Wonderful Bed and Breakfast

I have been staying at Clementine's Bed and Breakfast in Astoria for the last three nights. It is wonderful--amazing breakfasts, great conversations, and a really cute room with a view of Astoria:





I have been staying mostly at Fairfield Inns because I had a bunch of Marriott Rewards points that enabled me to stay for free (why I could afford this trip). But I wanted to treat myself to something different, so I opted for a bed and breakfast. Judith, the hostess, is incredibly generous and has lots of great information on the area, as well as creating amazing breakfasts. It has been really great to talk to the other guests here. The breakfast is communal which encourages conversation, and there is wine in the evening too. I met people from North Carolina, one who was a community college instructor and one a retired United Church of Christ minister; some other bed and breakfast operators--I learned a lot about running these places!; a couple from New Albany Indiana on the honeymoon--talk about a small world, right across the river where I grew up;a couple from Idaho; and some of Judith's relatives.

I've done a lot the past two days, and am now quite weary. I have overeaten, and walked about 5-6 miles every day if not more, which is a good combination, but right now my stomach hurts and my legs are exhausted. Sleep will come easy tonight, especially in this comfortable bed! Tomorrow I'm driving to Boise which is going to be a long drive but it's time to sort of start back.

In Astoria, I visited all the local museums: Flavel House, the Heritage Museum, and the Columbia River Maritime Museum. They were all great in their own way. The Heritage Museum had a good exhibit on the Native American cultures of the area and how the settlement of the area by white men changed their culture forever. However, they also have an exhibit on the Ku Klux Klan which includes a robe and a poster. The Klan ran the government for a couple of years on a platform of anti-Chinese sentiment, so the exhibit does in fact make sense. However, the museum really needs to put in an interpretive panel explaining why it is there, because the way it is now you have no idea unless you ask or the docent tells you--they must have plenty of questions because before I toured the museum, he warned me about that exhibit. It would not require much to put even just a piece of paper explaining the historical significance so you are not standing there wondering if this exhibit is celebrating the Klan, or what.

The Maritime Museum was excellent too. I know nothing about river navigation, but they had some great exhibits on river and bar pilots. The sand bars at the mouth of the Columbia River are known as the Graveyard of the Pacific. I definitely recommend this museum if you are in the area.

Incidentally, the Goonies was filmed here. I think I found the house they used for the family's house.

Every meal here has been outstanding. I recommend this one place called Baked Alaska, which had river views and an amazing sweet potato salad. I also checked out a local brewhouse; there was another one, but I didn't get a chance to visit it and as stated earlier, am too tired for that. This place called the Urban Cafe had a great crab quesadilla. I had Thai food tonight, and have plenty of leftovers to save money tomorrow.

I spent today doing Lewis and Clark stuff at Ft. Clatsop where they camped over the winter, Cape Disappointment, and Ft. Stevens. Cape Disappointment had two lighthouses which I visited, and Ft. Stevens had a civil war era fort, which I had no idea existed. Lincoln was worried about a Confederate attack up here. Ft. Stevens also functioned during World War II and a Japanese submarine attacked the fort. They had a nice exhibit on that.

Some photos:

Fog at Cape Disappointment:





Cape Disappointment Lighthouse


Deadman's Cove


Large wave:



Oh I almost forget, there were amazing views from the Astoria Column:



The fog was really eerie, but here is a picture of the Astoria-Megler bridge. According to wikipedia, this is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. I did cross it to get to Cape Disappointment







The view was awesome, but even better were the friendly people at the top. I have no idea why, but the person running the visitor center, a guy that lived up there, and some random tourists were all friendly and wanted to hear about my trip. It was really nice!