Chowder and other Needed Distractions

As we travel around we sometimes get distracted by food, needing to eat as it were. In this blog we will try to show you some of the consumable items we have found here on the Long Beach peninsula and the surrounding area. We had started a quest to find a decent bowl of clam chowder but as we shall see we sometimes got distracted along the way. A person cannot live on clams alone; there are other major food groups to consider.

Keep in mind there are lots of variations to different chowders and what one person likes another might find quite distasteful. The following is a composition of some of our tastes, some of what we found, and what we tried. Certainly with a different cook, a different day, a different set of ingredients, and a different serving portion, there might be different results. It is all about personal taste and the moment.

This bowl was consumed at the Rod’s Lamplighter in Seaview, WA here on the Long Beach Peninsula. There are several little communities that dot the peninsula, Seaview is one of those communities. This clam chowder had far and away more clams than any we had tasted here. It had one drawback in that it was too salty for our taste. Good texture and consistency with appropriate ingredients, just too salty.

In the blog post on Oysterville we had mentioned a small town called Nahcotta. This is Bailey’s Bakery and Cafe located there and it is open 5 days a week generally about 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM. As many locals here have said it is a small hidden gem on the peninsula.

This is their version of steamer clams. They were fabulous. The broth for steaming the clams was a mixture containing basil pesto and we wanted to just get a bowl of the broth and a loaf of bread and soak up the wonderful elixir. Some folks ordered their bowl of clams without any juice, can you imagine that.

This is one of several diversions we found along the way. Since Bailey’s is a bakery they have wonderful baked goods. Ethiopian Honey cake, tasty scones, and cookies lots of cookies just to name a few desserts. I had sent this image to a very good friend of mine and told him that since he was not here I had to eat it all by myself. He responded by saying he was taking me off his Christmas List. I guess I will need to go buy more cookies to relieve the anxiety and trauma of no Christmas present. Such are the decisions we need to make in life.

Chowder in this area can be either clam, oyster, or seafood chowder. Here we have seafood chowder from the Long Beach Tavern. It consisted of a wide variety of shrimp, clams, fish and other assorted pieces and parts from the sea. It had a great consistency and wonderful flavor

This sign was over the bar in the Long Beach Tavern. How true.

In one of our travels around we went into Oregon. It is a short drive across the bridge to Astoria. We then went west passing through Warrenton and into Hammond where Buoy 9 Restaurant and Lounge are located. We had visited the place when we volunteered nearby many years ago and remembered their clam chowder. It was just as wonderful as our memory wants us to believe. Nice mixture of ingredients and well balanced.

Buoy 9 had a dessert special. As we stated earlier one should not live on clams alone, there are other items to try. This is a Marion berry cobbler, of course with ice cream. It was not too sweet, just the appropriate tartness and the perfect amount for sharing.

In Chinook, where The Roadhouse is located that we wrote a post about earlier, there is a tavern called “The Old Fish Trap”. It is literally across the street from “The Roadhouse”. The place is by no means fancy and would not be considered a tourist mecca, rather more along the lines of a local’s hangout. We really like the food there and have eaten there a couple of times.

This is their rendition of fish and chips and is close to the best version of that gastronomic delight that we have ever had. Very lightly battered, fresh rock fish.

One time when we were in the Fish Trap having lunch, Deanna ordered the Crab Bisque. It was served as seen here with a large chunk of crab claws to complement the dish. It was excellent.

We are sure many of you have eaten fish tacos. This is the definition of that recipe from: The Old Fish trap”. There is close to a half a pound or more of fish in these two large tortilla shells. It also is fresh caught rock fish. It has a great flavor and texture and more than adequate quantity.

Eating all that seafood can make a person hungry. On one occasion we stopped at Nisa’s Thai restaurant in Warrenton, Oregon. They had fried bananas for dessert. The banana had been cubed, wrapped in wanton wrappers and then fried. It was, as seen in the evidentiary photo, served with scoops of ice cream and drizzled in chocolate. It is dessert as it should be.

One day we felt like taking a trip south into Oregon past Tillamook. We ended up stopping at Upstairs Bar and Grill in Netarts to try their chowder. The waiter indicated it had been made the day before. It had a great flavor all the ingredients had time to mingle and grow together. It was rather good chowder.

