Monday was such a beautiful day that we decided to make the most of it by exploring just a little in Astoria after work.  Our first stop was the Astoria Column.  It is a beautiful monument that overlooks the mouth of the Columbia River.  We walked up 164 steps of a spiral staircase to get to the amazing overlook at the top (probably shouldn’t have gone to the gym before doing this).

Some of the views from the top.  If you look closely, you can see Mt. Rainer on the left and Mt. Saint Helens on the right.  (They are snow covered peaks)

 

After the column, we decided to try a restaurant that was recommended by a coworker.  It is a restaurant and brewery right on the Columbia River.  All of the beers they serve are local micro brews.  I decided to try a sample flight and I was able to enjoy all but 1.  The restaurant has a glass portion of the floor where sea lions like to hang out.  I had no idea how huge those things were!

And because we were so close to Washington, we decided to cross the bridge just so we could say we had been to Washington.  The bridge was super long.  While we were driving across, we could see lots of sea lions swimming in the river!  So neat!  Here’s a picture from Washington looking back at Astoria.

We made it back to Seaside in time to catch the sunset.  Best one yet…