As If You Could Outdrive Me: A Twilight Road Trip Through Washington
Updated: Jul 19
"In the state of Washington, under a near constant cover of clouds and rain, there is a small town named Forks..." -Bella Swan
When I was in high school I was obsessed with Twilight, a series of books about a girl who falls in love with a vampire (spoiler alert). The books were made into movies between 2008-2012. Luckily, my friend Amanda shared the obsession and as teenagers we bonded over all things Twilight (even though she was Team Jacob and I was Team Edward). Throughout our friendship, Twilight has always been our go to movie that we watch again and again, quote back and forth, and spend hours laughing at our silly inside jokes. Amanda and I have always talked about doing a trip to Washington where the story takes place. It's been almost 15 years since the story ended, but we finally made it to Forks! P.S. There are quite a few references to the books and movies in here, so if you are a fan I hope they make you giggle. If you aren't.... you should put your seatbelt on and enjoy the ride! 😉
Seattle, Salmon & Speakeasies
Since I was already in Oregon, it was only a short flight to Seattle to meet up with Amanda. She had flown in from Boston that morning and was treating herself to a well deserved massage. After my flight I picked up our rental car that I booked on Turo (which I highly recommend!) and met her at the spa. We were so excited to start our adventures. We wanted to go for a walk to stretch out after our flights so we stopped at Discovery Park and went for a little stroll that turned into a 5 mile walk. At the end of the walk there was a lighthouse and when we got there it was the shortest lighthouse we had ever seen! 🤣 I guess we are spoiled being from New England. We laughed and continued onto the beach which was pretty and had a lovely view.
We hiked back up the trail and made our way to an Air B & B for the next two nights. This guesthouse was super cute, very clean, and exactly what we needed to start our trip. We dropped our bags, freshened up and drove to downtown Seattle for dinner. Amanda made reservations at Elliott's Oyster House, a seafood restaurant. We had a sunny and clear evening so we sat outside overlooking the water. For dinner I got scallops on risotto and Amanda got salmon. Seattle is one of the best places to get salmon so if you are visiting, you should try some! We split a salmon chowder too and each got a cocktail. We were very satisfied with our meal and our waitress was very nice. We walked around Seattle for a bit and realized we severely underestimated the amount of hills in this city! We kept joking that we were in San Francisco because of all the uphill climbing we did. Our next stop was drinks at Inside Passage, a speakeasy with an underwater theme. The name Inside Passage comes from the coastal route that ships would use to get from Seattle to Alaska. Sailors told stories about a legendary creature named Kiki that dwelled in the depths. Eerie! We both got the Inside Passage cocktail that came in a tentacle cup. It was a really fun atmosphere and we enjoyed watching all the other drinks come out. After our drinks we watched the sunset over the Seattle Great Wheel and headed back to our guesthouse.
"How You Liking' the Rain Girl?"
Today was our day to explore Seattle. It was a little rainy today but we prepared and brought our rain coats. For breakfast we met up with my friend Jen at Biscuit Bitch. The servers call you a bitch the whole time they interact with you which I thought was hilarious! We got our food to go and ate outside by the water and it was so good catching up with Jen, it has been years. She also gave us a few suggestions of things to do in the city! After breakfast, we had a couple hours to kill so we took Jen's suggestion to ride Wings Over Washington. It is a simulation style ride that makes you feel like you are a bird flying over the state of Washington. They also spray you with mist during the ride to really make it feel like the Pacific Northwest. The best part was that we were the only people on the ride, so we had it all to ourselves. We had a blast! Next we went on the Great Wheel. It was a little cloudy so we couldn't see the mountains but it was fun to look over the city. We kept seeing the Space Needle stick out of the horizon and we would shout "I see it!" We continued to shout this for the rest of the day every time we saw the Space Needle. There are also a few other rides and a whale watch, but we skipped those.
We grabbed drinks at Starbucks and headed to Pike Place Market to do some shopping and browsing. Once the market was fully open it was so busy! We noticed a lot of cherries, flowers, and seafood. There are so many different local businesses and vendors all crammed into this space. We walked around all the different floors and hallways for a few hours and it felt like we were lost in a maze. I'm sure there are things we missed. For lunch we tried the New England clam chowder and a crab roll from Pike Place Chowder. We both really liked the chowder and as New Englanders we approved of their recipe. We walked by the famous Gum Wall a few times which was gross but impressive!
