This is the blog post that I was the MOST excited to write when I came back from my blogging break. This trip has been a bucket list—dream trip—of mine to take, but that's all it was…a dream. A flight to Washington state is not cheap and staying in such a remote area can be a little weird all by yourself, so who would want to go to Forks with me?? Enter my loving mother 😊!
My mom had to take a work trip to Seattle, WA (click here to read the Seattle blog) and I somehow convinced her to stay through the weekend and take a three-hour road trip to Forks! I’ve been sharing my trip on TikTok and Instagram @michelekatsaris. But of course, I had to document it here as well.
Ugh, I’m so excited I don’t even know where to begin. Okay, I guess I’ll just go in order of our day-to-day. As some of you may or may not know, the book saga “Twilight” was based on this small town in Washington called Forks. So a lot of the places were inspired by this town and the town itself still hosts a Twilight festival each year. I’ve always wanted to go so I was super excited when my mom agreed to this crazy trip!
@michelekatsaris hang on tight spider monkies 🐒🌲. #fyp #twilight #twilightsaga #twilighttiktok #forks #forkswashington #forkswa #travelwithme #twilightforever ♬ From Now On - The Features
After spending the day in Seattle, we had about a four-hour drive to Forks thanks to city traffic and having to stop to pee every hour. But we made it to the Manitou Lodge for our weekend stay.
This lodge is located on the Quileute Reservation just a couple miles away from First Beach (La Push Beach). I highly recommend staying at the Manitou Lodge if you’re visiting Forks. Asides from the crappy wifi and little to no cell service—the lodge was super cute, had some kittens running around, and just had a total “Twilight-esque” vibe to it.
The next day was our busiest day yet. We packed a lot into just 12 hours of daylight. Despite the numerous outfit changes you may see in my photos, we visited all of these places in one day!
@michelekatsaris "in the state of washington, under a near constant cover of clouds and rain, there is a small town named forks” 🌲 • #fyp #twilightforever #forkswa #twilight #twilighttiktok #forkswashington #washingtonstate ♬ full moon x twilight - feel1thing
It was also helpful that a lot of these locations are literally right next to each other. So we were able to actually go back and forth pretty quickly and hit all the major areas. Click here to read the full detailed itinerary of our trip.
The Manitou Lodge is on the Quileute Reservation, so right up the street was Jacob Black’s house. This was my favorite place to visit because the house is for sale!! No joke—it’s listed on Zillow! I will say that Jacob and Billy’s house looked the MOST like the movies so you know we had to take so many photos of my boyfrie—I mean “Jacob’s” house 😚.
Down the road from Jacob’s house was the infamous treaty line. The 3 Rivers Resort is home to the treaty line and there are a couple signs there for Twilight fans to enjoy!
On your way into town, you will see a giant “Welcome to Forks” and the “Forks Total Population” signs greeting you. And you can definitely pull over and get some killer photos, but don’t fret—there’s another welcome sign at the visitor center in case you miss it!
Once we got into the main part of town we had to get a quick bite to eat and coffee (we deserved it after that long road trip). I saw great reviews about NW Coffee Bros and it did not disappoint. Their seasonal items were sooo good and that coffee hit the spot. Definitely suggest stopping by NW Coffee Bros.
Once you’re in town everything is super close to each other! You really can’t get lost in this town and the people are so nice. I can’t believe how much Twilight stuff is still around. While we waited for the Twilight museum to open up we went shopping. I got so many cool and unique items that I will cherish forever and remember this trip by. Watch the video of my haul down below.
@michelekatsaris the last scene deserves an oscar 🏆 • #fyp #twilight #twilightsaga #twilighttiktok #forkswa #twilightedit #twilightmovies #thetwilightsaga #bellawherethehellhaveyoubeenloca #newmoon #edwardcullen #jacobblack #lapushbaby ♬ Eyes on Fire - Blue Foundation
After we spent way too much money, we went to the Forever Twilight Collection. This place was…ugh cool doesn’t even begin to describe it. This collection of memorabilia, fashion, signed posters, and more was out of this world. They even had the infamous robot baby that played baby Renesmee and yes—it’s as creepy in real life as it was in the movies 🤣. I loved this place and the lady who ran the place was so nice and knowledgeable of the saga.
After the museum, we went to some of the locations that are highlighted in the films. Of course, this isn’t exactly where they filmed, just the landmarks that inspired it. We went to Forks High School (thankfully it was a weekend so school was not in session or else that would have been awkward).
Up the street from the high school is the visitor center. The visitor center is another must-see because this is where the second “Forks Welcomes You” sign is and Bella’s trucks! Yes, I said trucks because the book described a very different truck than what appears in the films, so both her book and movie truck are there for you to see. Then inside the visitor center is more 2000s Twilight merch that you can buy—which I did 😍.
The last place we stopped by was “Bella’s” house. This house did not look exactly like the films, but I could see the resemblance. This house is being utilized as an Airbnb so we weren’t able to take as cool of photos as we did at Jacob’s house, but it was still cool to see it!
After we got something to eat we headed back to Manitou Lodge before our lost stop of the day…La Push Beach baby, it’s La Push! This was the stop that my mom and I were most excited about. I changed into a dress that I specifically bought for this moment because I wanted to do a beach photoshoot at First Beach (La Push Beach). There were simply too many photos to share so I created a whole separate blog post sharing those photos: Photoshoot at La Push Beach.
The next morning we headed back to Seattle because our flight home was the following day, but on our way out we wanted to go on a hike and explore the natural beauty of Forks. We stopped at Granny’s Cafe on the way for breakfast and they had some farm animals in the back that we said hi to.
On the way to the hike, there were a lot of scenic overlooks and we just had to stop. This view honestly took my breath away. My mom and I just sat here for a while and took it in. I fully understand Bella when she said, "This isn't real. This kind of stuff just doesn't exist." Because wow, these views had this east coaster considering moving to Washington.
Then we headed toward the park to start the hike. This hike only took about 30-minutes and at the top was a literal waterfall! We decided to hike to Marymere Falls and I can’t recommend this hike enough. I will plan a trip to Washington again just to go on more hikes because it was freaking beautiful.
After our hike, we headed to Port Angeles for lunch…except like, everything was closed hah! So we walked around and stopped in a couple shops. We saw the Italian restaurant (Bella Italia) and the dress shop that inspired the infamous scenes in the first movie. After we walked around we finally headed back to Seattle to prepare to head home.
@michelekatsaris ✈️🤍🌲 • #fyp #forks #forkswa #forkswashington #washingtonstate #momanddaughter #travel #travelblogger #travelwithme #twilight #twilighttiktok ♬ Chiquitita x Twilight - twibytez
This was one of those trips that I will remember forever. It’s been over a month since we got back home and my mom and I are still talking about how much we both loved this trip. It was one of those trips that you just remember forever and mean so much to you. I love traveling with my mom and if I ever head back to Washington, she’ll be my plus one for sure! 🥰
xoxo, Michele
xoxo, Michele
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