have the dramatic elements I've learned to look for. David Thompson, of the wonderful blog, Art Deco Buildings, suggested that it could possibly be a transition style between Victorian and Deco. I'll put it on my list for my next visit to the Heritage Museum, and I'll look more closely for clues when I see the building again.

The only train running past this signal any more is the Riverfront Trolley, and it runs slowly while the drivers give their talk about the sights and watch carefully for visitors and locals ambling along absorbed by the scenery.

The inside of the building has been refurbished in the last few years for office suites, while a medical supply company and a bead store take up much of the ground floor.

Searching for dragons on Tillamook Head

This enchanting photo is courtesy of our first guest photographer, Daryl Moore. Among other things, Daryl is President of Astoria FOG. More about that organization in a minute. Daryl posted some pix on Facebook a few days ago from a hike he and his small son, Benton, took on the incredibly beautiful Tillamook Head trail, hunting dragons, as the captions said on Facebook. (Daryl didn't say what they planned to do if they'd found any.)

The north end of the trail starts about 25 minutes from Astoria on the coast just south of Seaside. Lee and I took this hike a few weeks ago, and on that day it looked less like a site of a dragon's lair, as the sun was shining brightly without the mist. If you hike over Tillamook Head and don't continue on the southern extension along a bluff overlooking the beach, you have walked about a five and a half miles through exquisite deep forest that is very little changed since the days when the Louis and Clark Expedition found it and made notes that are now part of our country's history. This is one of the most beautiful forest trails I have ever seen.

Whether you take the entire trail, or just hike in part way from one end or the other and come back out, it is a truly memorable place to visit. The forest floor is covered with ferns, the trees stretch to the sky, and you can even see a few old-growth trees that have escaped the loggers. The trail rises steeply from sea level to the edge of Tillamook Head, overlooking the ocean. The views through the trees are few, but breathtaking. We watched at least three bald eagles cavorting in the air above us, while the rocky beach was hundreds of feet below.

Now, here's the promised info about Astoria FOG:

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Astoria FOG is a consortium of individuals and businesses that work to promote and market the arts and crafts industry in the Astoria, Oregon area.

We believe that a strong arts community is a significant benefit to the community at large. Because of this, we work tirelessly to promote and market the arts to benefit both the businesses that participate in FOG and the community in which these businesses participate.

FOG works hard to help promote and market its member businesses and artists by: providing group marketing efforts; producing educational seminars for members to help them better market their art and businesses; encouraging new arts and crafts businesses to establish in Astoria; providing additional channels for members to market themselves, including FOG’s Facebook Page, Twitter Feed, and website; and more!

Participation in FOG is available in several forms: Business Membership, Artist Membership, General and Program Sponsor.

Contact FOG for more information:

Astoria FOG

PO Box 966
Astoria, OR 97103

Daryl Moore

info@astoriafog.org
503.338.8799

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Earlier, when I had asked about the acronym, Daryl wrote: "You nailed it Sheryl. Astoria FOG was originally conceived by a few galleries in town, so the name Astoria FOG stood for Friends of Galleries. But although we loved the name (since it's often foggy in a beautiful way around here) we instantly recognized that FOG is not about just the galleries, but it's about the business of Art in all forms. That includes music and crafts. So we kept FOG, but added the tagline 'Friends of the Arts' -- because that is what we strive to be."

So, there you go. Any questions? :)

I'm submitting this lovely photo as my entry for Watery Wednesday. Please see that site for more pix about water in various forms. Not to mention, it's drizzling again today while the rest of the country bakes! It's a tough job living here, but somebody has to do it!