Sep 18, 2014

Portland Coast // Day 1 // Astoria

While heading to coast from Portland we just didn't really know where to go.  I mean, we knew we were going to the coast, but we just didn't know what we should hit on the coast.  I had pinned and pinned numerous things I wanted to visit, but it just wasn't organized well within Pinterest.   

We had borrowed a pac'n'play from a friend of a friend and she had mentioned that Astoria was where The Goonies movie was filmed.  I knew as soon as she said it, we'd be going up that way.  I hadn't really planned on starting up that far up the coast, but hey, road trip away!

I'm so glad we did.  The husband claims it was one of his favorite places on the coast.  The first place we hit in Astoria was the Visitor Center.   A little shout out to the sweet ladies there.  I don't know why we have never been to any kind of visitor center, but shoot dang, we decided that it was a must for all the new places we go.  They gave us maps, laid out all the cool things to do in Astoria, and had Goonies T-shirts and other paraphernalia.  Plus, they didn't mind see our little toddler pull out ever thing she could reach.

Luckily, we also picked up a Mile-by-Mile Coast Magazine.  Which, it basically saved our lives.  We would have missed so much.  
The first place we went to was the Astoria Column. 


Beauty right?  


The visitor center ladies told us to go and buy some wooden airplanes from the shop there and then you can throw them off the top. 



The husband bought both kids one.  It was kind of adorable, he even wrote their names on the planes. 


The only way to the top is up.  Luckily, because we were so close to sea level, we weren't even out of breath!  Seriously, made me feel like I was so in shape (which, I'm SOO not.)


After climbing so many stairs you come up to this beautiful wooden door and sky light, but the view outside is even better. 







Little miss Aiko has NO FEAR.  She would stick her feet through the bars and kick in the air. 




I usually don't fear for my children's life when it comes to heights, but sheesh.  With the husband being taller than me and holding the baby, I felt like she was just going to fly over the edge!


We threw off little brother's plane first so she could see how to throw it. 


She had no problems after that.  We watched it spin and spin and spin.  It took a good while to get to the ground.  It was totally worth the 4 dollars to park and get airplanes. 



These two.


Poor brother, he's always getting the awkward photos taken.  Aiko on the other hand is getting pretty good at saying "cheese" thanks to this trip.

Little Astoria offers so much to see and do.  Obviously, one of the main highlights is the Goonies house.  Which, we got a little lost (SOMEHOW) and took quite a walk around town. 


It was kind of weird.  The owners of the Goonies house were used to people constantly gawking at their home.  I just felt like a creeper.


Not only can you go see The Goonies house, they also have the school where Kindergarten Cop was filmed.  



Astoria itself is pretty adorable.  Had we known about the little town beforehand, we would have stayed the night there.  
  


Oh, this is the jail from the Goonies.




There is a Trolley that goes through the whole town.  We wanted to ride it, but it was packed and almost closed.  Plus, we had decided to try this Fish and Chips place, which was totally worth the 45 minute line we waited in.  


We used Yelp a TON to find some good local grub.  This was about as local as you could get.  They serve Tuna Fish (fresh)and Chips and that's it.  They cook and serve on this type of boat (I forget what's it called.)

It was AMAZING.  


The line was soooo long and I felt like it didn't move at all.  Luckily, I had Bill to talk too.   We had a nice little life chat and I was a little sad to leave him.



While I waited in line, the husband sat in the car with the babies, then drove around and did a little sightseeing.  You see, the husband melts in the sun.  


When we finally got our grub, we went across the road to the pier (where this is also an museum) and ate our hot tuna in a delightful breeze.  




The moss really was THIS green.  It was so pretty in the afternoon. 


We wished we had more time to spend in Astoria, but it was about 4 pm and we still had to drive to Lincoln City.  

Before heading down the coast we decided to drive across the lovely bridge into Washington state.   It's hard to take pictures of the bridges on the road, this hardly does it justice.  

Little did we know, that we would be crossing a dozen different bridges in the next week. 

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