“No really. We drove to Stonehenge yesterday.”

Continuing our overdue exploration of Washington, we headed out along the Columbia river making the Washington – Oregon boarder to a place/community called Maryhill. Maryhill, WA is an unincorporated community of 58 (ref. 2010 census) on the north shore of the Columbia River in Klickitat County. Our drive through “town” revealed there are more peach trees than residents, not counting the RVers at the Peach Beach RV park or the Maryhill State Park. The State Park was one of our three destinations for this day trip. The other two were the Stonehenge War Memorial and Maryhill Winery.

We arrived at the Stonehenge War Memorial along with about a dozen motorcycles. As you can learn from the Wikipedia link (above) this memorial was built in the early 20th century to honor the soldiers and sailors from Klickitat Co. who died in WW I by entrepreneur Sam Hill and dedicated in 1918. He also built the Maryhill Art Museum, which is closed due to the pandemic. Darryl says he built it for his wife as part of the deal for living here, not an unusual negotiation in Eastern Washington. We enjoyed looking around and the views of the Columbia Gorge and Mt. Hood were spectacular.

From Stonehendge we dropped down to the State Park and just as I drove up to the entrance booth I realized we left the Discovery Pass (single pass for all State Parks and lands). As a result it cost me $10 for a drive through of the camping area and walk around the boat ramp and beach. This is one of the nicest WA State Park we’ve visited. Campsites are well laid out and, for the most part, have separate tent and RV areas. The park, like most, is well used on summer weekends. Unfortunately, my mind was already on lunch at the winery, so I neglected to take any pictures at the park.

So on to Maryhill Winery…

While it was somewhat cooler in Maryhill than back in Richland, it was damn hot sitting in the sun on the patio. The seats under the grapevine covered patio were at a premium, so we toughed it out. Lunch were sandwiches with side salads. Darryl’s grilled chicken and mine tri-tip paired with their Rose of Sangiovesey. Everything was wonderful and we added another bottle for home. We didn’t stick around due to the heat. Like all of the Eastern Washington locations we’ve visited this summer, the drives, while long, are as interesting as the destinations.

The winery hosts concerts at the amphitheater pictured above, which feature national acts. Over the past few years they have hosted Michael McDonald, which we have wanted to see but always seems to be when we are on vacation. No music this summer, of course.

We are entering the delayed but expected triple digit temperatures this week (third week of July), so not sure what our plans are for the next trip. We may be staying home to enjoy the river in our boat. Maybe, we should visit a local State Park which does not get the use it deserves and includes a small museum – Sacajawea Historical State Park. Stay tuned.