One of the highlights of the day was seeing the fish throwing at the Pike Place Fish Market. I did not know anything about it, but Amanda had done her research. Basically, the workers throw huge fish across the market to the cashiers to catch because it is faster than bringing it over on foot. We walked by several times hoping to catch them in action and we finally did. It has now become a huge tourist attraction. We also walked by the First Starbucks ever! We got ice cream at Salt & Straw. The flavors here are very unique and they let you try a ton of samples. Next we went to the Olympic Sculpture Park. This is a free museum and outdoor park. I thought the most interesting piece of art was the map showing the history of science. The map depicted so many inventions, discoveries, and important contributions to science, almost like a giant timeline. I want to get something like this for my classroom!
Before we knew it, it was time to head to the top of the Space Needle. After you check in, you walk through an exhibit about the design and the building process. It was interesting to see photos of the progress as it was built. There are different elevators and you can choose which one you take to the top, so we went with the older historic elevator. We got to the top and the view was very impressive. You can walk around outside and get a 360° view of the city. Sadly we had a rainy day so we couldn't see the mountains in the distance. Still, it was really cool being all the way up there!
We went down a level to stand on the rotating floor which used to be a restaurant. It rotates once every hour. There are glass sections on the floor so you could look down which was trippy! We were both feeling a little tired so we split a coke and it perked us up enough for our last stop, Deep Dive. This is a speakeasy hidden underneath the Seattle Amazon Spheres. The spheres are part of the Amazon headquarters in Seattle and are huge round buildings that look like giant terrariums where the Amazon employees go to work. They do offer tours, but only on specific Saturdays. It was fun to look in from the outside though! This speakeasy was very classy and fancy inside, we honestly felt like we were under dressed. The drinks were themed for each level of the ocean: Twilight Zone, Midnight Zone and The Abyss. I got the Pyramus' Punch and Amanda got the Painted Blind, which were from the Twilight Zone section of the menu. Both of us were exhausted so we decided to head home early and enjoy the rest of the night in our guesthouse. We ordered a BBQ pizza and mozzarella sticks from Smoking Monkey Pizza and watched Twilight to get us ready for the next part of the trip.
Forks High School & Bella's House
Today was the first day of our Twilight specific adventures. When I started researching the filming locations I realized most of the movie was actually filmed around Portland, Oregon! So part of our road trip included a couple days to check out the filming locations in Oregon. We started our drive and made a stop in Tacoma to get breakfast sandwiches and coffees at Campfire. They had a cute atmosphere and the cashiers were so sweet. We drove around the area looking for the "best view" of the mountains, but it was still too cloudy and we didn't see anything. Our first location was in Kalama, Washington to visit the high school where they filmed Twilight. It is a real high school! We pulled into the parking lot and both were starstruck! The parking lot was full of cars, so we decided to come back after school was dismissed. While we waited we got lunch at a restaurant called Willie Dicks. We were not sure what to expect, but we actually loved this spot. We both got salads and split a maple bacon peanut sundae. We went back to the school to take more pictures and act out some movie scenes. It was really cool to be right there where everything was filmed! We stayed for about an hour taking pictures and laughed so hard that we cried.
Our next stop was in Saint Helens, Oregon to see Bella's house from the movie. The owners have kept it almost exactly the same as it was in the movie, they encourage you to take pictures, and you can even stay in it! I looked for availability, but it is fully booked for the next three years! It was fun to stand in the driveway where so many iconic movie scenes took place.
We continued onward towards Portland and stopped outside of the Yale Union Building which acted as Bella's ballet studio. We took some pictures outside but it was closed. We checked into our Air B & B which was a basement apartment below someone's home. The neighborhood felt safe and walkable and the bedrooms were very cozy. We wanted to stretch our legs after a long day of driving so we decided to walk to dinner. We stopped at a cute rose garden on our walk to the Hawthorne Asylum. This is a food cart pod with about 20 different food trucks and tons of seating. I got a rice bowl and a Thai iced tea which really hit the spot. We walked back to our apartment and settled in for the night.
