Road Trip Day 3: The Goonie House, Shopping, Flowers and Unique Food

Day 3 of our road trip began as another cloudy day and our fun-filled day contained an unexpected diversion.

Our hotel in Astoria, Oregon

The day began with a quick breakfast at our hotel in Astoria, which sits on the northeastern most point of Oregon. The plan was to head to see the house from the 80’s movie ‘The Goonies’ and then head to Fort Clatsop, which was where Lewis & Clark’s expedition ended up in the early 1800’s.

But first things first – as a fan of ‘The Goonies’, we headed toward the house first.

The way to the house was well marked.

The house is privately owned, but you can venture up to the house.

Doesn’t it look the same as in the movie?

The garden around the house was nice too…

California poppies were in full bloom in the retaining wall underneath the house.

Believe it or not, this blue-flowering plant is the annual lobelia.  Evidently, they love cool, moist weather.

The pink roses were so vibrant.

There was a little arbor with white clematis.

After seeing the house, we drove back through town, along the coast of the Columbia River where you could see large ships and signs of the importance of fishing.  The sea lions along the pier were quite noisy and could be heard from far away.

As we drive through downtown Astoria, we came upon a street market. Of course, we had to stop.

The market stretched 3 blocks through downtown Astoria.

It was a live scene with vendors selling their goods, street performers, plants and unique food choices.

While most vendors sold items you would expect to see at a street fair (things made from wood, jewelry and clothing) – there were also some unusual items such as this gentleman who made guitars from old cigar boxes.

I must confess that I went the more traditional route and bought a bracelet for me and a necklace for my daughter, Ruthie.

Street performers played ‘Top 40’ songs, including Pharrel William’s song “Happy” using an electric guitar and drums made out of 5-gallon plastic pails.

The individual sounds from the drums varied depending on how high they were from the ground.

They were surprisingly good.

Plants had a large presence at the street fair. Different nurseries set up booths selling a beautiful variety of plants.

Clematis

While I can’t grow hosta clematis in my desert garden, I do enjoy seeing them whenever I travel.

Lilacs

Weigela

While you’d be hard pressed to find most of the plants on sale in the desert southwest, I did find one plant that was being sold that grows great in my backyard…

Salvia greggii ‘Lipstick’ had red and white flowers on bright green foliage. I love and so do the hummingbirds. It blooms fall, winter and spring in my garden. It was nice finding a plant that can grow in both places.

Fresh produce such as apples, asparagus, pears and sugar snap peas were on display.

This shopper was well prepared pulling a wagon filled with his purchases.

One thing that I have really enjoyed in the street markets I have visited on our road trip are the floral booths.

Gorgeous cut flowers are combined in a variety of beautiful arrangements.

The prices were amazing too!

I love peonies!

Before we left, we stopped by the food vendors. There were a lot of ethnic foods available including Asian, Greek, Indian, Mexican and Finnish Food.

Now, living in the Southwest, I am very familiar with Mexican food. But, I must admit that I have never seen these unique offerings before…

I admit that I wasn’t even the least bit tempted to try bacon-wrapped or deep-fried asparagus.

Even as an adult, I still don’t like asparagus.

On our way out, we stopped by a booth with a large number of baked goods.

We skipped the pies, but did grab 2 large cookies for lunch later.

Planters decorate the face of an empty building in downtown Astoria, Oregon

We enjoyed our time in Astoria very much and could have easily spent another day there.

As we drove away, we spotted two deer on the side of the road…

The next leg of our journey led us to the second state on our road trip.

We crossed the bridge over the Columbia River into Washington.

Yeah…that’s a lot of lumber.

We arrived in Seattle before dinner and walked a 1/2 mile down the road to attend an evening church service.Then it was dinner at Chipotle.

Tomorrow, we will explore the downtown area!

Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."