Goonies for a Day

So we made it. We left Portland at about 9:30am, drove almost 2 hours northeast into Washington, then back into Oregon again, to arrive in Astoria shortly after noon in search of the many familiar Goonie landmarks. I can't say we were able to visit all of them, but we got to see the important ones that the fans will appreciate.

It's pretty late right now in Seattle (we arrived back at the Ace Hotel: Seattle only a few hours ago), so bear with me while I write this. It's been an exhausting day, but I'll try to run through as much of as I can in as briefly as I'm able. All in all, it was a pretty amazing part of the trip.

So like I mentioned above, we made it into Astoria at about noon and hightailed it directly to the Goonie house, where Mikey and his brother lived. I found out that they're actually really cool about fans taking pictures up there, as long as you park at the bottom of the hill. So, we did just that and hiked up the short drive to the house. It's close to what we remember from the movie, only updated with a new paint job and a lower level porch. We sat up there and took some shots, including one of me doing the truffle shuffle. It had to be done, but I only posted it in the Flickr photos, so if you're willing to succumb yourself to that, feel free. The house has a great view of the inlet and Astoria's neighborhood hills, and we were able to hear the sound of sea lions barking from the docks the entire time we were there. It seemed like a really relaxing place to live, regardless of the plethora of fans that make their way up there.

From the Goonie House we drove down the hill into town and got shots in front of the County Jail that the Fratelli brothers escaped from and the Museum where Mikey's dad supposedly worked. The museum is actually a real museum, though of what I'm not sure, and the jail hasn't been opened since 1971. It was so cool to stand right there in front of these places...I can't wait to get home and watch the movie again. It was fun to watch Steph's memory come back and recognize the scenes. At one point, I'm not sure who was having more fun.

Next came Ecola State Park. This is where the scenes outside the restaurant were filmed, as well as the scenes of Mikey looking through the dabloon in order to line up the Lighthouse, the Rock, and the Restaurant. The park is actually about a half hour south of Astoria, so after a quick debate as to whether or not to make the drive, we decided we'd regret it if we didn't and headed down the coastal freeway into Ecola.

Entering the park is almost as gorgeous as the coast. You drive along this narrow road filled with hairpinned turns for about a mile into the park, all the while, passing underneath moss-covered pines and fields of fern. It was very surreal. Minutes later, you arrive at a large parking lot that offers an endless number of viewpoint options of the Pacific Ocean. Not being able to help myself, I bounded up a hill at the edge of the bluffs and gazed over the sea, only to be joined by Steph a minute later. Something about the ocean fascinates me...and adding the beauty of the Oregon coast into the equation...simply incredible. I have no other word for it.


From this hill you can actually see the Rock that Mikey sees in the dabloon...in most of the shots of Steph and I, you can see it in the distance. We're on the north end of it, even though it was mostly shot from the south in the film. You can also see the lighthouse in the distance of a few of the shots, most specifically the one of me standing on the edge of the cliff with the lighthouse island directly to the right.

And finally...the restaurant. Unfortunately, it's no longer there as the building was constructed only for the film and torn down shortly afterwards, but you can still see hints of the scene in what exists today. In the shot of Steph and I behind the picnic bench, look directly over our heads and you'll kind of see the old stump that the ORV was parked behind, and down to our left there is the drive coming up to the flat part of the land. Here's the thing, all of the land behind that stump has completely caved in due to a large number of landslides around the bluffs. You can't see it in the photo above, but I'm pretty sure that the exact location that the restaurant sat on has since fallen into the sea, but at least you can still see where it once stood with the addition of 20 years of growth.

Pretty much concluding our adventures as Goonies for the day (minus the search for One-Eyed Willy's Treasure), we then decided to head back north towards Seattle and find a quick stop to get a bite to eat along the way. This is when we discovered Seaside. Almost by accident, I pulled into this sleepy little coast town and what we found was a neighborhood of charming shops, coastal restaurants, and spectacular views. We stopped inside a local seafood restaurant, the name of which escapes me right now (Dookles?...no, that's not it. It'll come to me) gobbled down some lunch and walked over to the enormous beach for some final shots of the Pacific. Before heading back to our car we explored a few of the shops, but realized that it was getting late and that we still had a three hour drive ahead of us. On that note, we got back into the car and headed the rest of the way north towards Seattle.

It was a long drive, but at least this time it offered us some pretty amazing views of Mount Rainier, which we plan on visiting Saturday. A few hours later we pulled into Seattle and got all set up at the northerly location of the Ace Hotel. All's good for the night and it seems to be about that time to retire. We don't have a set plan for tomorrow, but there should be plenty to talk about. Till then.