Tennessee Williams once famously wrote, “America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland.” He clearly never visited Astoria.

Astoria is a magical place that bucks the national trend of marching in lockstep toward uniformity, where the car and strip mall commercialism come first. Its haunting, undulating hills, the voices of those sea lions reverberating off your timeless architecture, the mists coming off the Columbia — all of it brings our family back again and again.

The only reason I know that Astoria exists is that I fell in love with “The Goonies” as a child. Astoria’s place in that film is not just incidental — it is essential. Had it been filmed anywhere else, it would not have become a worldwide phenomenon.

Thanks to “The Goonies,” Astoria’s place in the memories and conscience of so many people throughout the world is just as treasured as a beloved childhood Christmas gift or memento from a kindergarten classmate.

Please forgive us as we join the flood of Goonies fans in the next few weeks and fill your streets. We come not just as tourists, but as grateful pilgrims eager to experience and celebrate your city’s ineffable resilience, its ability to endure and thrive through the many tides of change.

We love Astoria (and I’ll do my best to pronounce it right)!

SCOTT CRAWFORD
Pensacola, Florida