After leaving Aberdeen, WA, I headed down highway 101, which was a thickly forested 2 lane highway, in which the logging trucks come barreling down at breakneck speeds around the curves in the road. Trying not to re-enact a scene from Final Destination, I would see them coming up from behind me in the rearview mirror, and reminded myself to to either push it or get out of the way. It reminded me of the 1971 film Duel about a mysteriously predatory 18 wheeler terrorizing a lone motorist.
Washington State is separated from Oregon on the pacific coast by the Columbia river, and to cross into Oregon from Washington, there is really only one way by car which is over the Astoria-Megler bridge. The mouth of the Columbia River is often referred to as the "graveyard of the Pacific" for the thousands of vessels that have been lost over the years as a direct result of the ferocious currents where the river meets the ocean.
Astoria was exactly as I pictured it to be. Gray, quiet, and very relaxed. What I noticed almost immediately while having my lunch at 14th Street Coffee in the lobby of the Commodore Hotel (where I spent the night) - was the youth. A very hip young community (a la Silverlake without the pretentiousness) was on display. The baristas sporting their beards and obscure band t-shirts greeted me by commenting on my t-shirt. I happened to be wearing my Waterloo Records shirt from Austin, when the barista greeted me by saying "cool shirt, I used to live in Austin". The stereo was playing Zero 7, Tame Impala, Tori Amos, BRMC, and Damon Albarn. Had I died and gone to a place reserved for me? A quiet, overcast, coastal town with great coffee and cool music? Speaking of great coffee - this is where I was introduced to Stumptown Coffee. More on that later.
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| Commodore Hotel |
After putzing around the town a while, what I couldn't figure out was where all these cool 30 somethings were coming from. There was no real industry in town, other than tourism. And even that was not what I would call a booming summer season. There were no tech startups down the road, no real art scene, not even a ton of bars. Just a quiet slice of hipsterdom.
I checked out the Maritime Museum which was quite fascinating. Along with a small fishing boat that had washed up from Japan as a result of the tsunami in 2011, there were all sorts of shipwreck stories, putting the Massachusetts towns near where I grew up to shame. A map depicted all of the documented ship wrecks at the mouth of the Columbia River, and old cannons, swords and other artifacts that had been discovered along the beaches were also on display. One story told of how a father and his daughter were walking along the shore one afternoon just a couple years back, when the daughter noticed something sticking up out of the sand. Turns out it was a cannon dating back to the Civil War.
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| Map showing all the documented wrecks |
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| Fishing boat from Japan. Washed up on shore as a result of the 2011 tsunami |
After leaving the museum, I decided to find some real history - Goonies locations! Along with the house (which someone lives in but is gracious enough to let wandering tourists and bloggers come within steps of their front porch to take as many photos as they'd like), there is also the original Astoria jail where the beginning jailbreak scene takes place. (There was also the elementary school that Kindergarden Cop was shot at across the street).
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| Screenshot from the movie |
Astoria was a beautiful, hip, relaxing town. One in wish I hope to visit again.
Leaving Astoria, I followed the coastline down to Fort Stevens where a Planet of the Apes like scene awaited...
A British merchant vessel from the late 1800's had beached itself. The Peter Iredale ran aground in 1906, was stripped of its remaining materials, and left to rot like a carcass.
Further down the coast was Cannon Beach. Very New England looking with it's antique shops and ice cream parlors attracting the summer tourists. Wealthy as well - more like Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket rather than most parts of Cape Cod. Just down the road from Cannon Beach is Haystack Rock, mostly known to film buffs as the backdrop to the ending of the Goonies, where One Eyed Willie's ship the Inferno was released from it's grotto imprisonment and then sailed off into the sunset.
Now onto Portland. What can I say about Portland other than everything and nothing.
There's so much to describe that it goes beyond my literary skill to do so in print. But a few tidbits:
First, in keeping with the theme of the trip, I found the site of what once was a club called Satyricon in the Old Town section of Portland. This just so happens to be where Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love first met. Nirvana and Pearl Jam played there in their early days, and it's also known for hosting the first ever Foo Fighters show.
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| What the club looks like today |
A trip to Portland would not be complete without a visit to Powell's Bookstore - the largest independent bookstore in the U.S. Upon entering you can grab a map to the store. That's how big it is. It actually encompasses an entire city block.
I had dinner at a place called Oven and Shake, which may have been the best artisan pizza I've ever had, and then spent the next couple of days essentially going to:
a) Coffee shops (Stumptown on repeat occasions - I tried to get to every Stumptown in the city)
b) Record stores (BEST city for record stores in the U.S. The map below guided my way) including Jack Pot Records, and Crossroads Music.
c) Small, hole in the wall eats including Robo Taco, and Cabo de Cuba.
d) DONUTS! including the world famous Voodoo Doughnut as well as Blue Star donuts
Other notable locations included:
- The feminist bookstore on Killingsworth street, known for none other than the location of Women and Women First bookstore of Portlandia acclaim. This store happened to be in a rather drab part of town. Making the trek almost worthless was the fact the the bookstore was closed, and there was nothing else nearby. So I basically hopped off the bus, looked in the window, took a few pics, and waited for another bus to come and bring me back.
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- The Roxy Diner where this was on my menu -
- A tour of the infamous Shanghai tunnels (pretty disappointing as this was purely myth, and 90% of the tunnels are inaccessible).
- A fantastic flea/thrift/junk/cool stuff store in the upper NW section of town. I spent almost two hours there rapping with the owner as well as several customers who came in. (Portland is divided into 4 quadrants, divided East/West by the Willamette River and North/South by Burnside Street)
- Coffee at Vivace Coffee - an old Victorian home turned cafe complete with period furniture, porch swings and many nooks and crannys to settle in with a book and an espresso.
Portland is a solo urban adventurer's dream. By far the most easily accessible major city I've been to. Above ground rail and the bus can get you absolutely anywhere, and the best part is, there's an app that tells you exactly how many minutes away each one is. The next street car isn't for another 20 minutes? Walk a block and take the bus which is only 8 minutes out.
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| The cleanest bus stop I've ever seen |
