Astoria Road Trip: June 2019

In June, Dan and I took a one-night road trip from Portland to Astoria. We had visited Astoria in the past, primarily so that I could see the filming locations for my favorite childhood movie, The Goonies. You can check out that blog trip report here.

We embarked on this trip with a hotel booked, but with no specific touring plans for Astoria. We just wanted to explore the town and check out the things that we had missed on our previous visit.

We set out on a Friday evening, as soon as Dan was finished with work. Unfortunately, it was during rush-hour, so progress getting out of the city was slow. Astoria is in Oregon, but our route had us cross over to Washington state, where we stopped for Dairy Queen Blizzards. This was Dan’s first visit to a Dairy Queen! For bonus points, it was located in a small town with signs displaying the mascots of the local high school teams. Even though we live in a smaller town currently, I’m still very much a city-girl and I get a kick out of small town life.

Most of our drive was during the waning daylight. We drove across a huge bridge that took us back into Oregon state. We also stopped at a scenic point for sunset snaps.

Our hotel was the Hampton Inn Astoria, located right on the water.

We have been primarily staying at Hilton properties to build up Hilton Honors Points and we’ve become very aware of the various Hilton brands. This Hampton Inn was a little older and grander than the average Hampton Inn. I don’t know for sure, but my gut tells me that this was not originally a Hampton Inn.

My favorite aspect of this hotel was the sea lions warning sign at the check-in desk.

I was disappointed when we didn’t get a room facing the water. Normally, I’m not too fussed about views, but I would have loved to have seen the sea lions. I wanted them to sing the song of their people to me! To be fair, they were noisy when we walked outside. Very noisy. I didn’t realize it until we checked-out of the hotel, but we were actually given a room that faced the Walsh house from The Goonies. It was dark when we arrived, so I never noticed it, but I should have been geeking-out!

Our hotel was just a short walk, over train tracks and along a pier, to the Rogue Public House, where we ate dinner.

The Rouge Public House is an Oregon staple. Their beer, which is delicious, is sold everywhere in Oregon. The restaurant itself was dead for a Friday night. We were among only a handful of patrons and it was empty when we left. Still full on Blizzards, we stuck with a bowl of clam chowder each and shared smothered fries. The fries were amazing and the portion was enormous; enough for six people. What the Rogue Public House lacked in atmosphere, it more than made up for with delicious nibbles, cold beer, and attentive service.

Hampton Inn’s have decent breakfast buffets, but in efforts to enjoy Astoria, we skipped the hotel breakfast and left early to hit the town.

Our first stop was the Astoria Column. Located on the top of a hill, the Astoria Column is a tower, which you can climb a narrow, spiral staircase to be rewarded with amazing views of the city. This historic landmark was built in 1926 and is 126 feet tall. The exterior is decorated with a mural that depicts key moments in Oregon’s history.

Views from the top!

Access to the Astoria Column is free, but there is a five dollar parking fee, which actually gives you parking access for an entire year. Make sure to visit the gift shop before you walk up the column, to purchase a small wooden glider to launch off the tower. Ask for tips to make your plane glide further than those of your friends and family. My husband sneakily got the inside scoop and his glider really traveled!

Downtown Astoria is quaint. It is filled with antique and specialty stores. It also has the oldest and smallest JC Penney’s that I’ve ever seen!

For breakfast, we landed at the Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe. It was jammed and based on its popularity, we decided to give it a try. Oh my goodness, it was delicious. I had an enormous breakfast burrito that I am still craving. If we lived in Astoria, we would be regulars. Great food and an utterly charming ambiance.

Keep an eye out for my next Astoria post, all about our afternoon spent at Astoria’s Columbia River Maritime Museum.

Book Review - Young-Ha Kim's Diary of a Murderer and Other Stories

On a recent visit to Powell’s Books in Portland, I was perusing the crime/mystery section and Korean author, Young-Ha Kim’s short story collection, Diary of a Murderer and Other Stories, caught my eye. I like to go opposite with my reading seasons, disturbing in the summer, and light-hearted in the winter. You can’t feel too dark when you’re sunbathing with a Mai Tai in one hand and crime novel in the other!

The collection begins with the title story, Diary of a Murderer. This is the longest story in the collection and it was my favorite for its strong narrative voice and intriguing premise. It follows a former serial killer, who has gotten away with his crimes, but now has Alzheimers. He is cognizant enough of his disease to worry that he might accidentally reveal himself, yet far gone enough to be living in a fantasy world, where he believes that his daughter’s new boyfriend is a fellow serial killer. His daughter is also a secret that he keeps, as he adopted the girl when she was a child, kidnapping her after killing her mother. His unreliable memory forces him to walk on egg shells. This serial killer who has caused so many people fear, now fears himself. It’s a great story idea and Kim does a fantastic job at keeping the tension. I felt both disgust and empathy towards the main character. He is a great anti-hero.

