Hangin' With One-Eyed Willy

Day 12: Astoria to Seaside

Today's Distance: 17 miles + sightseeing 

Total Distance: 510 miles

Alright, it's time for me to be honest with everyone and let you know my true intentions for this trip.  I'm after One-Eyed Willy's rich stuff.  Chester Copperpot failed and The Goonies only walked away with a bag full of gems and then watched The Inferno sail off in the distance.  Ships don't sail themselves guys, so I'm sure that treasure is somewhere near.  I'm sorry for being dishonest this whole time but I didn't want anyone beating me to it.

Ok, now that I got that out of the way let me tell you about my day nerding out in Astoria.  I found a deal at the Commodore Hotel last night, so I thought "treat yo self 2015!", since I was going to spend a good part of today sightseeing.  The Commodore is a boutique hotel in downtown Astoria that has some pretty dope perks.  After checking-in, they hooked it up with a local craft beer which was much needed after a long ride.  They offer a full list of dvd's to check out and even a portable record player and vinyl to take up to your room!  Super cool. I ended up watching The Goonies because how often do you get to watch the movie in the town it was filmed and set?  There's a coffee shop connected through the lobby, so for breakfast I had some Stumptown coffee and an everything bagel with local veggies.  I would definitely recommend staying here if you like that whole minimalist, contemporary vibe.

Astoria is old and grimy and "hipster" in the most authentic sense.  It's what all you cool kids aspire to be without trying. My gameplan for the day was to truffle shuffle at the Goonies house, see a few other landmarks, and then head as far south as possible with the time I had left. When I arrived at Mikey and Brand's house I was surprised to see that the owner just recently shut it down to the public because some tourists were littering and generally being disrespectful.  She put blue tarp over the front and nobody is allowed up the driveway.  Lose, lose situation.  It's the movie's 30th anniversary and I missed this moment by a month and a half!  In true Goonie fashion I never said die and I found the best viewpoint possible and embarrassingly did the truffle shuffle with the house in the distance (see Instagram for video: b__artistic).  I had to get pretty creative to film this with no cameraman or tripod!  I grabbed a cold brew coffee and some souvenirs from Astoria Coffee Roasters and sat on the bench outside and took it all in.  After that I visited a few other spots and then had lunch at Fort George Brewery.  If I lived here i'd probably visit Fort George at least once a week!

After lunch I took off for Seaside down the Oregon Coast Bicycle Route.  There was a pretty strong headwind so I was glad I only had to go 17 miles to reach my hostel for the night. I can tell the weather is taking a turn for the worst so I might use this time to rest up and count all my newly found treasure!