Oregon Maritime Museum

I run by it, walk by it, bike past it, and drive by it all the time.  Now finally, I’ve made it inside the Oregon Maritime Museum. It’s that big blue boat floating between the Morrison and Burnside Bridges. You know…the one you run by, bike by and drive by all the time.

For about two years, I’ve been suggesting to friends that we should go.  Shockingly, no one seems interested!! Weirdos.  So I finally gave up, and decided to go by myself.  It took me a few tries though, they have very short hours.

The tour begins and ends in the gift shop (of course).   When I arrived, or should I say embarked (throwing down a little vocab from my time on Semester At Sea), I was the only one there so I was given a private tour.  Much to my surprise, there WERE people in tours before and after me.  One man was even there to renew his YEAR MEMBERSHIP (!!!). So I guess I’m not the only one who likes the boat.

My tour guide took me straight to the top, into the pilots house.   He explained how the steering worked and how the pilot communicated with the engine room and gave me a little history on the ship.  It was used on the Willamette from 1947 to 1981. It guided ocean-going ship along narrow stretches of the river and it was one of the last steam powered ships EVER made.

After enjoying the view from the top , it was time to head into the engine room. There were lots of nobs and dials, ropes and life jackets. He explained to me how it all worked, but I can not recite it back to you now. I was too distracted by the vintage collection of ships whistles.  The extremely disappointed when he told me none of them work!   That’s one big flaw, Maritime Museum. Big.  Hook those things up!

After enjoying the view from the top , it was time to head into the engine room. There were lots of nobs and dials, ropes and life jackets. He explained to me how it all worked, but I can not recite it back to you now. I was too distracted by the vintage collection of ships whistles.  The extremely disappointed when he told me none of them work!   That’s one big flaw, Maritime Museum. Big.  Hook those things up!

After touring the engine room, my guide took me back up to the gift shop and headed off with another tour.  I checked off one of my goals for 2012.