The Bridge of the Gods
We started our morning with Carver Cafe in Damascus, Oregon. This diner was used for several scenes in the movie and has not changed at all. There was a short wait of about twenty minutes but it was worth it. We thought it would be a local spot but everyone there was totally there because of Twilight. 🍎 The cafe was exactly how it was depicted in the movies with so many fun decorations and pieces of fan art on the walls. They even had a big guest book to sign! We danced in the bushes, sat in the corner booth, and shook the ketchup bottle. If you know, you know. We had a great time and this may have been my favorite film location we visited. If you are a fan you'll love it!
This diner is located near the spot where they filmed the famous lion and the lamb scene where Bella finds out that Edward is a vampire. This was all filmed in the woods behind the Stone Cliff Inn. They used to have signs and encourage fans to come visit but it was recently taken down because of vandalism. Ugh! We walked around a little bit but decided to be respectful and head out. The area is not well marked anymore so it was hard to know exactly where the scene takes place. Next up we drove across the Bridge of the Gods which crosses over the Columbia River and connects Oregon and Washington. To cross the bridge cost $3, but it was worth it! The bridge is very high up and had an amazing view of the river. This bridge is actually shown in the beginning of the movie when Bella first arrives in Forks. We played the same song as they did in the movie while we drove across. It was epic! We're really big fans, ok?
We made our way to Multnomah Falls, which is the tallest waterfall in Oregon. The waterfall is also shown very briefly in the film when Edward and Bella are about to play baseball. Make sure to book a reservation to enter the Falls within a one hour window, it's only $2 and once you arrive you can stay as long as you like. The parking is very limited so if you are worried, they do offer shuttles from other areas. We came in the afternoon and found plenty of parking. Most people hike to the bridge, but we wanted to hike all the way to the top! The trail has 11 switchbacks that were pretty steep and it took us about an hour to get to the viewpoint. It was tough but the view at the top was well worth it and we also think we saw the baseball field filming area from the movie. The waterfall was really beautiful.
We were really hungry after our hike so we sat down for lunch at the Multnomah Lodge. I had a bacon grilled cheese with tomato soup, Amanda got a salmon grilled cheese, and we did a spontaneous whiskey tasting! Neither of us like whiskey so we were struggling to finish our samples. 🤣 After lunch we drove around looking for the baseball field from the movie which was filmed on private property. We found a similar looking field at the St. Cloud Recreation Area, but it was quite overgrown. We headed back to Portland feeling full from lunch so we just got ice cream for dinner at Salt & Straw. We sampled the blue cheese and pear ice cream which actually was not as gross as it sounds. To end our night we went to the Les Caves wine bar, or should I say wine cave. Only five bottles of wine are open at a time, and if you are there when one is finished, you get the honor of choosing the next one they open! We did get to pick one bottle of wine, so we opened a red. The atmosphere was great and we loved the concept.
"The Cullen's Don't Come Here"
We started the day with a half dozen donuts and coffee from Blue Star Donuts on our way to the Oregon coast. My favorite was the chocolate donut and Amanda's was the lemon poppyseed. They were all so good, it was hard to decide! On our way out of the city, we attempted to see the home that acted as the setting for the Cullen house, but the new owners installed a gate and security cameras so it was impossible! What a let down. We stopped at the International Rose Test Garden which was very pretty with so many different roses. We got their early so it was not too busy, but by the time we left it was getting really crowded. It was a clear day so we had a nice view of the mountains from inside the garden. We stopped in a tiny town called Vernonia to see the Wauna Credit Union, which is the building that served as the Fork's police station in Twilight. We took some pictures outside the bank and split a sandwich and a limeade from Open Wide Deli, a food truck right across the street.
