2nd Trip to the Coast

I love Seaside. I hate to say I wasn’t a huge fan of Astoria. (Sorry Astorians.) Honestly, I’m more of a fan of the Newport area. As always, the Astoria Seafood and Wine Tasting festival was everything I had hoped for, once we found the good seafood vendors. Our favorite Winery was present also! http://honeywoodwine.com/ Their motto is Wine for Everyone.

When we weren’t basking in the pleasures of indulging our senses, we were, you guessed it; out looking for new cemeteries to visit! We visited Four, with mixed experiences. Our first stop was:

Ocean View Cemetery

Very pretty, well maintained and had upright stones as you can see. Very quiet without much in the way of monuments. They had an American Flag hoisted high, standing on a round mound of grassy earth to the right of where this picture was taken. Overall I found it to be very simple, though I thought it to be a bit out of the way. Tracking down the next cemetery though makes this picnic perfect cemetery seem right in Seaside’s backyard. Even despite it’s name, maybe I just didn’t find the right spot… But we never had an Ocean View. Oh well.

Lewis and Clark Cemetery

The image you see here is actually a painting I did. This cemetery is pretty far out in the country side. It has a beautiful view! I however, have no idea if there’s some kind of farm or processing plant nearby but the Cemetery and surrounding area STANK to high hell. My fiance had to stay in the car and I could only do a quick picture snapping roundabout. This could have been one of my favorite cemeteries of the trip, if it weren’t for that stench. It’s a shame too, there’s so much history here. Here is a link to a larger size image of the painting.

Greenwood Cemetery, Astoria

This Cemetery was known for this building at the top of the hill in the back with the “Ominously Large” smoke stack. Yes, this is the crematorium as well as the Niche mausoleum. Two winters ago the Oregon Coast was devastated by one of the most powerful storms of the century. This large smokestack fell victim to the storm as well, falling onto the ceiling of the niche room. The niches are all intact, but the building is otherwise ruined.

A Rare Glimpse

Yep, this is the cremation room from the rear access point. You’re looking straight up the smoke stack. Does it get any more creepy, thinking of all the souls that may well have passed through this? Creepy for some, sad for others. I don’t think there’s anyone who can’t see this and be moved to feeling something. Aside from this tragic destruction being insanely dangerous to any kids who might want to go climbing around, most American’s seem to have an aversion to the reality of Death. This makes it pretty real.

The sad truth of this story is that the Greenwood Cemetery of Astoria has been left in the cold by FEMA. (Who the heck hasn’t?) They had a poster that read as follows:

“The Niches are safe and undamaged!! ENTRY IS HAZARDOUS! Thank you for your patience as we attempt to secure funds needed to repair damage from the Dec. 2nd storm. FEMA said NO! SBA said NO! Banks will not accept cemetery property as security for a loan. A special recovery fund has been established at: TLC Federal Credit Union in Astoria. Donations to the Fund and donations of labor and/or material will speed restoration. Thank you for your concern and cooperation.”

It’s a shame to see such a beautiful cemetery (to me creepy is beautiful!) go un-repaired for so long. The website for the TLC Federal Credit Union is: https://www.tlcfcu.org/

I have contacted the credit union asking for details about how to donate directly to the fund via the internet so that we can help them out. I’ll update this post as I get information.

Greenwood Cemetery, Astoria OR

This is another painting, this time of the care takers home in the cemetery. (See larger version here.) I am jealous! This would be exactly the house I want to own and live in. I could think of none better, in fact! The Greenwood Cemetery here, if you turn left from where this picture was taken, has a spectacular view of the Columbia River inlet from the Pacific Ocean.

We spent well over an hour here, exploring everything that Greenwood has to offer. There is a vast array of personal love, tragedy and history on this land. The monuments and memorials are unique and poignant, mixing modern with old. This cemetery is by far my favorite (and go figure, it was the largest) of the trip.

Our last visit to the Astoria Pioneer Cemetery was brief, to say the least. Perhaps it was partly related to the dark and gloomy weather. Instead of a smell this time, the aura and vibrations coming from this cemetery was again too much for Teri, and she opted to stay in the car.

Astoria Pioneer Cemetery

Most of the original markers I would imagine were wooden, explaining why so few markers dot the small cemetery landscape. I wasn’t all that bothered by the area until I came upon this mausoleum…

Astoria Pioneer Cemetery mausoleum

It is as beautiful as it is old. As I approached this something happened within me, and this dark cloud rolled over my emotions. I took my shots and left in a black cloud of dark emotions. As we continued to explore Astoria, it took me nearly half an hour and getting across the bridge towards Seaside until I was able to shake these gloomy feelings. As we got into Canon Beach, the clouds broke and the sun shined, breaking the bonds of dread entirely.

I have never felt anything so depressing in my life. I am not a depressed person, nor was I influenced by being in a cemetery. For those of you who don’t know, I got into cemetery seeking (and photographing) by way of Paranormal Research. Likewise, visiting cemeteries country wide for the last five years, you kind of get a feel for whats normal and what is not normal. This was NOT normal and perhaps one of the most negative experiences of my cemetery seeking career.

That said I am spiritually aware and fit, and I’m quite glad I was alone there. I can only just begin to guess as to what exactly happened, but let it serve as a cautionary tale. You need to be prepared to deal with ANYTHING you find, be it a part of the physical world or otherwise.

We concluded our lovely cemetery exploring day with dinner from Mo’s. If you haven’t been there, trust me, they’re famous for their chowder for a reason! If you have been there you know exactly what I’m talking about. Check ‘em out here. You can actually order Mo’s famous chowder online! Even if you’re in land locked Iowa reading this right now, you can get a taste of the Oregon Coast.