Bit of Earth - Goonies 'R' Good Enough Mirror

Mirror of Goonies 'R' Good Enough Page

Editor's Note: The web site Bit of Earth (www.bitofearth.net) from which the following archive was saved is gone. You can read the story why at the Willamette Week site.

~Goonies R Good Enough~
by Orangeblossom, Victoria Bitter and MsAllegro

Friday, June 7, 2002. Three fans pile into a Toyota Corolla with a stack of CDs, two cameras and a few printouts of Goonies fansites. Their mission (and they chose to accept it): Drive from Portland, Oregon to Astoria, Oregon and seek out filming locations. Three hours of driving (using MsAllegro's keen knowledge of the shortest route) and a lot of squealing and laughing, this is what we found. Reproduced roughly in the order in which we took the pictures.

Victoria and Orangeblossom strike a pose on the way into Astoria. In the background is the GoonieMobile, also know as the SlashWagon.

This is the Flavel House, which is absolutley gorgeous in person. It currently houses the Clatsop County Historical Society Museum. It was not open at the time, and we really wish it had been. Bet that there was something Goonie-related in there. This is as good a time as any to mention that there were no kitchy touristy shops selling anything Goonies-related; we figured that if you could find Goonies stuff anywhere it would be in Astoria. Our mistake. The Flavel House is located at 441 8th street [map], just off of Duane. In fact, from the corner of 8th and Duane you can see the Jail!

The jail where the Fratellis made their dramatic escape is actually the Clatsop County Jail, which is at 732 Duane Street [map]. We didn't get up too close, but you can see the jail quite clearly from 9th and Duane, where this picture was taken. Also, the parking lot was maddeningly full, and the local authorities seemed to be eying us askance anyway, so we were afraid to get too close and light any fires. Bummer.

This nice lady gave us directions on where to eat. VB pranced up with all her usual moxy, introduced us as Fangirls on a pilgrimage and asked if there were any Goonie-centric places to eat. The poor woman looked a bit frightened of us, but let us take her picture anyway.

We had lunch at the Urban Cafe, and this was our wondeful waitress. Why is she holding a plastic banana? The cafe used plastic fruit with large numbers emblazoned on them to designate the table numbers. We were table #4, and were so delighted that our table had a banana that we made fools of ourselves. Trust us, you do not want to give a table full of pervy hobbit fanciers a banana. Just trust us. It was bad. Real bad.

This image is pretty self explanatory. In the opening credits, Rosalita (hired by Mrs. Walsh to clean the house) is trying to cross the street. The Fratellis are being chased by the police and race through the intersection, making poor Rosalita nearly jump out of her skin. Luckily, there were no police chases when Orangeblossom crossed. This small shop can be found on the corner of Marine Drive and 37th street [map].

This is the same shop as above, on the corner of Marine and 37th [map]. It was used in a cut scene, where the Goonies go into a small shop and run into Stef, Andie and Troy. Troy hassles them and Brand intervenes, Mikey examines a Mad Magazine (which is relevant to another cut scene). The shop has been repainted since 1984; it is now teal rather than blue. The house next door as well has been repainted.

We really should have taken a picture of this, but at the time we were tired and getting cranky. Sad to say, fangirls are human too. The bowling alley where this picture was taken Was on Marine drive, not too far north of the high school. We figured it out based on the view from the window, and we did in fact find the field where it used to be, complete with remenants of a parking lot. Tis a bummer, we had rather hoped to stop for pizza and strawberry milkshakes. Orangeblossom would have even donned a loud Hawaiian shirt and posed. Too bad!

This is a reference picture, the Goondocks as it was seen in the movie. Unfortunately, when we visited, the current owners were casually sitting in the front yard, looking at us rather suspiciously. Normally, your intrepid Orange, Victoria and MsAllegro would be brassy enough to just nance right up and ask to take pictures, but we were daunted, terribly so. Oh, the shame! The rank, awful shame! Fangirl goodness denyed by sudden respect for other people's property! We did see a very nice little boy, though. We're pretty sure he lived in that house, and you could tell that he knew it was the Goondocks, and that he was pretty darn cool to live there. He also clearly knew exactly what we were doing and grinned at us the whole time. The close-up pictures we took were from approximately where Chunk is (lower right), circled for your viewing pleasure.

