That's Gneiss! #120 ~ The Bogs and Beaches of Ocean Shores
Also: collectible Doritos and a tiny rubber chicken
Last year at this time we had just moved house during the worst snow storm in years. This year we were back to our normally scheduled Darwin Day adventure to the coast - huzzah! We’ve been to a number of locations on the Washington and Oregon coasts, and this year decided to try somewhere new - Ocean Shores, Washington!
*fanfare*
Friends, it may not be the most glamorous place on earth, but we did have an excellent time. Sit down and buckle in for the exciting highlights of our trip… it’s a long one today, but there’s just so much to share! If you would like to see all of the photos from our trip (complete with witty captions), click here.
DAY ONE
We set off from home at a reasonable time - already gleeful that our trip would be at least 90 minutes shorter as we no longer have to travel from Oak Harbor. Yet another reason that moving to Everett was a brilliant decision. For those of you that travel up and down the I-5 corridor here in Washington, have you ever noticed the lack of places to easily stop and use the bathroom? The “LAST REST AREA FOR 95 MILES” is now about 10 minutes from our house. We've found some workable stops along the way that allow us to stretch our legs and buy crappy junk food for our travels. That’s part of the fun, right?
Anyhow.
We arrived in Ocean Shores around 3:00 pm and got checked into our motel - The Sands Resort. Michael wryly noted that the image on their sign is a sinking ship (and if you read the Yelp reviews you may wonder if it’s safe to stay there).
It was just fine! Pet friendly and a good price. We don’t require much for our seaside vacation - a bed to sleep on and a place to hang out for a few days.
And look at the view from our window!
We relaxed for a bit, then headed out for our first walk on the beach…
Oh. The dunes were not dunes - they were a seemingly never-ending bog! We had to backtrack and criss-cross to find a reasonably dry route. Rowland loved it and was more than willing to try out some of our potential paths for us. What a good sport!
We finally made it to the beach and had a good run around. By the end of the day we were happily tired.
DAY TWO
The weather forecast was good so we decided to venture down to Westport on the south side of Grays Harbor. Westport is known for fishing charters, and like many towns in the area suffers from a depressed economy. You will note from the map that we had to travel back through Aberdeen and Hoquiam to get there (and back again). More on that in a moment.
It was a beautiful day! The boats in the marina were almost perfectly reflected in the water. We saw an old man with a long white beard (resembling Darwin himself) who was out walking by the jetty. We talked to him for a few minutes - he told us that everyone calls him J.J. and he had lived there for many years but was trying to get back home to Mississippi. We saw him walking quite a ways from where we talked with him as we drove out of town. An interesting local character!
You can probably guess that we had to stop in Aberdeen on our way back through. We had spotted some things that needed closer inspection. For example, this interesting series of storefronts:
Don’t worry, we didn’t inspect any of those places very closely. Too much yikes right there.
We walked a couple of blocks down to a shop I’d spotted on our first drive through town. The “Kurt Cobain Memorabilia” sign had caught my eye.
What I had not noticed while driving by that was that this was a Star Wars Shop. That’s right - my eyes caught the words “Kurt Cobain” on that ratty little sign and completely missed all of the Star Wars stuff. Granted, I was pointing the wrong direction to see the mural on the side of the building. That would have been a clue.
This place was downright weird. Starting with the strange crusty mannequin in a wheelchair with the lyrics to “Fat Bottom Girls” taped to her R2-D2 helmet.
Don’t ask me - I got more of an hospital vibe from her than Star Wars.
The store was packed to the gills with Star Wars stuff. Any kind of collectible thing you can imagine, from every episode of Star Wars. Figurines (so many figurines), toys, books, DVDs, and even an unopened bag of chips from…
[checks Google]
2002! Oh boy!
It was all a bit overwhelming. But we were not there for Star Wars - we were there for Kurt!
Hello Kurt.
After that fright we headed back to Ocean Shores to cleanse ourselves with another walk on the beach (no bog crossings). The sunset was a lovely orange glow and a fine end to the day.
DAY THREE
Does this trip go on forever or what?
We woke up to rain - rain, rain, rain. Puddles where there had been none the day before. Something we totally expect at the coast in February. No big deal! It’s just water. And as luck would have it, it cleared up in the afternoon for our short drive to North Jetty. It was a more relaxed day, but we still had plenty of beach time!
We did see Bernie Sanders shopping at the IGA. Looks like he’s stocking up on potatoes.
We stopped at a couple of souvenir shops, as one must. I noticed that a lot of the souvenirs like magnets had a tropical beach theme - dolphins, sea turtles, and palm trees. Hmmm… this is not Florida, friends.
The North Jetty beach was lovely. Google stitched together a couple of my photos to make this nice panorama shot. A+ for effort, AI!
We had one last long walk on the beach before our last dinner out. Google added a tinge of purple to this shot. Nice effect.
