Today is Remembrance Day in Canada and today’s article has a heavy focus on a building that was built in World War II. I’d like to say that this was planned, but it is simply a coincidence. Editing these videos often takes many hours and is entirely done in my spare time so trying to adhere to or plan any sort of schedule is not feasible.
I am a vacation planner. I like to have a detailed itinerary of places we want to see, restaurants we want to try, and to know where we are going to be staying. However, sometimes you just need to throw a wrench into the works and go with your gut. That is what happened to us with this stop.
We were coming up Highway 101 when Emily spotted it on the horizon, “it” being Hangar B at the Tillamook Naval Air Station. The hangar itself is impressive but what caught her attention was the giant “Air Museum” painted on the roof, just like a throwback to the old-time roadside attractions that would advertise on the side of local barns.
We simply had to stop and check it out, even if it wasn’t part of my plan for this trip. (The Oregon coast is so packed full of things to see and do there simply isn’t time to fit them all in when you only have a couple of weeks to spare.)
I had never had the chance to visit the Tillamook Air Museum before, but I was immediately impressed.
Even before you step inside, the scale of the building itself is enough to make it a worth stop. Built in 1942 as one of the seventeen hangars designed to service the US Navy’s blimp fleet, it towers more than 1000 feet above you. It holds the record for being the largest clear-span wooden structure in the world. It’s too bad Hangar A was destroyed by fire in 1992 because seeing both of these monsters beside each other would have been a stunning sight.
Why not come check it out with us?
The Tillamook Air Museum is open Wednesday – Sunday from 10:00 – 16:00. Admission is $10.50 per adult with discounted rates for seniors, youth, children, and members of the military.
