A day in town

Astoria, Oregon: We were lazy this morning... reading emails, doing crossword puzzles, chatting up the neighbors. Isn't that what you are supposed to be doing while on a RV vacation? (I also shipped books and had to correct TWO typos on my blog post last night - sorry, Dear Readers!)

So by the time we headed into town, it was lunch time and we were conveniently hungry - a perfect excuse to try the Fort George Brewery and Public House.

Fort George Brewery

The brewery pays homage by naming things after people or events. The Fort George Brewery is housed in an old auto mechanic shop that was built on the exact site of the original settlement of Astoria. In 1811 Astoria was called Fort George, so the brewery took this name.

When the original brewing equipment was being shipped from Virginia to Oregon, the truck nearly met with disaster when it traveled through a tornado in Nebraska - thus their signature brew is the Vortex IPA (India Pale Ale).

No Shirley Temple on this drink menu - instead the Fort George Brewery offers a Dakota Fanning: cranberry juice and Squirt.

< Vortex IPA

Since we are in a tuna fish & chip kinda town, I again ordered the albacore. I can't say it was very good. Or maybe it just wasn't good compared to the yummy stuff yesterday at the Bowpicker? Battered with their Quick WIT ale, the portion was massive and the hunks of fish were very meaty... but, the batter was a bit gummy. Just as well, as it stopped me from eating too much. The fries were fresh cut and soggy in the usual McMenamin's/Oregon brew-pub style. DT had a tuna (also albacore) melt on flat bread. He was underwhelmed... but we both enjoyed our beers - DT had the Vortex and I had a teeny little glass jar of their Quick WIT. The Quick WIT is an organic Belgian-style wheat beer with coriander and lemongrass. You all know I am not a huge fan of those microbrews, but I took one for the team.

Organic Quick WIT Belgian-style wheat beer with coriander and lemongrass


Albacore Tuna Melt on flatbread from the Fort George Brewery & Public House in Astoria, Oregon


Albacore Fish & Chips

Next door to the brewpub - sharing the same building - is the very good Blue Scorcher Bakery & Cafe. Vegetarian and organic - this worker-collective cafe features only the finest local ingredients in their products, from artisan breads to hand-crafted candies. Stop in and have a coffee and pastry. Relax! (Oh, and be sure to try their chocolate ginger cookies.)

A girl can't live on deep-fat-fried seafood alone. We have to workout, exercise, walk, golf, hike, cook, vacuum or otherwise get the legs moving and the heart pounding. So, after drinking a beer, eating fish and chips and nibbling on a cookie, DT thought it would be a good idea to climb to the top of the Astoria Column. Why not?

Actually, it wasn't bad... only 164 steps. Burp.

The Astoria Column was a gift to the city in 1926 from Ralph Budd, president of the Great Northern Railroad. The column stands 125 feet high on top of the highest hill and commands a 360-degree view! The tower is decorated in the Italian bas-relief technique (sgraffito) with carvings commemorating 22 significant local events. Very pretty and very interesting.

We made the climb to the top and were rewarded with a wonderful vista! Definitely worth the effort. But even better - kids were tossing balsa airplanes from the top of the tower, racing down, retrieving their planes and returning to the top to throw them again. I think some kids will be sleeping very well tonight! The planes are the same variety we had as children - punch-out planes that slide together. The gift shop in the Astoria Column parking lot sell the planes for 75-cents. The clerk said they sell 40,000 planes a year! (You do the math.) Some planes would do a complete nose-dive straight down the lawn below the tower; others would catch the wind and sail for ten minutes. (It really was fun... but not enough fun that I would climb up again to sail my own plane.)

The Astoria Column


Don't look down (yes, those perfectly pedicured tootsies are mine)


The Mighty Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean - looking across to Washington from the Astoria Column. The pretty City of Astoria, Oregon sits on the southern bank of the Columbia.

Back at the bus, we had a steady stream of admirers lined-up to tour the Magna Peregrinus! After being at home for several weeks, we have forgotten how pretty our coach is and how many RVer's want to hear the story behind the Giant "O" on the back side. Since we are in Oregon, you only have to imagine the applause/controversy surrounding our University of Oregon paint scheme. For my non-Oregon readers: Oregon has pretty-much two people - University of Oregon people and Oregon State University people.

Dinner tonight was quite fun. We wandered into Fulio's Pastaria on the main drag in downtown Astoria. The dining room is very pretty and very inviting. The sign said to "please wait to be seated", so we waited. The owner came by a second later and told us we could be seated in the bar in a moment. We waited... and then were ushered to the bar. The very cozy bar probably seated 20 people and one other person was there... so we could not figure why we needed to wait to be seated... whatever. One martini later, I didn't care.

House-baked bread

After a cocktail, we were seated at a very nice table in the dining room. Service was very good. We ordered appetizers and entrees and everything we ordered was unexpectedly delicious. Steaks are "the thing" at Fulio's - though they also offer a great selection of pasta dishes.

Heaven on a plate - Spedini. Mozzarella grilled between rustic bread and garlic

We loved the Spedini appetizer and also loved the grilled half-head of romaine lettuce served as a Caesar Salad. I had a very lovely Veal Parmesan... but the winning dish of the night arrived in front of My Driver:

Bistecca di Abruzzo (rib eye)

We both (because I had several tastes) feel this rib eye was one of the best steaks we have enjoyed in a long time, and it really has the same taste as a Tuscany steak. No idea how the chef accomplishes this feat so far from Siena. Perfectly cooked - ordered medium-rare - the steak was juicy, meaty and crispy on the outside. With a smoky under-tone, we knew we had discovered a rare steak nirvana in Astoria, Oregon. It was also only $21.

Get in your car now.

Until my next update, I remain, your smoked correspondent.