Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The Goonies

When I was younger, one of my favorite movies was "The Goonies". I remember being so captivated by the plot, I loved it! After seeing the movie, I really wanted to be a Goonie, who didn't? I still love that movie and all the great memories that surround it. So on Saturday, Jeff and I decided to drive to the coast and go to Astoria, the town where they filmed "The Goonies". We got to Astoria in time for lunch, we stopped at Clemente's for some seafood. I had the Cioppino and Jeff had a Albacore Tuna sandwich, both were delicious. After lunch, we walked down main street and found a little bakery called "Lindstrom's Danish Maid Bakery" to grab a little treat. The bakery was very good and I really wish we would have stocked up on some of the bakery items, because it was so good. Definitely a reason to go back. Next thing on the agenda was to find the Goonies house. We had the address and it was pretty easy to find it. As we were arriving at the house, some people were leaving and others had just gotten there, so we were not the only crazy ones paying homage to the movie.


The Goonies House


View of the Columbia River from The Goonies House




I thought this sign was pretty funny


Lunch at Clemente's




Astoria Main Street


Delicious Bakery


Another Picture of Astoria

Monday, January 19, 2009

Saturday Brunch

Before Jeff was married, he participated in a monthly restaurant group. I would often hear of the great restaurants the group went to, so I was very excited to receive an invitation to join the group for January's restaurant. We went to brunch at a wonderful place called Simpatica . According to Bon Appetit Magazine, it's "One of the ten hottest restaurants in the country". I thought the food was delicious and the atmosphere was equally great. I got the Belgium waffles with a maple orange marmalade and sausage. It was very good. Jeff and his friend Pascal wanted to try everything on the menu and had a hard time deciding on one thing, so they got three entrees to share between the two of them. Yep, that's right, three entrees. They got biscuits and gravy, the roasted pork strata with seasonal vegetables, and the porchetta with creamy polenta and eggs. I tried the biscuits and gravy and I have to say it was the best I've ever tasted. It was seriously amazing. Here are a couple of pictures of us and of the biscuits and gravy and the pork strata. We had such a great time and I can't wait to go back.