Columbia River Maritime Museum

3 Best Day Trips from Portland, OR | Condé Nast Traveler

"With a roofline that resembles the crests of incoming waves, the modern glass and wood-shingled Columbia River Maritime Museum doesn’t waste any opportunity to educate the public on the biggest natural feature that defines Astoria. Not giant but certainly eye-catching, it’s one of the best-known museums in the state . The museum explores all aspects of Astoria’s commercial, geographical, and military connection to the river and the coast. Using actual ships, artifacts, and documentary films, the museum has constructed an array of dramatic exhibits. Where else but in a maritime museum’s gift shop can you buy fluorescent yellow raincoats with reflective stripes, just like they wear on fishing boats? And then there are the books, so many of them, covering everything from knot-tying to biographies on salmon packers. If it has to do with the river or sea, there's a book here." - Danielle Centoni