The second story in the collection is called, The Origin of Life. This story details a love triangle, where a woman in an abusive relationship manipulates her childhood friend to help her. I felt this was the weakest story in the collection, although Kim’s writing is so skilled, that it still kept my interest.

Missing Child explores the idea of a kidnapped child being returned to his parents after many years. The son is now a preteen and he is not the boy that his parents imagined that he would become. Would he have been like this all along? Or did the nurture part of the upbringing that he had with his kidnapper, over take the nature, the biology from his parents? What happens when your missing child is returned and it is not the happy occasion that you imagined? This story was fascinating and intensely emotional. The lives of the characters are utterly destroyed from one incident. The theme of child abduction is also carried over from Diary of a Murder, making these two stories solid companion pieces.

The last story is The Writer, about a novelist with mental health issues. The novelist is an unreliable narrator who is spiraling out of control, imagining a torrid relationship with the ex-wife of his would-be publisher. This is also a great companion to the title story, as both deal with unreliable narrators and mental health.

Kim is a new-to-me writer discovery. I enjoyed the intensity of his stories and surprising story arcs. He crafts vivid, emotionally wrought characters that I will not soon forget. I highly recommend Diary of a Murderer and Other Stories.

Portland's International Rose Test Garden

Last week, I had the joy of visiting Portland’s International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park. Although we lived in Portland for a year and have visited many times since, the International Rose Test Garden was a place that I not seen. It did not come without some effort.

I took the Max train from downtown to Washington Park. The Max is a convenient and inexpensive way to tour the Portland metro area. The trip took less than fifteen minutes each way and only cost five dollars round trip. A bargain!

I arrived at 7:30 in the morning. The garden opened at sunrise, so I was actually not early. However, as the garden is two miles from the Max station, I had been counting on taking a free shuttle that stops at the major sites of Washington Park. Other attractions in Washington Park include: the zoo, arboretum, children’s museum, a war monument, a forestry museum, and a Japanese garden. These is a lot to see! I had failed to check the operating times for the shuttle and learned that it didn’t start running until 8:30.

I was not going to stand around until 8:30, so I started walking.

My walk took me through winding roads and hiking trails. I was alone for most of it, including the wooded areas. It was both peaceful and unsettling. These was no one around! I saw about fifty wild rabbits and an enormous water cistern covered in graffiti. I crossed train tracks and bridges. I applauded my sensible decision to wear athletic shoes, rather than sandals. I’m not a morning person and this was quite an early morning adventure!

I also got super sweaty and decided that it was a good idea to take a selfie in the woods. At this moment, as I’m writing this post, I’m thinking that it is sensible to share this photo with my readers. I will probably regret this. I’m a hot mess.

Shortly before reaching the Rose Garden, I encountered The Elephant House, which is now a picnic area made out of the elephant barn from the original zoo. The Elephant House has delightful animal art.

About forty minutes after beginning my walk, I reached the International Rose Test Garden. Entrance to the gardens is free and it was jammed with visitors. A fascinating fact about the garden, is it was founded during WW1, because people were worried that varieties of roses in Europe would be destroyed in the bombings. Rose afficianados sent roses from Europe to be cultivated and preserved in Portland.

The garden is amazing and magical. It was just like stepping into the pages of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. I’m fairly certain that I visited at the very best time of the year, as all of the rose bushes were in full bloom. I was there just a week after Portland’s annual Rose Festival, which includes a parade and fair in downtown. The vibrant colors and sweet fragrance overwhelmed my senses. I was in awe at the spectacle. I had no idea that there were so many varieties of roses. Simply stunning.

Every year, a queen is chosen for the Rose Festival. The garden has a “Queens Walk” which features paving stones, each with the name of a former rose queen and the year that she reigned. It’s a lovely tribute to a Portland tradition.

The garden also has a modern geometric sculpture with a water feature.Kids were splashing in the water. The entrance to the garden has a bronze statue of a man that is named The Royal Rosarian. It was created by artist Bill Bane.

Portland usually has wet and gloomy weather, however the summers are glorious. This particular day was on track to beat heat records. I love extremely hot weather, but I was melting. To refresh myself, I purchased a bottle of Fentimans’ Rose Lemonade at the garden gift shop. It was the yummiest lemonade that I have ever tasted.

I spent about an hour in the garden. If you want to maximize your time and see another amazing garden, you can also do the Japanese Gardens, which are located just feet from the International Rose Test Garden. The Japanese Gardens do have an entrance fee, but it is absolutely stunning and worth paying to experience. Check out my trip report from the Japanese Gardens here.

Luckily, by the time I was ready to leave, the shuttle was running. Two miles is not a long walk, but with the heat, I didn’t want to do it twice!