Sunday, the day after our wedding, was rough. I was exhausted from lack of sleep and from the week’s festivities catching up to me. Somehow we made it home, got packed up, and went to the airport. Upon check in we were informed that we weren’t seated together on the plane. After some pleading, one of my row-mates switched and we had an ok 5+ hour flight to Portland, Oregon (by ok I mean listless and loooong).

The one truly amazing thing about our flight was this view of Mt. Hood we got flying over Oregon:

When we arrived I was beyond exhausted and starving. We had a quick dinner and then crashed in our hotel right near the airport.

On Monday morning, after a full 8 hours of sleep, a hot shower, and good breakfast, we were off to Astoria. Astoria is about a 2 hour drive northwest of Portland, right on the Washington state border actually.

From Astoria to Portland we saw a huge train, gorgeous landscapes, dairy farms, and lush forests. I love the Pacific Northwest!

Two hours later we arrived in Astoria!

We actually drove straight through Astoria because we weren’t able to check in to our hotel yet and had plans to visit Cape Disappointment in Washington State, just north of Astoria. The border between Oregon and Washington actually happens right on the Astoria-Megler Bridge, which you’ll see more of later.

Cape Disappointment offers a mile hike up to their famous lighthouse and a half a mile hike to their Visitor’s Center.

The hike was lovely, lots of great views and little beaches.

Finally, after trekking a mile through the damp, Lost-like jungle, we arrived at the lighthouse. The weather was perfect pre-hike but by the time we reached the lighthouse it was hot and humid out!

The views from the lighthouse we amazing. Here are the views of the visitor’s center to the right, the beach to the left, and the jetty to the far right.

We then hiked all the way back down the trail and over to the opposite side where the visitor’s center was. Check out the view of the lighthouse from the opposite side of the coast.

We worked up an appetite after all the driving and hiking so we headed back to Astoria to the Fort George Brewery and Public House for lunch.

We got the beer sampler which featured 10 of their house brews!

We got the house-made sausage platter as an appetizer while we played Scrabble.

For me, this was heaven:

I got the eggplant marinara sandwich for lunch. Yummy!

The aftermath:

After lunch we spent a while walking around downtown Astoria to get a sense of everything.

Our favorite stop was this awesome store, Vintage Hardware:

Finally it was time to check in to our hotel, the Cannery Pier Hotel!

The Cannery Pier Hotel was built on the site of the Union Fish Cannery, 600 feet into the Columbia River, which was operational through the 1940’s. Now it is a gorgeous boutique spa hotel which offers amazing rooms with breathtaking views of the Columbia River and Washington State.

Our amazing room! It was huge, the bathroom was gorgeous with an actual clawfoot tub, and we were greeted with chocolates, rose petals, and champagne.

Incredible views of the Astoria-Megler Bridge and Columbia River from our room:

Sidenote: Here are two more awesome ships we saw from our room at the Cannery Pier Hotel.

The rest of the hotel was just as gorgeous. The exposed beams and wood work were modern and lovely, such style. The lobby area provided a sitting space with equally pretty views of the bridge and river.

Sunset view and big ship from our balcony on our first night in Astoria:

After we were all settled it was about time for the nightly wine and cheese social! Our hotel served free wine, cheese, and smoked salmon every night at 5PM. It was awesome.

We were then ready for dinner. The Cannery Pier Hotel owns two beautiful old Cadillacs that will take you downtown for dinner. We ended up not riding in them but boy were they pretty.

For dinner we went to a local Italian place called Fulio’s, it was classic and delicious.

I was up early on Day 2 of our honeymoon and caught this gorgeous sunrise over the Columbia.

To be continued!