Over a decade ago Annette and I “discovered” Astoria, Oregon whilst on a birthday trip. My birthday is in February so when I say we largely fell in love with the gritty, cold, wet and gray town at the mouth of the Columbia River it wasn’t because of the weather.

Or maybe it was since we both love rain. Whatever the reason we kept coming back after that first trip whenever we could.

Flash forward to today and, for the most part, everything we liked about this place is gone. Economically the place is going gangbusters, best time in years some say.

The Wet Dog, our reliably grungy spot for decent beer and lovely view of the Columbia is still there, but their beer has become watery crap served by an oddly creepy staff who all seem to have something they’d rather be doing or someplace more important to be.

Fort George Brewing has become a caricature of hipsterdom with beer distinguished only by the tonnage of hops used also served by kids who seem annoyed to have jobs.

Rogue has a presence here, too, but they’re contained on a pier well east of downtown. One local we spoke to summed it up simply “oh, i never go there.”

On the plus side there’s still Columbia Coffee Roasters (ranked #3 restaurant in Astoria!) with same two women happily making killer concoctions (black pepper mocha, baby!), and there is still the river and the Megler bridge. There’s still the unending wateriness of the place and the giant bulk carrier ships lounging at anchor and swinging around with the tides.

But the feeling here has changed. Now going to Fort George makes me feel like a cog in the wheel of commerce. Ft. George has transcended beer and become a brand; patrons are now brand ambassadors. The mod Buoy Beer Co., proof that all you need is a couple million dollars and a dream to open a “brew pub” in Astoria. I think back to grubby Pacific Rim Brewing with the brewer saying “we wanted to go larger, but figured we should blow our wad on malt and hops first.” Buoy was like “instant hipster brew pub, just add water!”

Annette’s going to finish a conference call. We’re going to gather our belonging from the hotel room and reload the little car. Then we’re going to walk the trolley tracks along the river, look at the ships and listen to the sea lions bark before returning to regular life.