2. Did Someone Say, “Hey You Guyyyys!”?

Some movies define your childhood. The Lost Boys, Pretty in Pink, Dirty Dancing, Breakfast Club, Labyrinth, and perhaps the king of them all… The Goonies. I’ve seen it many times and I’m convinced I have it on VHS in my garage. If you’re on the right side of 40 then you probably know that The Goonies was filmed in Astoria, Oregon (as well as Cannon Beach). That little fact has been etched in my brain since the age of 7. 

When I was about 13 years old we went on a family vacation very similar to the one we found ourselves on now. That is no coincidence. I will admit that I modeled our itinerary on that family trip. On that trip we drove through Astoria without stopping. When you’re 13 you don’t have much say in where you stop along the way. To be honest I was probably too busy eating gummy bears and listening to Paula Abdul on my Walkman to notice we had entered the city limits for Astoria. 

Entering Astoria, crossing Youngs Bay

It seems fitting that I’m now listening to Portishead while I write this. Astoria was grey and moody in all directions. The atmospheric vibe was enhanced by the industrial feel of the riverfront and the looming Victorian houses on the hill. It seems Astoria’s heyday was in the 19th century when  the fishing, canning and logging industries were thriving, all of which have now left the area. The town was devastated by fire twice, first in 1883 and a second time in 1922, but seems to have picked itself back up since then, attracting tourists with a growing art scene, microbreweries, and it’s beautiful natural surroundings. 

We ended up at the waterfront near the Astoria-Megler Bridge which spans the Columbia River. The bridge is a mammoth structure- the longest continuous truss bridge in North America- it was awe inspiring. One of the things we both noticed and commented on was how cool it was that they built the bridge high above the houses instead of demolishing them. I’m sure it’s noisy living in those houses but we loved to see the old houses preserved like that. I found a photo of the bridge from the 1960’s that perfectly illustrates this since it’s hard to get a view of it from street level. 

Postcard from the 1960’s depicting the bridge high above the houses

Crossing the Astoria-Megler Bridge

Our time in Astoria was short, as it was just a convenient waypoint on our way to our final destination for that day.  We were about to enter our favorite days on this trip. We were on the precipice of landing in the middle of nature’s exhibition of some of it’s finest work.