Washington’s Hidden Coast
By Henderson, Bonnie
Escape to the Long Beach Peninsula for fresh seafood, beach strolls, and the rough Charm Of Shore towns BY BONNIE HENDERSON
FOODIES HAVE BEEN FLOCKING to the Long Beach Peninsula for a long time. Ever since, in fact, Jimella Lucas and Nanci Main started coaxing exciting seafood dishes from their restaurant perched on the Nahcotta dock. That was 20 years ago. Today, oysters are still caught in the peninsula’s Willapa Bay, salmon is troll-caught just offshore, and cranberries and wild berries and mushrooms still flourish. So, naturally, when my friend Betsy and I started talking about a trip to the peninsulaBetsy, who starts planning the next meal while we’re forking up crumbs from this one-our conversations focused on food.
Winding up the Oregon coast to Astoria and over the Columbia River bridge, we debated where to dine. The Shoalwater Restaurant, tucked inside the elegant vintage Shelburne Inn? Moby Dick Hotel and Oyster Farm, where bivalves come from the hotel’s own oyster beds? The Ark perhaps? The former owners, Lucas and Main, sold it in 2004, but we were curious about its recent incarnation under new owners.
So, on just a few days’ notice, we’d found rooms at an inn within earshot of the sea. (Among the many pleasures of spring on the Long Beach Peninsula-the silvery flocks of migrating shorebirds, the unpredictable but often unnervingly beautiful weather-is the lack of crowds.)
I slept that first night with the window cracked, letting in the salt air and low rumble of waves from beyond the dunes, then rose early for a walk down the wide, flat beach, returning on the paved trail and wooden boardwalk that run through the dunes. In the town of Long Beach, we briefly browsed the kite shops and gift shops and Marsh’s Free Museum, a collection of souvenirs, oddities, and attractions like Jake the Alligator Man. Then we hopped in the car, intent on spending the day browsing and nibbling our way north to land’s end.
Cranberries and oysters
From Cape Disappointment, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific, the 1 1/2-mile-wide sand spit of a peninsula stretches 28 miles north to Leadbetter Point. The peninsula here has a singular kind of moody beauty. The long, wide ocean beach is backed by gray- green dunes, and a scattering of hotels runs up and down the peninsula; eastward is a tangle of dense coastal forest stretching nearly to the bay shore.
From the town of Long Beach, we turned east on Pioneer Road, heading toward the bay, making what we thought would be the briefest of swings through the Cranberry Museum & Demonstration Farm. I mean, what could be more earnest and boring than a museum dedicated to one very tiny, very tart fruit? Turns out it was more shop than museum, and not the least boring. We must have spent an hour sniffing the cranberry lotions and tasting the cranberry condiments before moving on.
Following Sandridge Road north along the bay, we got few glimpses of the water until we reached the community of Nahcotta, where we parked and wandered down to one of the piers. The little interpretive center was closed, but we got all the interpretation we needed just by standing there: Broad mudflats exposed by the tide sent a tang into the air; a great blue heron picked its way along the bay’s edge; piled in huge mounds were oyster shells the color of the fog that now and then obscured views of Long Island, out in the middle of Willapa Bay.
Bailey’s Bakery & Cafe, in Nahcotta’s post office building, was open. It was just what we needed by then, and more than we’d hoped for: a low-key gathering place for locals with soup and sandwiches, decent coffee, and a great cranberry scone.
The afternoon was waning by the time we quit the bakery, but Betsy insisted on a mile’s detour to Ocean Park to browse Jack’s Country Store, a massive mercantile with every useful item you can think of, from camping supplies to kitchen essentials. We stopped at Eric Wiegardt’s Studio Gallery to look at his vibrant landscapes, then we continued north, suddenly finding color in what had seemed a purely evergreen scene.
A place you wouldn’t want to leave
State 103 ends at Leadbetter Point State Park, with its hiking trails and bird-watching platform, but we stopped in little Oysterville, a place out of time, its well-preserved 19th-century houses and picket fences wresting order from the seaside tangle of cypress and salal, shore pine and alder.
At Oysterville Sea Farms we tasted smoked oyster spread and smoked salmon spread and dried cranberries and blueberries set out in the little shop inside the Oysterville Cannery Building. One of the oystermen stopped long enough to sell us a bag of cranberry- studded granola and two flavors of smoked oysters. (We’d seen sense in the sign outside: when in honolulu, take HOME PINEAPPLES. WHEN IN OYSTERVILLE, TAKE HOME OYSTERS.)
Undecided about where to dine, we turned around and headed south again, taking the beach road this time. But passing through Klipsan Beach, we were pulled off the road by a saucy yellow fish with big red lips-the sign, it turned out, for the new Jimella’s Seafood Market, tucked next to Mike’s Auto Repair.
And inside was Jimella Lucas herself, holding sway behind big coolers containing organically farmed prawns, fresh fillets of local fish, and all sizes of Willapa Bay oysters, smoked and raw. Shelves held wines and specialty foods, some from the peninsula; in one corner were tables and chairs and a sign advertising hot bowls of Jimella’s Famous Clam Chowder.
“Glad you’re still here!” I gushed.
Why, she asked, would she leave?
“Anything I want I can have here,” she continued, gesturing at the wines from the Willamette Valley, the cheeses from Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy-just down the road in Ocean Park-and her own fresh prawn salsa.
