Cruise to Astoria and Victoria
— Friday, November 12th, 2010 by Don Kerlee
There were thirty-four of us on the cruise, Warm Beach Senior Community residents and Seattle Pacific University friends. In Astoria we saw the old fort, Fort Clatsop, built by the Lewis and Clark team as they came from the East to establish a route, make measurements for maps, and describe the terrain, for the US government, all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
As we entered the mouth of the Columbia River, crossing the bar, we had unusually calm and smooth sailing. The Columbia River Bar is known by sailors to be very rough and stormy. We sailed that evening, over night to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, arriving at about noon the next day.
There were many interesting sights to see in Victoria, including the famous Butchart Gardens, the Empress Hotel, the Parliament Buildings, stately English homes and the Craigdarroch Castle. The Castle is built on the old Dunsmuir Estate. It is a baronial style 39-room Belle Epoque mansion of five stories. It contains many ancient furnishings, paintings and models of the fashions of that day.
We were in Victoria about twelve hours, filled with sightseeing, leaving at about midnight. We sailed all night, through the Puget Sound, arriving in Seattle at about 6:00am.
We found that the ship, the Amsterdam, was a very stable platform, with a dark sky, away from the city lights, making it possible to also see the beauty of the night sky. We were even able to take in a striking view of the Full Moon and Jupiter. Astronomers and Sky Watchers know that in September 2010, the brightest star in the sky is Jupiter.
We arrived in Seattle at sunrise. It was the completion of a wonderful opportunity to have fellowship with many of my friends at the Warm Beach Senior Community.