Our day exploring parts of the Oregon coast may have to be blamed on our insomnia and
this article on Yahoo! (top 10 coolest small towns). Well, since Astoria, OR was #2 and it's only a little more than an hour away from us, we decided to just make a day of it. We would see all those "tourist" spots we tried so hard to avoid. Since our journey started at around 5:30 am, we planned our route around exploring the small town of Astoria, the beaches, aquarium, arcade, and shopping of Seaside, the Tillamook cheese (and ice cream!!) factory of Tillamook, and the Oregon State Fair. 5:30am to about 10pm + traveling = longest day ever, but with great views!
Astoria mural along the river.
New JCP merchandise with a classic facade.
One of the many cute store fronts.
Astoria riverfront.
The Astoria column. By far the most touristy of our stops but the view from the top is amazing.
One hundred and sixty-some step, spiral staircase to the top.
A couple rest stops along the way.
The famed Victor at the Seaside Aquarium. Who suffered a fatal blow as a result of being dropped to the ground while a thief attempted to run away with him.
Some more aquarium friends.
Some views and stops along the way to Tillamook!
Tillamook! (obviously) The place was actually quite interesting. Cheese sampling and a good time watching a factory line machine malfunction while enjoying ice cream cones. Although we did manage to make it to the State Fair around 7pm, we were both tired and a little cranky for photo ops.
