Washington/Oregon 2021 - The Charming Town of Cathlemet

 Washington and Oregon are lush and green. Layer upon layer of green. Ferns carpet the ground under thick, dense forests of trees that sometimes spread out their branches to form tunnels over the road. We cross from Oregon to Washington over a bridge that looks like it was made using a giant erector set. The structure is an example of "form follows function" that manages to be, with its spare lines, lovely and  graceful as it serves it's function. The final 20 miles of our journey to Cathlemet, the tiny town where my niece was going to have her marriage celebration, the reason for this trip, is the most lush and beautiful segment of the drive. 

A historical note, Cathlemet sits on a site next to the Columbia river where Lewis and Clark bought provisions from the native tribes of Washington, for what they felt was an exorbitant price, on their way west. The towns small stretch of Main Street, with a couple of exceptions, is a moment pulled from another era. Our hotel dates from the 1920's, the bank next door and the other buildings along the street date from around both sides of the turn of the 20th century. A shuttered saloon is reputed to have been the town brothel, the business being conducted in the rooms on the upper two floors of the building. We can see the river from the windows of the second floor corner suite we had treated ourselves to, as well as the Greek revival county courthouse, which, like the hotel, also was constructed in the 1920s. The town has the unique distinction of being the seat of the smallest county in the state, with a population of 3000, much of it semi rural. 

Next door is a gingerbread trimmed Victorian home. A koi pond, with fish the size of large cats, sits amongst the abundant flowers in front. In it lives a man and his wife. The proprietor of the hotel tells us that the man worked for Warner Brothers for many years and that there is a substantial collection of memorabilia from those years inside. My movie loving mouth waters at the thought. Another Victorian, it's second story shingled, sits on the corner.

We met my niece, her husband, they were already married but had not been able to share a ceremony  with family and friends due to the pandemic, and my brother and sister in law at the Mexican restaurant across the street. There are only a small handful of dining options in the town.

 A margarita and burrito put me to sleep at the end of a very long day,