It’s easy to think of Vancouver as a Portland bedroom community and a name on a green Interstate 5 exit sign.
Nationally, though, the former prune capital of the world has been honored as a Preserve America Community, one of Money Magazine’s 100 Best Places to Live, one of America’s Distinctive Destinations and recipient of a Walking Magazine’s Walkable Community Award.
So take that exit to visit the home of Pearson Air Museum, one of the oldest continually operating airfields in the United States; Fort Vancouver, the oldest military operation in the Northwest; and the state’s oldest apple tree, great-granddaddy to the apple industry.
GO FOR A WALK
Vancouver has two of the most intriguing walks in southwest Washington.
The five-mile-long, 14-foot-wide Waterfront Renaissance Trail generally hugs the Columbia River, passing by art, monuments, restaurants, shops, a nearby ancient apple tree and the 7-foot-tall 700-pound statue of Ilchee (Moon Girl), Chief CQComcomly’s daughter.
The wide 3,800-foot-long Land Bridge connects with the Renaissance Trail on one end and Fort Vancouver on the other, crossing state Route 14 in the process.
It’s an outdoor gallery as well, reflecting Native American heritage, including a Language Walk, and a stunning view of Mount Hood.
HISTORY COMES ALIVE
For history buffs, the 210-acre Fort Vancouver (established in 1825) is a national historic site where history comes alive in ranger-guided tours and volunteers dressed and speaking as if they lived in the first part of the 19th century during the CQHudson’s Bay Company’s reign.
Children will be entertained by cannons, beaver and mink pelts in the fur warehouse, and a working blacksmith in the partially re-created fort.
Fort Vancouver was the hub of European-American-Native American interaction, starting with the Hudson’s Bay Company to possession by the U.S. military.
Hudson’s Bay Company began with a 1670 gift of half the land mass of Canada and went on a 200-year expansion in trade, according to ranger Mike Twist.
“All furs came through here, and all trade goods were distributed through here,” Twist said, supported by hundreds of cultivated acres, including orchards, thousands of livestock, grist mill and everything else the center of the trade universe needed.
The blacksmith shop was critical so that the company could make and supply their outposts with items that did not come by ship, including beaver traps, said the volunteer blacksmith.
He was pumping a double bellows that could create a 3,000-degree fire in the forge and pounding out nails.
“They imported 25 tons of coal a year. They were always complaining about the quality of the coal,” the blacksmith said.
The fort stored beaver and other pelts that would be shipped to England, and supplied food, clothes and tools to a huge area.
“It was the annual trip to Wal-Mart when people would buy everything for the year.”
The fort had the most diverse population of any Northwest settlement, including more than 30 Northwest tribes, Europeans, Iroquois, Hawaiians and African-Americans among 600 employees.
They included African-European James Douglas, manager of the fort who later became the governor of British Columbia and a British knight.
The Hudson’s Bay Company and the U.S. military coexisted peacefully from 1849 to 1860 when the company left. The last military presence will leave in 2011.
Officer’s Row is a visitor draw, too, stately homes for U.S. officers and now used for offices and residents with three open to the public.
WILD BLUE YONDER
Pearson Air Museum’s curator, Bill Alley, runs one of the oldest continually operating air fields in the country.
The main attraction is the hanger that features historic planes, some hanging from the high ceiling. A one-third size replica of the dirgible Gelatine honors the first aerial crossing of the Columbia River in 1905.
The hanger originally was home to the world’s largest spruce lumber mill for airplane frames during World War II.
The first post office-sanctioned interstate airmail was flown from Pearson across the Columbia River. The first Chinese-American (Leah Hing) to earn a pilot’s license (1934) flew from Pearson and her orange-and-white plane is in the hanger.
Russians lso played a part in U.S. aviation history. The monoplane Land of the Soviets, landed here on a Moscow-to-New York flight, and in 1937 a Soviet plane unexpectedly landed at Pearson on its way to the first trans-polar flight from Moscow.
The museum will celebrate that landing’s 75th anniversary in 2012.
It also operates an education center where retired airplane pilots work with children on simulators.
ELSEWHERE
Downtown, four-block square Esther Short Park is the oldest public square in the Northwest and a summer gathering place for festivals and concerts as well as a good stop for children.
The 69-foot-tall bell Salmon Run Bell Tower and glockenspiel sounds off several times each day.
The Farmers Market next to the park operates with more than 200 vendors and is open weekends through Oct. 31.
All that exploring requires sustenance. We can recommend three places.
Heathman Lodge (breakfast): The log pillars, emphasis on wood indoors and extensive art collection, including carvings, greet you. Recommended: crispy bread pudding French toast with candied pears and strawberries.
Beaches (lunch): Waterfront option with outdoor dining is light-hearted and busy. Décor includes a mural of a beach with penguins playing volleyball. Recommended: Barbecue pork sandwich.
Roots (dinner): A culinary surprise is in a shopping center. Expect a huge wine and liquor list, Northwest emphasis, and comfortable but informal atmosphere. Recommended: vanilla bean brined pork chops with proscuitto and mascarpone cheesecake with rhubarb compote.
If You Go
Vancouver USA Regional Tourism: 101 E. Eighth St., Suite 204; 1-877-600-0800, www. visitvancouverusa.com
Beaches: 1919 S.E. Columbia River Drive, 360-699-1592
Esther Short Park: West Columbia and Eight streets
Fort Vancouver: 612 E. Reserve St., 9 a.m.- 5 p.m., winter until 4 p.m.; 360-816-6230, www.nps.gov/fova. Events include Evening on Officers Row with costumed volunteers and kids’ archeology digs.
Grant House: 1101 Officers Row, 360-906-1101
Heathman Lodge: 78901 N.E. Greenwood Drive, 360-254-3100
Pearson Air Museum: 1115 E. Fifth St., 360-694-7026, www. pearsonairmuseum.org
Roots: 19215 S.E. 34th St., 360-260-3001. Call for directions
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