As we have mentioned we need to have something to wash down the chowder. Here is a homemade strawberry cheese cake from the Upstairs Grill in Netarts that we want to highly recommend. It was smooth and delicate in texture and fresh, bright, and flavorful in taste.

We had mentioned Ol Bob’s in Ilwaco on an earlier post. Here is a bowl of clam chowder from that establishment. It was great chowder, not salty and the ingredients were of the right size and right proportion. Good taste and wonderful balanced flavor.

This image is from the menu at “The Salt Hotel” on the harbor front in Ilwaco. It is a great, somewhat upscale eatery. The image talks of two items we tried in their pub one day for lunch, Poutine and Clam Chowder.

Poutine is originally from Quebec Canada and consists of a bed of French Fries, Fried White Cheese Curds with Brown Gravy over the top.

Here is the Willapa Bay Poutine. It has the French fries, the fried cheese curds, and there is clam gravy served over the top of the concoction. They have gone on to add clams in the shell and several steamed oysters along with bacon and scallions. This is seafood after all. The dish was very tasty and quite filling but probably best not to be consumed very often.

Here is the Salt’s version of clam chowder. It was more like a bed of potatoes with a bunch of clams served over the top and some clam gravy drizzled across the dish. It had a wonderful flavor but was radically different that any chowder we had tried,much more like a bowl of steamers with some added ingredients.

In the first of the above two images we can see two of the tourists just passing through and tasting the local seafood offerings. In the second image we find a bunch of their friends loafing and resting. They seem as though they like all the seafood that is available here, we sure do. Oh, in both of the above images the birds are a species called Marbled Godwits, they obviously have long legs and long bills.

We hope you enjoyed this brief look at the various chowders and distractions we have tried here on the Washington Coast. This was basically a sampling of some of the items we tried, we have eaten many other dishes as well. If you get over here to the peninsula be sure and eat some seafood and try the various versions of chowder and distractions that exist. Please eat well and most of all have fun.

Let us know if you have any questions or comments. All the best – George & Deanna

Ilwaco - A fishing Harbor and More

Ilwaco is a small fishing harbor located near the mouth of the Columbia River at the southern end of the Long Beach Peninsula. It is a collection of homes for local residents, and a series of shops and eateries that bring visitors to the area. Welcome to Ilwaco.

On Saturdays during the summer the grassy area you see on the left in this image is lined with vendors selling their wares. Art prints, handmade crafts, food items, and assorted typical Saturday Market fare can be found here. Lots of people walk this path and view and buy the items. There are restaurants, places to sign up and go on a charter fishing expedition, and other businesses in the more permanent buildings on the right hand side.

Looking further left from the walkway we find the harbor. There is a combination of private, sports fishing, and commercial fishing vessels docked here. There is great fishing both out in the ocean and along the Columbia River itself, both of which are readily accessible from here.

We thought this was a cleverly done business locator. At several points along the walkway there are these sign posts. They are named “Fish Finder” and have metal fish attached to the post. On the metal fish is the name of a business and the fish is pointing in the direction you need to go to find that place. It is a nicely done, informative sign post.

Here is one of the local residents. It is just before the Memorial Day weekend and the locals are waiting for all of us tourists to arrive. We are sure this resident loves French Fries and other major food group staples that are presented to him and his friends for his tasting by those who visit this area.

One of the permanent eateries along the waterfront is “Ole Bob’s Seafood Grill”. They have outside seating along the walkway in decent weather and inside tables. Their food was fine and what you would expect in this seaside tourist environment.

Along the walkway there are a few art objects. This appears to be a bronze eagle that is sitting atop some whale bones. It is a nicely done sculpture.

Here are two of the local tourists out for a look around. On Saturday when the open air market is in full swing a lot of these kinds of visitors frequent Ilwaco. There are lots and lots of dogs walking their owners here for a look around.

On the backside of one of the buildings is this artistic painting. There is not an inordinate amount of art work or murals on the buildings but what is there is very nicely done.

Located at the South end of the harbor area is Jessie’s Ilwaco Fish Company. Jessie’s is one of the commercial fish processing businesses in the area.

Here is a last look around the Ilwaco Harbor. It is a wonderful place to visit.