For our last dinner in Ocean Shores we landed at the Porthole Pub, which turned out to be a great stop. The food was fine, but much more interesting was the full wall mural of the SS Catala. The barkeep told us that the ship had grounded in the 60’s, and for years it sat on the beach. People used it as a recreation site, and he remembered climbing around on it when he was a kid. It was too difficult to capture the entire mural in one shot. The detail was excellent, with a lot of happy people and dogs hanging out around and on the ship.
I bet the people on that mural are Ocean Shores locals, or were at one time.
If you find yourself in Ocean Shores, this place is worth a visit to check out the mural.
DAY FOUR
We drove home. Quickly, with just minor traffic slowdowns through Tacoma. I’m really glad we weren’t driving southbound, it looked horrible!
It was nice to get home - and three more days until a return to work!
Our Friday evening had us out one more time. We walked down to Bar Z for a drink and dinner, and it turns out to gawk at the build up to what was probably a wild Valentine’s party with live music and drunk people.
The band playing was Badd Chicken. I asked one of the guys who was with them (a roadie, he said) what they sounded like. We asked two other people in the band the same question. All three answers were totally different, and didn’t inspire much confidence. It was part of the roadie’s answer that helped us decide to leave before they played…
“I’ve heard worse.”
It had been a long day and that wasn’t exactly a good selling point.
Actually, they aren’t all that bad…
Maybe we’ll go check them out when we’re not so tired.
So there you have it folks. I hope you’ve enjoyed the tales of our holiday at the sea.
Tidbits
Keeping this section short today, as I’ve not been online much this week finding strange and interesting things to share with you!
Recently eaten: I’ve had enough restaurant food for a while. Here’s a rundown of the places we ate while in Ocean Shores:
UMI Sushi - decent Udon; Michael really enjoyed his sushi
Bennett’s Fish Shack (Westport) - meh food, really good pineapple cream soda
Galway Bay Irish Pub - great place for a nice dinner. I enjoyed the sausage roll, and Michael had the Forfar Bridie, aka “the most expensive pastie ever”
Our Place - perfect spot for a basic breakfast
Porthole Pub Bar & Grill - where the locals go and a bit of a dive, decent burgers. Would definitely go back!
Linda’s Bakery and Cafe - finally a good cup of coffee after the horrible motel brew! Ham and cheese croissants before we hit the road home
Reading: I found an advance copy of Max Brooks’ Devolution: a Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre a few days before we left, and I knew it would be the perfect book to read while on holiday! So far it does not disappoint! I don’t want to give too much away and spoil the fun for any of you that might decide to read it. The book will be out on May 12th.
Video of the Week
Rowland isn’t a big fan of running into the ocean, after a wave crashed over his head a couple of years ago. Who can blame him? He does love to play “run away from the waves” with us though!
Question of the Week
By popular demand, responses to the question of the week will remain anonymous! If you feel like answering the question, hit reply to this email. Answers will be shared in next week’s newsletter. Don’t be shy! General public commenting is available too.
Do you have any irrational fears?
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Last week I asked about your favorite roadside attraction.
Favorite roadside attraction is one from when I was a kid. Outside of Charlotte, near Mt. Pleasant, was a place where they had goats walking up these swinging bridge things and crossing over. They also had buffalo. Was always a highlight of the trip and let me know we were getting close to my grandmother's house.
Roadside attractions - not my favorite. But I do like to see how different waysides are set up. Some have coffee and volunteers with helpful info and some have almost nothing except picnic tables, flushing toilets, and stainless steel mirrors. And some have impressive, wonderful art.
Good job at guessing my favorite childhood roadside attraction by posting a picture of it! The Trees of Mystery are a place that I don't want to revisit because there's no way it will live up to memory. Nowadays I like my nature experiences minimally untrammeled by the industrial tourist complex, like some kind of boring adult.
my favorite roadside attractions are all of them. my dad used to take my sister and i to south dakota as kids to spend time with his extended family and while he was kind of a task master, dad-man at home, on a road trip he would stop for anything we found interesting. he was incredibly indulgent with us. he was also the first person to point out how when Indians have been killed at a site it's a battle, but when white settlers died, it was always a massacre. it became a thing we would do; stop and see if it was a battle or massacre. i still do that when i stop for a historic plaque, and i still think critically about what that plaque or monument is telling me. thanks dad!
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I enjoyed your google pix, Anne! It looked like you all had an excellent Darwin Day weekend! I'll be keeping this part of the coast in mind if we ever venture north.
It looks like a great trip. I have stayed at the Sands too, long long ago. I never realized Bernie was a 'tater guy - that's cool. I love all the pictures... I really need to start snapping more shots of my adventures too. Thanks for sharing! Glad you got your vacation and now for some days of relaxation from the vacation? :)