If You Go, Remember That It’s In Europe & Don’t Forget to Pack Your Banana Hammock

Sometimes spam is funny. Hee. I wish I had a banana hammock.

So – the weekend was fantabulous, mostly. Friday afternoon, the architect picked me up at work and we drove to Astoria.

We stayed here:

And it was awesome. The breakfasts were terrific. A dozen red roses and a bottle of champagne waited for us in our room. There was a claw foot bathtub, and I took two baths (both on Saturday). Did I mention the delicious breakfasts? The only bummer was that we were supposed to also have chocolate-covered strawberries with our romance package, and we didn’t get them, and then I couldn’t remember if they were part of the package, but I didn’t ask, and then I confirmed it when we got home. Also, the web page mentions free wireless internet, but it wasn’t mentioned when we checked in, and there certainly wasn’t any in our room; but I didn’t know about that until just now when I linked to them. The breakfasts were very very good, though. And the coffee? Was awesome. I drank more coffee in two days than I consume in most years. I’m still a little wired, actually.

Also, we toured Astoria. Friday evening, our tour took us to the Wet Dog – the cafe that serves beers from Astoria’s only brewing company. I had a mini-pizza, and it was delightful. The architect had a halibut sandwich, and it was also good. However, the best was our server. We ordered the sampler plate of beers – and she brought us, in addition to our full-size samplers of five beers, mini-samples of the other beers. She did get in a bit of trouble for that, but hopefully, all was forgiven. My favorite was the Strong-Arm Stout. Yummy. The architect preferred the Amber.

Then, we had dessert. And even though I’d forgotten my camera, I had pie. Marionberry pie, to be exact. Mini-pie, in its own little dish. With ice cream. And whipped cream. And then I died. It was awesome. I wish I had a picture, but I didn’t realize that I would need to take pictures.

After dinner, we hired someone to roll us back up the hill to the B&B. We drank champagne (although not very much, we were tired), watched a movie and fell asleep. Because we are crazy like that.

The rest of the weekend was good. We looked at an old house. I wanted desperately to break into another old house:

Isn’t it spooky looking? At night, lights come on upstairs (I guess to discourage people like me from breaking in). But I still kinda wanted to break in. However, I didn’t. Because I am a law-abiding citizen.

We rode on the trolley:

It was $1.00. And much fun.

Then, we had lunch at Gunderson’s Cannery Cafe. It was cool, because they had good chowder, and a good sandwich, and we could see big ships sailing up the river. The less good part:

The pie, labeled “That Darn Apple Pie” or something like that, was advertised as taking two whole days to bake. And maybe it did. However, the ice cream was the only thing I finished. The top crust wasn’t too bad – it was a crumb kinda thing, and was sweet. However, the bottom crust was not a light flaky delight. On the bottom, it was not cooked – and as much as I like raw pie crust, it shouldn’t be raw on the actual pie. The crust end was cooked, but so thick and heavy it was nearly inedible. The apples themselves were thinly sliced, which was nice, but then they had waaaaay too much cinnamon on them, and although the smell was nice, the taste wasn’t. It was my most disappointing pie ever.

To recover from the bad pie, we went to a wine tasting at the Cellar on 10th – which was kinda fun. We tasted from the Daedelus Winery near McMinnville – and they were mostly good. I thought the Pinot Noir was a bit weak, but the architect liked it. We ended up purchasing a bottle of their Syrah and another bottle of Viognier from a Washington Winery (can’t remember right now). The Syrah, although not horrifically expensive, was still the single most expensive bottle of wine I’ve ever purchased.

Saturday afternoon we watched Goonies, because hey! We were in Astoria! Then we went to eat at T. Paul’s Urban Cafe. They had awesome chowder. I had an urban quesadilla, but couldn’t finish it. I was happy that I ordered only half. The architect also had a quesadilla – the Cajun. It came with red-hot dipping sauce. We laughed a lot at the poor, delicate tongues of the Oregonians, because although the quesadilla was rated an “8” on the hot scale, we gave it a “2.” And the sauce? Was not so much even a bit warm.

Saturday night, I took another bath, and then we curled up and watched a couple of movies.

Sunday was more good breakfast, then the Maritime Museum (which was awesome), followed by an old cemetery, and then, the best part:

The wreck of the Peter Iredale.

I love me some shipwrecks, and this is the first one I’ve ever seen in real life! I also realize that it is the most photographed shipwreck in the world, but it was cool! (And cold!) And much fun.

We lunched in Seaside (average pizza, not worth talking about) and then drove home. We stopped to see the largest Sitka Spruce in the US, and it was big.

Then, we were home. We downloaded photos. Lounged. Played with the monkeys. Calculated how much we spent on our cheap weekend get-away. We cringed.

But, it was good. And I was happy. And I am trying very hard to maintain the happy.

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