Sunburns and dirty laundry...

...and by dirty laundry I mean the scandalous history of the Flavels, a very prominent family of 19th century Astoria. The innkeeper, Carolyn, sat with us at breakfast this morning and told all!
Apparently, a brother and sister pair somewhere down the Flavel family line were a little...off. They lived with their mother in an old, decrepit house that they refused to repair. Then the brother got in a knife fight, killing a guy and going to jail. He jumped bond, and then he and his sister fled, along with their ailing mother. They lived in a hotel out of town, evading the brother's impending re-arrest. The mother died, and they never reported it!! Eventually they were both caught, and arrested, for stealing hotel towels!!!!!

Anyway, the reason I am mentioning this is because there are actually two Flavel houses: the one in disrepair and one that has been preserved by the Historical Society. It's a beautiful Queen Anne, and is available to the public for self-guided tours!! Obviously, I took advantage of that opportunity.

But don't let me get ahead of myself. I haven't shown you where I stayed in Astoria yet! I actually stayed in two places, because while I was making reservations, I inadvertantly skipped a night in Astoria. By the time I realized my error, the inn I was already staying in was full, so I had to scramble to find a new place. Luckily, I did!

The first place I stayed in was the Rose River Inn.

So far, it's the only place I have stayed that had a bathtub instead of a shower!

What I didn't realize at the time was that the decrepit Flavel house was across the street from Rose River!! I even asked about it, wondering if it was Astoria's haunted house site or something (the more common term used in refrence to it is "eye sore"). The innkeepers at Rose River never mentioned the Flavel name!

I stayed at the Rose River Inn for one night, and then had to relocate to my new place, the Benjamin Young Inn.
I ended up having to call the Benjamin Young Inn to get a late check in, because I was still on the Oregon coast traipsing through sea side caves and tempting the tide!

Anyway, the Benjamin Young Inn turned out to be only about 5 minutes away from the Rose River Inn!

I loved the stained glass doors, which were slightly more elaborate than the ones at my aunt's house

By the time I arrived at the Inn it had gotten very chilly out, and I was cold from having spent all day out by the water (I was still in my sea salt-soaked jeans). I had a cup of tea before unloading all my stuff. My teacup matched the beautiful pattern of the tea kettle!

My room had lots of Victorian decor, which I loved (especially that lamp!).

Because of my short stay in Astoria, and because I had spent my only full day driving the coast, I had to get in all my Astoria sightseeing on the same day I left for my next destination. So my last day in Astoria was fully packed, but a lot of fun!

First, I headed over to the fancy Flavel house. I had to watch a little video before I could actually walk around the grounds...the video didn't mention the loony siblings!

The house was a beautiful sight

The stained glass window above the front door has a ship in it, in honor of Captain Flavel

They had a creative entry process: each person filled out a "calling card" and presented it to the staff member in the front hall!

I visited each of the downstairs rooms at least twice!

The Music Room:

This is called the "Music Chair" because it plays music when you sit on it! It was off limits, unfortunately

The Library:

The Dining Room:

The grand staircases

The upstairs staircase; the downstairs staircase

Upstairs were all the bedrooms (four):

This tub certainly can't compare to mine at the River Walk Inn!

Both of the Flavel daughters had a fainting sofa!

Writing desk!!

After the Flavel House, I drove up a long, winding road to visit the famous Astoria Column. It was built in honor of the man who founded the town.

I had to climb 164 stairs to get to the top! My legs are so sore!

Starting the climb; half way up

When I finally got to the top, a big yellow door opened to reveal the stunning, 360-degree views from the top of the column.

I only stayed at the top of the Column for about 10 minutes...by then my vertigo was starting to take over and I was ready to be on the ground! Not to mention it was really cold and windy way up there (the Column is the tallest point in Astoria).

The one other thing I wanted to do before hitting the road was ride the Astoria Riverfront trolley. It's a popular attraction that travels in a straight line along the coast and lasts about an hour round trip.

The trolley will pick you up anywhere, just wave dollar bill!

Look closely: the conductor is standing in the same place...but what's up with the seats??

A neat thing about the trolley is that, after it completes its run in one direction, instead of turning the trolly around the passengers stand up and rotate the seats!

The conductor's name was Bear ("honest In'jun," he said when I expressed surprise), and he was a lot of fun. He encouraged us to wave at people in restaurants to see if they would wave back

He also liked to sing. At the beginning of the ride, he sang "If You're Happy And You Know It" and encouraged the riders to do all the motions (most of us did!). When I finally got off (you can ride as long as you want), he started singing a song that went "so long, it was nice to know you." It felt like he was serenading me!

The one last thing I would have liked to do, but didn't have time for, was find the house used in the movie The Goonies. Since I couldn't see it in person, I found an image of the Goonie house and posted it here, just because I could.

So that concludes my stint in Astoria, Oregon!
Stay tuned for new adventures in my newest location!

...oh, and the "sunburn" part of this blog title is referring to my rather rosy glow...yesterday's jaunt along the coast had it's repercussions!