Exploring One of the Oldest Cities on the West Coast

Even if it weren't for the fact that I was born there, I really love Astoria.  Not only does its history date back to the early 1800s, but it is just a beautiful town.  Sitting at the gateway to the Columbia River, Astoria is a quiet town in the winter, but full of tourists in the summers.  Sometimes it's kind of fun to act like a tourist in your own community - and I took full advantage of a little spare time this weekend to do just that.

If you drive down Commercial Street, you won't be able to miss the beautiful architecture of the old buildings.

The Liberty Theatre, now used as a performing arts center, was built in 1924.  In the last 15 or 20 years, a lot of work has gone into restoring the theater.  It is really impressive inside and out.

I know I already mentioned this during my Weekend Recap, but I LOVE farmers markets, arts & crafts markets - pretty much any kind of open-air market :)  Astoria shuts down four blocks every Sunday from May to September for their Sunday Market.

Gotta love the Kettle Korn hats!!

If you have never purchase a bouquet of flowers from a market - do it!  This bunch *which is actually a lot bigger than it looks in the photo* was only $10.  The first time I saw these massive bouquets at such a great deal was at Pike's Market in Seattle (speaking of which...I am super jealous of Beth at Hang on Honey - who is headed there this week!).

Astoria's market also has a fairly good-sized food court.  I didn't really spend much time checking it out, because I was there in the morning and not really hungry.  But it looked like they had quite a bit of variety.

If you have a favorite local market, leave me a comment letting me know where.  Maybe if I am ever in the area I can check it out!!

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!
*This is my favorite commercial, as of late. And it's Wednesday - which means the perfect time to share it!*

Composition

This weekend, I had a few hours to spare Saturday afternoon.  We were staying at my in-laws and I decided to go out and "explore" my hometown to see if I could find any interesting subjects to capture.

My father-in-law suggested visiting a cemetery.  I thought of this older church out in the country that has an old cemetery on property.  Part of the charm is that the church sits on "Life Lane".  I was disappointed to find that the street sign appears to have been removed - possibly by a passing vehicle.

There is an old fish station outside of town that is built out over the river on piers.  I believe the building is roughly 100 years old.  Just over a week ago, and ship came by, and the movement of the waves was apparently the straw that broke the camel's back - one section of the building collapsed on top of itself:

From there, I took I drive along many gravel, dike roads - just to see what I could find.  My goal: try to find "different" subjects, experiment with various angles to add interest, and pay attention to the composition of the photos.

The middle photo in the above set was the original, while the two on the sides have been edited using various techniques.

These old buildings are really fun to work with!!

It was fun to spend a little time in a place that I have lived most of my life, but to see it differently.  It's amazing how much you can miss when you are in a particular environment on a daily basis!