**Fall weekend**

After a work-related retreat this past weekend (I would post pictures, but they are far too incriminating), I managed to escape for a lovely, even romantic weekend in Astoria. I have never visited before, but it now ranks as my current favorite NW coastal'ish town thus far. I say coastal'ish because it is not exactly on the coast, but on the Columbia river, near the bar.

This town boasts beautiful victorian homes, some of which have, not surprisingly, been turned into B&B's. The town has a walkway and trolley along the river, an impressive Maritime museum (I am told as we are saving that for the next visit) and an nice restored historic downtown boutique hotel where we will stay next time. This hotel, The Elliot, has a wonderful rooftop garden where you can hang out, enjoy the views, and stay warm with a gas fire pit. You can grab a glass of wine in thehotels wine cellar bar (it used to be the old family residence years ago) and head to the roof to enjoy the evening and watch the cargo ships move up and down the Columbia. Sea Lions bark and frolik along the shore and on remanents of the old docks.

The town has some awesome, funky restaurants. My personal favorite is the Columbian, run by Uriah since the 1970s. There are three tables and some bar stool seating. He cooks right in front of the bar. The dinner memu is determined by whatever he feels like cooking and whatever looks good when he heads to the dock in the afternoon. Very quirky and incredibly delicious.

We hiked up to the town's column at the top of the hill. You climb the 200 ft. to the top of the tower and then can fly balsam airplanes from the top (the are easy to find scattered in the woods below. When we got to the top, a storm blew in suddenly and we had to hold onto the railing at the top. It then dumped rain during the hike down. It is hardly troublesome as the weather is pretty temperate so one can be wet and not get chilled. I will try and post pictures if I can.