We continued onward to Cannon Beach, took a walk on the beach and saw some birds and sea stars. After coming here with Ryan last week, I knew I had to come here with Amanda! We did some shopping and got ice cream at Suzy's Scoops. We stopped at Indian Beach where they filmed the La Push scenes. To get to this beach you have to drive through Ecola State Park on a long winding road through the forest which was breathtaking. The trees were so tall! We really enjoyed this beach and walking along it just like Bella and Jacob did in the movie. There were several sea stacks and rocks to walk between. We tried our best to recreate the story that Jacob tells Bella about how the Quileute Tribe is descended from wolves. We checked into our Air B & B in Seaside and walked up so many stairs to our room. We stayed at a little inn and had the top floor, it was really cute and cozy. We went back to Cannon Beach for dinner at Driftwood. We sat at the fire pit outside and enjoyed Caesar salads with salmon and clam chowders. We both got the huckleberry lemonade cocktail which was very refreshing. We stopped at the Cannon Beach S'mores Factory for dessert. We thought we got to make our own s'mores over a fire but they actually just make it for you with a torch. While the concept was cute I decided I liked homemade s'mores better.
There's Gnome Place Like Forks
Our stay in Seaside included a continental breakfast in the morning which was a nice surprise. Today was going to be a long day of driving so we enjoyed our breakfast in the dining area while we made our plan for the day. We wanted to try one of the cute coffee drive thru shacks we kept seeing everywhere. We stopped at one called Chinook Coffee Company in Chinook, WA. The lady working there was so nice, asked us all about our trip and gave each of us a key chain! She also gave us some advice on where to go next and suggested Cape Disappointment. Don't let the name sway you from going, it was beautiful. The name comes from a fur trader who entered the bay thinking it was the entrance to the Columbia River but he was mistaken and clearly upset. To get to Cape Disappointment we had to drive over a long causeway. While we were visiting there was a lot of construction so some of the trails were closed, but we decided to do a short walk to an area called Dead Man's Cove and the North Head Lighthouse. We really liked this walk and this lighthouse was much more impressive than the one we saw in Seattle! The cove gets its name from several shipwrecks that have occurred in the surrounding waters. The walk ended at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center which has a small fee to enter, but the restrooms are free to access.
We continued driving along the coast and stopped for lunch at Mount Olympus Brewing in Aberdeen, a small town where the lead singer of Nirvana (Kurt Cobain) is from. There are several Nirvana references throughout the town and a memorial park that you can visit. I got a plate of nachos and Amanda got a wrap. We were satisfied with lunch and continued along. We saw the World's Largest Sitka Spruce Tree and while it was not as tall as we expected, it was very wide. If you are wondering, the tree is about 191 feet tall and the circumference is about 59 feet!
We stopped by Amanda Park so Amanda could take a picture with the sign and a random dog came running out of the woods and almost attacked us so we left in a hurry. We finally made it to our tiny house in Forks, WA. It was so cute and perfect. The house was set on a river, had all the Twilight movies, a full kitchen, fire pit, and an adorable gnome garden. Amanda was worried we might turn into gnomes and be trapped there forever. I am happy to report that we are still humans. We dropped off our bags and went to the Forks Visitor Center to see Bella's truck and the iconic "Welcome to Forks" sign. Tonight we stayed in and had mac and cheese with chicken nuggets for dinner. We also bought s'mores ingredients and made our own s'mores at the fire pit. Way better than the place in Cannon Beach! The hosts were so kind to start the fire for us when we arrived. It was the perfect way to spend an evening and settle into our tiny house. We closed the night by watching New Moon and a enjoyed a glass of wine.
"La Push Baby, it's La Push!"
Today was a jam packed day! We started the day by visiting Olympic National Park. Our host told us to get up early if we wanted to see the Hoh Rainforest before the crowds, so we got there around 8 AM. When we arrived we saw a deer in the parking lot! We completed the Hall of Mosses Trail and the Spruce Trail. The forest was so dense and filled with ferns and tall trees. It seemed as if every inch of the ground was covered with living organisms. At one point a huge caterpillar fell on my head. It felt amazing to walk through a forest like this! Next we headed to Ruby Beach which was a really nice beach with a lot of sea stacks. On the walk down to the beach the trail had wild salmonberries, which look like raspberries. We spent some time on the beach enjoying the view and dipping our toes in the water.
We made our way back to Forks and planned on heading to the Forever Twilight Collection. They do not take reservations, so you just have to show up and put your name on the list. It is free to enter but donations are encouraged. Luckily we got the last two spots on the next tour so we were able to get right in. The staff members talk to you about the movies and how the collection came to be, and then you get to go see it all! It is basically a tiny little museum that has a ton of real props and outfits from the movies. There are a few Twilight themed gift shops nearby and we each bought a sweatshirt!