Here is the Goondocks as it looks today. There is a pine tree in front that looks like it was planted in the last 18 years or so, and the fence around the side (the one that housed the obscenely complex door-opening mechanism) is gone. The lot next to it (where Brand stole the little girl's bike) is still there, and we turned around there. In the distant shot, you can see part of Data's house next door (to the left, circled in white). The house is located at 368 38th Street, up a scary steep gravel driveway marked "Private Drive." Given the popularity of The Goonies, the recent upsurge of interest in Sean Astin's career, and the extreme ease with which we found not only an address but a map to the house, we didn't feel overly bad driving by. Only our cursed shyness stopped us!

VB shows us her Goonies tank top. May we also draw your attention to the Goonies bumper sticker above her head? The car belongs to Orangeblossom. Technically, we took this picture before lunch, but it makes a fun interlude.

This is only being posted to show that we are imperfect fans; we thought we had the right field, but looking at the pictures, we can see we were way off. Our picture is of the playing field at Astoria High School, 1001 Marine Drive [map]. We're not sure which of the following is accurate: 1) There is another field farther up the hill, 2) All the bleachers and such have been torn down in the last 18 years (certainly possible), or 3) the school pictures were shot at a completely different location. Either way, the scene in question is a brief introduction where we learn that Andie is a cheerleader.

This is a section of Ecola State Park Road in Ecola State Park. We were thrilled to see it but a bit glum; it wasn't really Sean or any of the other actors riding their bikes in the arial shot. However, it is still neat to have been there.

We were very slightly off on this picture; we are quite certain this is the place where the boys dropped their bikes before running to the edge of the road, but our picture is just slightly farther down the road. We should have taken screenshots beforehand as reference. Either way, this is the spot, even if our picture is off by a few feet. It was a magickal fangirl moment. MsAllegro announced that she could feel "the aura of Sean" all around, and Orangeblossom dropped briefly to touch the pavement at the place where Sean dropped the map. For once, only VB behaved in a rational manner. This is on Ecola State Park Road.

This is a picture of where the Goonies stood to consult the map. We are 99% sure this is the right spot, despite a large number of trees that aren't in the movie shot (and if you have a screenshot of this shot, we'd appreciate it very much; we were not able to find one). There are many reforestation efforts going on in Oregon, and the trees in this part of the hill were all fairly young--narrow trunks, not overly tall, etc. Taken in Ecola State Park.

This picture is a bit of guesswork. Unless it was taken with a helecopter (entirely possible), the shot of haystack rock used in the movie was taken from the top of a small hiking trail not far from where the boys were standing. Our best guess is that the picture was taken from here with a very good zoom lens (something our camera lacked), and the wide tree trunk was bluescreened in (note the sharper edges on the tree compared to the rest of the scenery). This was also taken from Ecola State Park.

For reference, we did not go far enough into Ecola State Park to reach the location where the resturant used to be. It was a set piece and so no longer exists, we were tired, and more than that, past the point we were at there is a tool booth--and we were broke from lunch. Next time we promise to go all the way up--we will budget park money for the trek.

This is not Astoria but Cannon Beach, where the Fratellis joined the beach race. Cars are no longer allowed on Cannon Beach; we couldn't even drive that close to Haystack Rock on the surface streets! This picture was taken from a highway turnoff/viewpoint in Cannon Beach. Oh, and for the trivia buffs around, Haystack Rock is the third largest monolith in the world.

We declared ourselves "Journeymen Goonies," as according to seanastin.com, we must be made official Goonies. All three of us agree that, should we ever have a chance to meet Sean Astin, we will ask him directly to make us honorary Goonies. We reckoned we're at least Journeymen, though, as mere apprentices wouldn't drive almost three hours and trek all over Astoria and Cannon Beach with cameras. Left to right: MsAllegro, Orangeblossom and Victoria Bitter.

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