Astoria

View from our hotel window



Riding the bike back to the hotel (in the background)




Near Fort Clatsop - if you could hear the birdsong!

Handsome guy in front of the replica of the fort

Sacajewca and her baby


To get away from the heat and crazy amount of fireworks we stealed away to lovely Astoria, which way exceeded my expectations. Beautiful, lots of history and sites to see, good places to eat, a great Sunday market, fantastic hotel.....We also lucked out with a sunny blue sky July 4th, which locals kept telling us was extremely rare in those parts.

Here are my picks:

Where to stay: Cannery Pier Hotel - great service, amazing views, immaculate, free bikes to ride, lovely old Cadillac to take you into town for dinner, great jacuzzi and Finnish sauna. Thumbs WAY up. Downside: not cheap.

Where to eat: We had a fantastic seafood meal at Baked Alaska, which also has a view of the Columbia and good service. Drina's Daisy is a Bosnian cafe on the main strip, and it is a lovely place to have a delicious meal. We recommend the stuffed cabbage leaves.

What to do: If you like history, the whole Lewis and Clark tour is in your lap. We visited Fort Clatsop, which is located in a beautiful forest with a river, trails, nice Park Service Center that has great staff that paint a picture of that moment in time. Really liked the short film that tells the Native perspective with a descendant of a Native person who interacted with the L&C team. Great book store to get gifts.

Sunday Market is also a blast. Fun, funky, and not as crowded as Portland's Saturday Market. Good prices. Great food, but we had already eaten. Come hungry to take advantage of the great food vendors. I got a beautiful pair of beach glass earrings with glass the artist found during a trip to Puerto Rico. How cool is that??