Our Honeymoon: Astoria, Oregon (Part 2)

Day 2 of our honeymoon began with a workout in the hotel fitness center and breakfast in the lobby. Afterward we were ready to begin our day!

Our first stop was the Astoria Column. The Column is an 125 foot structure depicting the history of Astoria, OR. It’s 600 feet above sea level, the highest point in Oregon. Read other cool stats here!

We opted to climb the 164 steps to the top of the Column. Our hearts were pounding but the reward at the top was worth it!

Amazing views from the top of the Column:

We spent a while at the top just taking in the gorgeous weather and sights.

And then back down the 164 steps we went…

Next, it was time for lunch! We went to the Blue Scorcher Cafe downtown where I had the best veggie burger ever and we enjoyed a little carrot cake too.

We then visited the Columbia River Maritime Museum right on the water in downtown Astoria.

The main draw for me here was the Tattoo: The Art of the Sailor exhibit which featured the history and background of maritime tattooing. We weren’t allowed to take pictures but I snapped just one of some original Sailor Jerry flash.

We also checked out the Lightship Columbia, which was located right behind the museum. You could go inside all the nooks and crannies of the ship, it was cool.

Next our travels took us to Hammon, OR, just 20 minutes or so from Astoria, to check out Fort Stevens State Park.

The major attractions here for locals are the beautiful beaches and excellent camping but for us tourists, we came to check out the Peter Iredale shipwreck. It ran ashore in 1906 and has been on the beach ever since.

John dips a toe in the Pacific Ocean!

Fort Stevens State Park is named for the really cool abandoned fort in the middle of the park. It reminded me of Fort Revere in Hull.

Just down the road, also part of the stretch of Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks, was the Fort Clatsop National Memorial. It’s a replica of a real Lewis and Clark fort dating back to 1805.

We headed back to the hotel, freshened up, had some cheese at the nightly wine and cheese social, hung out some more, and then walked to dinner at the Bridgewater Bistro, just at the end of the pier our hotel was on. It was a gorgeous restaurant with a lovely view of the pier and our hotel, and the food was delicious.

On to Day 3 of our honeymoon!!

We made a stop for breakfast at Coffee Girl Cafe on a really cool old pier and stumbled upon the Bumble Bee Cannery Museum. Awesome!

From there we were headed to one of the most exciting things to see in Astoria, and on our entire honeymoon, the Goonies House!!!!!

It looked exactly as it did in the movie (with a few minor cosmetic updates). The gloomy, rainy weather and being at the house put me right back into the movie. It was pretty amazing.

It was then somehow noon and time for lunch. We were off to Bowpicker, one of the most anticipated meals on our trip because the place was the stuff of legend on Yelp and the internet. Fish and chips served out of an old boat? Alrighty!

The line was super long when we arrived and we knew it was going to be awesome.

These were easily the best fish and chips I’ve ever had. The reviews were not fooling around! First of all, the fish comes from about 20 feet away, right on the river. Second, they were lightly breaded and not greasy at all. Third, $9 for all this food was a steal, not to mention that I was super full afterward! I wish I lived in Astoria just to have this every week.

Totally stuffed, it was time to get on our feet and do some touristing.

Our first stop was supposed to be the Oregon Film Museum which houses a collection of artifacts from all the movies that have been filmed in Astoria (The Goonies, Short Circuit, Kindergarten Cop, Free Willy). However, it was closed for renovations. This was seriously the biggest bummer of the trip. I’m actually still a little upset about not being able to go here.

So onward we went to the Flavel House just across the street. Check out that enormous Sequoia tree on the right in this picture. It was the biggest tree I’d ever seen! The picture does not do it justice.

The Flavel House is a beautifully maintained historical mansion belonging to one of the first settlers of Astoria, OR.

Just down the street was the Astoria Heritage Museum which was a little lackluster but still something to do on our feet and out of the rain.

After our afternoon of museuming, we went back to the hotel to lounge around. Around 8PM we decided it was time for dinner (so late for us!) and headed back over the Astoria-Megler Bridge into Washington state for some dinner.

It had been raining all day but the sun came out just as we left the hotel. I spotted a gorgeous rainbow as we went over the bridge!!! When I gasped at it I thought John was going to jerk the wheel and send us into the river because I startled him so badly. The clouds and sunset that night we amazing too.

We trekked all the way up to Ilwaco, WA to go to a restaurant that was revered on Yelp. However, despite arriving 40 minutes before they closed we got there and found a locked door and a closed sign. Ummm….great. Every other restaurant up there was closed too! (it’s a really small town)

We found the Pelicano Restaurant though, gave them a call, and the host told us to come over, they’d stay open for us. Awesome! We got there and ended up having one of the best meals of our trip.

Minestrone soup and pasta for me! Both vegetarian and totally yummy.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of our honeymoon journey where we drive down the Oregon Coast to Portland!