Arrived
at McMenamin's Hostel at 4PM. This place is HUGE. The
building has a long and interesting history. I was told that
two brothers now own it. Story goes that one of them had
stayed in hostels while traveling in Europe. When he came back
to the US, and he & his brother bought this place--he set aside
two large rooms to be used as a hostel. I'm glad he did.
It's a treat being here!
McMenamins
Edgefield Hostel
2126
Southwest Halsey
Tel.
# *800) 669-8610
E-mail:
edge@mcmenamin.com
Rates:
$20/person
Credit
Cards: Yes
Beds:
24
Office
Hrs.: 24/7
Above:
McMenamins Edgefield main lodge.
What
is now the main lodge was once the dormatory for the people working
on the "Multnomah County Poor Farm" years ago. Later, it
became the "Edgefield Manor for retired elderly".
The main
lodge not contains most of the Edgefield's bed & breakfast
rooms, the Black Rabbit Restaurant, the Crystal Ballroom (on the
second floor), and the hostel accomodations on the 3rd. floor.
Everything
in the main lodge is covered with artwork painted by 15 local
artists. The painting are everywhere--the walls, elevator,
ceiling, staircases, doors, pipes, fuse boxes, etc. I took a lot of
pictures of them. They're really interesting!
Check
out their web site--you'll be able to see the paintings much better
than the pictures I took.
Their
Self-Guided Tour Book calls the large collection of unique paintings
"fantisical images". Most of them are huge, mural size
paintings.
Below:
Yep, the room looks kind of spartan, but it was large, clean &
quiet. The other side of the room had a table & chairs in
front on the window over looking the backyard. And the rest of
McMenamins Edgefield oozed character!
Left:
The Black Rabbit Restaurant is part of, and attached to
McMenamins. It's a very classy restaurant. I
splurged--again.
McMenamins
also has the "Power Station Theater".
Built
in the 1930's it originally supplied coal power to the
property. It was converted to a 125 seat movie theater in the
1990's.
What is
now the "Power Station Pub" was once utilized as a laundry by
inmated of the jail.
There are
herb, flower, & vegetable gardens scattered throughout the
property.
This
place has A LOT of stuff to see and do!
(From
journal entry) 6:30 AM Friday May 26
...It's
raining this morning. It's the first rain that I've seen since
I left Florida on April 13th...I hope it lets up a little because I
want to get a good look a Mount St. Helens today.
Oregon
looks a lot like New England. Just sitting here looking out
the window. Pigeons, robins, & sparrows. Lots of
green...
Above:
Fallen trees on the side of Mount St. Helen's.
...Drove
as far as possible up Mount St. Helens. Stopped at Cold Water
Lake on the way. It was so quiet & still No one was there.
Cold
Water Lake created by the volcano's eruption in 1980.
The
higher I drove up the mountain, the cloudier it got. It was so
cloudy at the visitor center that you couldn't see 10 ft. in front
of you. There were lots of tour busses up there filled with
disappointed tourists.
But it
was well worth the drive up the mountain if only to see the still
beauty of Cold Water Lake.