We hope you enjoyed this brief look at Ilwaco; it has been a great stop along the way in our travels. Whenever in this area be sure and visit Ilwaco, go fishing, eat some great seafood, and buy some much needed items. You will really like it here.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments. All the best – George & Deanna

Discovery Trail - Long Beach Peninsula

There is a trail here on the Long Beach Peninsula that is about 7 plus miles in length paralleling the ocean and just back from the beach. It is for the most part paved and it is called “The Discovery Trail”. It is a fantastic multi use meaning walking and bicycle riding. Horses cross the trails heading to the beach to romp in the sand and surf but they do not walk along the trail. We have walked with the boys along major parts of the trail and we wanted to share some information about the trail with you.

Here is a map of the Long Beach Peninsula that has the length of the Discovery Trail Highlighted. At it's start it goes down into the port of Ilwaco and then turns and heads north along the peninsula.

The trail is accessible from various points along the peninsula. This shows one of the access points. They have parking areas and many of them have lavatories and Informative signs. The number 1805 refers to the year 1805 when Lewis and Clark visited this area.

This is just one view of the trail as it winds off towards the south. It is a nice wide trail in excellent condition.

At various points along the trail as well as other locations on the peninsula you will find these bike racks. It is a large fish in the center and welded chains to which you can lock your bike. Along some of the side trails leading over the dunes to the beach are some of these racks as well. Many bikes are seen along the trail and many out on the beach. Here you have the option to lock your bike up and walk along the beach.

This is another view along the trail. Much of the northern portion of the trail is open and passes through the grass along the dunes that lines the beach. In the southern portion we found more trees adjacent to the trail.

At various points along the walk you will find art objects reflecting either the history of the area or in this case the Marine Influence. Here is a large wood carving of Dolphin as if they were rising from the waves.

There are some beautiful homes located here in the Long Beach area. Once you are off the access roads leading to the trail, there are not any homes that we saw right along the trail. These two large homes were set back quite a distance from the trail and on the east side of the trail, not on the side towards the sea. On the peninsula we did not see any homes situated between the trail and the sea.

We saw numerous Song Sparrows along the trail. We did not see a huge amount of bird life; we would not call it a birding trail, certainly not at this time of year. We did find some sparrows, gulls of course, and an eagle or two along with various other feathered species but nothing in great numbers nor a wide diversity.

We are here for most of the month of May. The coastal pine trees are showing new growth. We found these little red buds on the ends of the limbs quite stark in their contrast with the green tree foliage. They appear almost unnatural.

Near the northern end of the trail is this bronzed tree. It is called the William Clark Signature Tree. This is described as being the northern most point that William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame traveled. There is also a seating bench along the trail in close proximity to this tree that marks their northern most progress.

Here is the carving in the tree stating the date and his name. It was a nicely done historical replica.

We are heading south following the trail. The ridges in the distance are at Cape Disappointment State Park where the trail begins.

Looking to the west at one point we can see the Pacific Ocean. It is hidden from view for most of the length of the trail but is readily accessible utilizing various sandy side trails over the dunes.

An enormous number of shorebirds migrate through this area during the spring. These signs appear to have been created in a school contest asking that you leave the shorebirds alone. This one talks of the endangered Snowy Plover

This one asks “Please Don’t Disturb Me”. The shorebirds are passing through here heading north to their breeding grounds in Alaska. They need to rest and refuel as they travel. Disturbing them and or letting your dog chase them just causes them to burn up much needed energy they require for the long journey north.

We took this picture here in the Long Beach area but not right along the trail. It is presented here to show just a small portion of the migration that passes through this area. They certainly need to rest and re-energize as they proceed on their travels.

At one stop along the trail is this bronzed replica of William Clark and a sturgeon that he found one day washed up along the beach. It would seem that one of our Westies, Ozzie, is interested in the overall display or perhaps the fish.

This is just another glance out at the ocean which is readily accessible from the trail.

Here we show one last view of the trail. It is very nicely done with lots of bends and twists and turns and small ups and downs. It is not just a straight line trail; it has a lot of character.

We had shown the Song Sparrow earlier in this post, here we have two crows that were chasing each other and doing various acrobatic maneuvers. They are certainly fun to watch.

We hope you enjoyed this brief look at the Discovery Trail, it is a fascinating walk. If you get over here to the peninsula be sure and walk along a portion of the trail. It is a memorable, worthwhile experience.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments. All the best – George & Deanna