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NW
word
probably before 1200 and is
related to the Old English mœrels,
which was a rope that could be
used for such an act. Mooring, as a
noun, has its fi rst known use occur
in 1420.
nerd
By RYAN HUME
Moor
“In the background, with its own au-
dience of sea lions, Port of Astoria staff ers
started stringing orange safety fencing
along the fi rst fi nger pier of P Dock, one of
the three the Port has left at the East End
Mooring Basin.”
>Pݜԥr@
Photo by Matt Love
The Chester Club & Oyster Bar in South Bend, Washington, sits on pilings over
the Willapa River and serves fresh local oysters.
A G LIMPSE I NSIDE
An occasional feature by MATT LOVE
Chester Club and Oyster Bar
“Old, real old,” the bartender at the Chester Club and
Oyster Bar in South Bend, Washington, said when I asked
the joint’s age. I was there killing time before my presen-
tation at the Pacifi c County Museum, one of the more
charming little museums in the Pacifi c Northwest.
Old, real old. That’s good enough for me. I tend to hate
“new” in bars and restaurants.
The Chester Club sits atop pilings on the winding Willa-
pa River. At low tide, there is nothing but beautiful brown
grooved mud below you. Mud is good. Mud is a wonderful
contrast to all the concrete in our lives.
I ordered a soft drink and surveyed the Chester’s inte-
rior: two pool tables, a real CD jukebox (not the accursed
digital kind,) old beer and liquor promotional posters fea-
turing buxom women, hundreds of faded photographs
documenting historic partying, and a huge black and
white photograph of a local high school quarterback from
the feathery 1970s, who was the spitting image of a wily
young Ken Stabler, formerly of the Oakland Raiders and
recently deceased.
What more could you ask from the décor in a great dive
bar in rural Washington?
Something else about the Chester Club. They serve
deep-fried oysters and oysters in shot glasses. The oysters
are local. Everything about this joint feels local. They made
me feel like a local, and I was there for half an hour at 11
a.m. on a summer weekday.
Matt Love lives in Astoria and is the author/editor of 14 books about Oregon,
including “A Nice Piece of Astoria: A Narrative Guide.” They are available at
coastal bookstores and through www.nestuccaspitpress.com
noun
1. (People) a member of
the Muslim group descended
from Arab and Berber ances-
try and hailing from north-
west Africa which conquered
Spain in the 8th century
2. (British) a wide-open
and overgrown tract of
uncultivated land; also, a
swamp or game preserve
3. a place for mooring, like
a dock
verb
4. to fi x or secure an
object, esp. a boat or ship, in
place by line, cable or other
means
Photo by Damian Mulinix
—Edward Stratton, “Haul-out hurdles,” The
Daily Astorian, Tuesday, May 5, 2015, P. 1
Boats are moored at the Port of Ilwaco in Washington.
Origin:
The three diff erent primary
defi nitions — referring to the peo-
ple (proper noun, always capital-
ized), the British usage as applied
to wild lands and the verb and
noun forms meaning anchorage
— all arrived at a common spelling
following separate paths.
Before 1393, the people were
known in English as More, which
was borrowed from the Old
French of the same spelling by
way of the Latin Maurus and the
Greek Maûros, which referred to
an inhabitant of Mauritania, the
ancient African nation from which
the Moors originated.
The British term meaning
wasteland or marshland traces
back to the Old English mōr, fi rst
recorded in Beowulf in 725.
The verb referring to the act of
fi xing a ship arrives from moren,
“‘We look on Astoria as the great
fi sheries port of this area. We hope you
get your mooring basin, which will add
materially to the $20,000,000 the fi shing
industry brings annually to your commu-
nity. We want to help get that mooring
basin,’ Moores, who is also president of the
Portland Rotary club and vice-president of
Commonwealth, Inc., told the large gath-
ering of businessmen at the luncheon held
at Amato’s Supper club.”
— “Portland Men Visit Astoria,” The Orego-
nian, Thursday, Feb. 28, 1946, P. 10
T he
Illah
ee
A partm ents
D ow ntow n A storia’s
M ost Respected
A partm ent Com plex
Since 1969.
1046 Grand Avenue
Astoria, OR 97103
503-325-2280
August 20, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 19