We went to Longhouse Cafe and split a pulled pork Indian Taco and it was very tasty, we wish we got more than one. We went to the Forks Visitor Center again and got a map with all the fun Twilight activities to do around Forks. Even though the movies were not filmed here, the town has really leaned into the fandom so you can still get your Twilight fix! We decided to drive around Forks looking for all the Twilight sights. It was like a scavenger hunt and we had so much fun! We saw Carlisle's parking spot at the hospital, the inspiration for the Swan House, the inspiration for the Cullen House, Charlie's police car, the real Forks High School and sign, and of course the treaty line heading towards La Push. We ended our scavenger hunt by going to the real La Push which is on the Quileute reservation. We parked our car and walked along First Beach which was stunning and had huge cliffs all around it. There were a lot of people here and it was very windy! On our way back we found another "Welcome to Forks" sign that was still on the road so we stopped to get a few pictures.
Tonight was our last night of the trip so we wanted to go out for dinner. We saw a place called Marble and Oak which ended up being a really cute spot. We both got refreshing and tasty cocktails that came with a piece of candy on top, and split some bread. I got a salad, Amanda got chicken piccata and we split some blueberry crumble for dessert. Everything here was awesome and they use a lot of locally sourced ingredients. Our waitress was very nice and gave us her recommendations for coffee in the morning and noticed our matching t-shirts. We went back to our place, reflected on our successful day, finished up the wine and went to bed!
Forks ➡️ Seattle ➡️ Boston
Our last day of the trip! How did it go by so fast? We packed up our suitcases, and got coffee and egg bites at A Shot in the Dark, another drive thru coffee shack. We really liked the egg bites. Today we had to drive back to Seattle, return our rental car, and catch our flight back to Boston. We wanted to break up the ride so we stopped at a few places along the way. We made our first stop at Lake Crescent and did a short walk around part of the lake and then a longer hike to Marymere Falls. The hike was fairly easy and the falls were pretty. There were a few wooden bridges throughout the trail which were fun to cross. It was a very hot day and the water at Lake Crescent looked so refreshing. We did dip our feet in the lake but we probably would have gone swimming if this was any other day of the trip!
We got back in the car and continued onward towards Port Angeles. In the movie, Bella and her friends come here to look at prom dresses. We knew we wanted to stop and check out the city on our way to Seattle. We walked around and found some cute stores and ate a late lunch at Next Door Gastropub. We split fried pickles, an avocado BLT, and a Caesar salad. We also tried the Mt. Rainier beer that Charlie is seen drinking in Twilight. It was similar to a Coors Light. We walked around a bit longer and found the restaurant Bella Italia where Bella and Edward have their first date. We also saw a movie theater that looked like the one from the New Moon. It was closed but we walked up anyway and we were both shocked to see a sign for "Face Punch" which is what they go to see in New Moon. Clearly they are catering towards us fans! We walked down by the water where they were having a festival and drag show for Pride Month. We watched one performance and walked around the docks for a bit. We were able to see some of the mountains in the distance which was lovely.
We continued onward towards Seattle and stopped in a charming little town called Poulsbo, which is known for its Scandinavian feel. The shops were very cute and we saw some seals swimming in the harbor. We spent a while watching them. We got ice cream at Island Cool and I was pleased to see that they washed and re-used their spoons.
We finally entered Seattle, filled up on gas and returned the rental car. We took the train to the airport and checked in for our flight. Our flight was a red-eye so we got some snacks to hold us over. Sadly we had a delay of about three hours so we did not leave until about 2 AM! The flight was smooth but were very tired by the time we made it home in the morning.
Overall I was really happy with this trip. As Twilight fans, we were very excited about all of the filming locations and getting to explore the real town of Forks. Seattle was a fun city that was very enjoyable with great food. It would have been nice to spend more time exploring Olympic National Park and maybe stopping at Mt. Rainier National Park, but other than that I think we did a great job with our itinerary. If we could do it all over again, I would have loved to stay in one of the themed houses or even Bella's house, but a girl can dream. My biggest advice it not to pack too much into one day because there was a lot of driving to do. Till next time!
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