“And the pace of life and the quality of life that I have here I can’t have anywhere else,” she added. “You can really slow down and appreciate who you are.”
And what’s on your plate.
At the Moby Dick Hotel and Oyster Farm, dinner is plucked fresh from the bay. Oystermen leave bivalves in buckets in the shallows next to the restaurant, to keep them fresh until they’re picked up.
Broad mudflats exposed by the tide send a tang into the air; piled in huge mounds are oyster shells the color of fog
TOP ROW, FROM LEFT An oyster smokehouse on the Long Beach Peninsula; crushed oyster shells cover the Nahcotta basin, which fronts Willapa Bay; fishing boats dominate the harbor in Ilwaco, which anchors the south end of the peninsula; mossy-limbed Douglas fir and brushy salal line the narrow road leading to Leadbetter Point State Park. LEFT Mushrooms foraged from the coastal forest often show up on diners’ plates at local restaurants. RIGHT First Street in Oysterville peters out between the edge of Willapa Bay and the dunes at the north edge of town. BOTTOM ROW, FROM LEFT The west side of the peninsula offers windswept ocean views; seafood lovers can’t go wrong at restaurants here; the Moby Dick Hotel is a good place to hunker down for a game of Scrabble; sea air adds seasoning to oysters grilled on the beach.
A peninsula planner
Long Beach, the biggest town on the peninsula, is about two hours by car from Portland, three and a half from Seattle. for more information on lodging, dining, and things to do, contact the Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau (www.funbeach.com or 800/451-2542).
Where to eat
The Ark Restaurant & Bakery Its views of Willapa Bay can’t be beat, and the dining room’s ’60s ambience remains part of the charm. $$$; call for hours; 3370 273rd St., Nahcotta; 360/665-4133.
Bailey’s Bakery & Cafe Settle in at one of five tables in the town’s old mercantile for a sandwich, cookies, or Sunday mornings-a sticky “thunder bun.” $; closed Tue-Wed; 26910 Sondridge Rd., Hahcotta; 360/665-4449.
The Depot Restaurant Seaview’s 1905 railroad depot now dishes out memorable dinners. Both the wine and beer list and the entrees include local favorites and international flavors, from Thai calamari to Willapa Bay oyster fry. $$$; closed Mon-Tue; 1208 38th St., Seaview; 360/642-7880.
42nd Street Caf Cheerful diner decor and a menu bringing out the best in comfort-food favorites, from Cajun-fried oysters to pork chops with cranberry barbecue sauce, help make this a local favorite. $$$; 4201 Pacific Way, Seavieiv; 360/642-2323.
Jimella’s Seafood Market The new enterprise from the former owner- chefs of the Ark. Get fresh or smoked fish, local shellfish, homemade sauces, and fine cheeses and wine to go, or sit down to enjoy a bowl of chowder. $; closed Mon; 21712 Pacific Way, Klipsan Beach; 360/665-4847.
Where to stay
Caswell’s on the Bay A romantic B&B in a Queen Anne house in Oyster Park, Caswell’s offers five rooms with private baths, antique furnishings and fine linens, and nonstop bay views. Rooms from $160 (including full breakfast with oysters); www.caswellsinn.com or 360/ 665-6535.
Inn at Discovery Coast All nine rooms in this Long Beach inn face the sea (best views are from the third floor) and have gas fire- places; corner rooms have jetted tubs. Rooms from $95 (including breakfast); www.innat discoverycoast.com or 866/843-5782.
Moby Dick Hotel and Oyster Farm Bunker-like outside but funky and fun inside, this 1930s hotel in Nahcotta has nine rooms, some with private baths, and plenty of bohemian charm. Warm up in the Japanese sauna in thewoods; in the attached restaurant ($$$; call for hours), enjoy a fine meal featuring oysters from the hotel’s own oyster farm. Rooms from $90 (including full breakfast with oysters); www.mobydickhotel.com or 800/673-6145.
Shelburne Inn The gracious green gabled 1896 inn in Seaview is stuffed with antiques. All 15 guest rooms have private baths with tiled shower or clawfoot tub. Ask about the owners’ private cottage and guest rooms at nearby China Beach (rooms from $199; 360/642- 5660). The inn’s Shoalwater Restaurant ($$$; 360/642-4142) has a deservedly fine reputation for its service, extensive wine list, and exquisitely prepared food. Rooms from $135; www.shelburneinn.com or 800/466-1896.
What to do
Cranberry Museum Call for hours; free; 2907 Pioneer Rd., Long Beach; www.cranberrymuseum. com or 360/642-5553.
Jack’s Country Store 26006 Pacific Hwy., Ocean Park; www.jacks countrystore.com or 888/665-4989.
Marsh’s Free Museum 409 S. Pacific Ave., Long Beach; www.marshs freemuseum.com or 360/642-2188.
Oysterville Sea Farms First and Clark Sts., Oysterville; www.willa bay.com or 360/665-6585.
Wiegardt Studio Gallery Open Fri and Sat and by appointment; 2607 Boy Ave., Ocean Park; www.ericwiegardt. com or 360/665-5976.
Among the many pleasures of spring on the Long Beach Peninsula- the silvery flocks of migrating shorebirds, they unpredictable but often unnervingly beautiful weather-is the lack of crowds
One of the area’s historic canneries sits on a pier jutting into Baker Bay on the Columbia River.
Copyright Sunset Publishing Corporation Apr 2007
(c) 2007 Sunset. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.