All posts in travel

I have a list in my head of places I want to go. I also have a list in my head of lesser-known places that I’ve been, and I want to go back to:

Cesky Krumlov [Czech Republic]

Wicklow [Ireland]

Macon [Georgia]

Hama [Syria]

… and let’s go ahead and add Astoria, Oregon to that list. yes, yes, those that have gone usually go to pay homage to The Goonies, which should be something everyone does. and, it has to be said, it’s every bit as magic as you think it will be. the house is easy to find, the owner is a sweetheart [a Goonie, herself] and should you be lucky enough to pass anyone else walking down the long driveway when you’re walking up, you’ll exchange a smile reserved for those geeky enough to be there.

but, Goonies aside, the town itself is one of the most fascinating and haunted places I’ve ever been. even just coming within one block of the old Astor hotel [above] you can tell this. the Liberty Theater. any of the given streets. perhaps it was because I walked around on a day where it was dark and drizzly, but the streets reminded me of something out of Detroit – even though I’ve never been.

the architecture was a despondent hybrid of Colonial-meets-coastal. the people hard from the weather, the fishing. two funeral homes sit across caddy-corner from each other, either in competition, or location preference.

it’s a place hard to write, and only those who have been could compare notes. but I could have stayed for days, taking the same photos over-and-over. heading out to Cannon Beach. sit in the same hotel room. drinking in less-than-desirable spots.

and I need to go back.

Tim and Robin would fall ill to something we had eaten the night before [me, fine - a Teflon-coated stomach thanks to years in Asia] and so we’d head back early, timing our drive perfectly for the white-knuckle trip back, up and around Mt. Hood, in a blizzard.

we’d save the rest of the tour for another day, another time.

but trust that this town, and this area of the world, needs to, and will be, seen again.

[more photos here. apologies for the spots. it was raining. a lot.]

look, I got nothin’ but love for Portland, OR. to me, if you have to live in a city in this area, this is the one to pick. San Francisco is great, but it’s still California. and Seattle is fun, but grim. I first came to Portland many years ago and fell in love with how quiet the downtown was and it’s the same today. people, while not as health conscious as they are in Bend, still ride their bikes to work, and can’t be seen anywhere in the city on the weekend. and you got Powell’s.

but Tim, on the way there, told me to pay attention to something and I did. and, after a few days there [even in the nicest of hotels], I’m prone to agree with him.

great town; but it’s dark.

and no one knows why.

I’d mention this to a few more people and they’d point out the homeless population [many would refer to this as the 'meth' population - homelessness being simply subsequent], and, the shocking title of ‘America’s Most Unhappy City’.

don’t know if I agree with that, but it does have a cloud over it.

we, as a group, didn’t do a whole lot besides hit the pubs, not hit Voodoo Donuts and stalk Dominique Wilkins, who was in town with his previous team. so, to make up for it, I’ll throw in a few photos.

it is a fun town to shoot.

… more photos up here.

next up, Astoria.

hi.

I barely got a chance to unpack my bags before heading off again.

this time, it’s a road trip with 3 friends around Oregon tasting beer.

yuck, I know.

this is written from our first stop – Hood River.

next it’s Portland.

then Astoria.

Newport.

and more.

even though they’re making fun of me, I have a little notepad and am writing down every microbrew we try. then I’ll come back and write all about it and someone will say ‘boy! that’s a swell idea’ and then I can stick it to them!

or something like that.

it’s funny to think that Perth, the ‘Dallas of Australia’, is the most remote place in the world. when that phrase is mentioned, our minds go to deep Africa or somewhere inaccessible.

but no. it’s Perth. and I got to go there.

and brother, lemme tell you something: it’s not only the most remote place in the world, it is by far the most expensive place I’ve ever been to.

hands-down.

no question.

and that’s something you should know… ’cause I sure didn’t – showing up with my few [borrowed] hundred dollar bills.

$8 for a pint is the going rate.

$80 for a dinner for 2 is the going rate.

and no one seems to blink an eye.

a friend told me that no one notices because everyone is paid a high rate, but, but, not everyone who goes to Perth works in Perth.

[not everyone who goes to Perth works at all!]

WA is a pretty part of the world, as you can hopefully at least get a hint of from the photos.

and I’m not saying ‘don’t go’.

I’m saying ‘take 3 times the amount of money you think you’d get through’.