That’s their time. It’s there time up there. Right now it’s our time…it’s our time down here.

That pretty much sums up how I felt about a work-related stuff back home and my tour. It’s my time down here. I haven’t even checked a single email. So awesome.

I was a pretty obnoxious tourist doing tourist stuff today. Lucky I wasn’t alone. Astoria is swarming with them. I went to the Goonies House…it’s the house that was set as Mikey and Brand’s house in the film. It’s a private residence now but people make a pilgrimage there and get pictures and do whatever…in my case it was the truffle shuffle. I felt like a total asshole for doing it (imagine checking your mailbox every day and some jerk from wherever is jiggling his tummy at you)…but just like that road to Mount St. Helens yesterday…I was there. This was the only opportunity to do it. I would regret it forever if I didn’t do it…I asked some stranger to hold the camera while I did it. Total asshole.

Astoria actually milks the whole Goonies thing pretty hard. It works though (I was proof of that). They have this “Oregon Film Museum” that is located in the old jailhouse…yes it’s THAT one from the film where the Fratelli’s escape in the beginning. Anyway, the museum consists of three rooms: the jail cells where they hang a pipe on the bars like Jake Fratelli did in the film, and another that is closed off but has a bust with Data’s jacket and gear hanging on it. Data was never in jail. I don’t think so, anyway.

The other room is a “film set” where you can act out different scenes from movies that were shot in Oregon…Goonies (of course), Short Circuit, the Shining, Kindergarten Cop, and I think that’s all they had. I paid the $6 to act in some scenes but the sets were pretty lame and the pimple kid running the equipment couldn’t get the monitor to work in the Goonies scene so I did one from Kindergarten Cop and the Shining (yeah the bit where Jack sticks his head through the bathroom door). I had three more but I didn’t bother getting my electronic copies because I thought it was super lame.

The third room is the gift shop. The merchandise is 95% Goonies swag. I bought a doubloon with holes in it like from the film, the copper bones that they found on Chester Copperpot and used to open the next door, and a t-shirt.

BTW the school they shot Kindergarten Cop at is right around the corner from the Goonies House.

I rode by the Bowlarena where Chunk rams pizza and a milkshake on the window as the Fratellis escape in their ORV while getting shot at. At the Oregon Film Museum they have that ORV sitting out front. Same license plate and everything. It had bullet holes.

The Astoria Historical Museum in the film is where Mikey’s dad works as the Assistant Curator (who apparently steals from work and hordes things in his attic)…that house is actually the home of some old military figure and is an open historical site now. It’s across the street from the Oregon Film Museum.

That pretty much did it for Goonies sites in Astoria, so I went for lunch at the #1 rated restaurant in Astoria- Bowpicker Fish & Chips. It’s an old boat on a sidewalk that sells fish and chips…and the line up is nuts…every day. I figured I’d go for it, and ended up standing in line for one hour and twenty minutes. For fish and chips. I didn’t even get mad and huffy.  I didn’t care one bit…I just chatted with some locals and other tourists and we all knew we were being ridiculous waiting for fish and chips this long. But we all stood firm together in the line. Hold the line, mates. Anyway it was worth it. Best fish and chips I’ve ever had. They use a tuna that is caught around here and it was super firm. The batter was light and just held that fish together perfectly…not that it needed it. Super firm and fleshy. I ate that stuff in the parking lot on Midnight’s bike seat. People are walking by and I’m chowing down on fish and chips in the parking lot. Total asshole.

I went about 30km south to Cannon Beach. That’s where Mikey uses the doubloon to figure out that the Country Club was the third space on the missing spots, so that’s where the rich stuff was…because when One Eyed Willie was trapped he connected his underground system to the country club. That also means that One Eyed Willie got out and chose to go back and die with his rich stuff. Probably killed his whole crew too. Their skeletons were all sitting around together with the rich stuff in the film.

Anyway I took my doubloon with me and did the line up. Backwards, and way too close so it didn’t make any sense…but neither did the film make sense when Mikey figures it out so it evens out. Total asshole.

After Cannon Beach I went back north to Seaside where I was staying. My motel was a total dive with crappy wifi (like no wifi) and a bad smell. It was oceanfront though, and that’s why I went with it. I could see the whole beach and so I just relaxed in the room for a while before venturing out to walk to the water.

Seaside is aptly named. It has a huge beach with this incredibly soft sand. Some people go swimming but mostly people just hang out in little groups (families) and visit. After dark they light fires…they dig a hole in the sand and light a fire and then bury it when they’re done. The beach is littered with charred wood in clumps under the sand. Pretty cool to see though. After the sun went down I walked along the water to hear the sound. It’s so loud and constant…it’s very soothing. I can hear it from my room so I think I’ll leave the window open tonight.

Somewhere in there I went to a pub for dinner. I had cod sliders. They were ok but not that memorable. The beer was good though. There are so many craft breweries around…every place has a craft beer menu. It’s so cool. I also had their clam chowder on the side. It was also good but not amazing. Homemade though and there were a lot of clams.

Here’s a video of the day: