Long Beach, Washington State

 

August 18,2022

Woke up to daylight in our hotel room in Long Beach, Washington. The place is aptly called by that name because it happens to be the longest beach in the United States. 28 miles of pristine beach stretch along the northern Pacific Ocean.

Checked out after a light breakfast but kept the car parked on the hotel premises. There was a walkway behind the hotel that led to the beach. Morning air was fresh and the breeze was cool as we walked in the sand. The kite people were already there, some with their kites up in the air, others getting ready to launch theirs. Most of the kites today were new, quite different from what we saw last evening. There were whales, teddy bears, parrots, hummingbirds and more. People had brought their dogs along. Some kids were riding bikes along the shore. But the highlight was the colorful kites seen everywhere. It was such a joyous scene on the beach.

After almost two hours of roaming around there we walked past the kite festivities to the main street in town. The famous Cottage Bakery was the first thing we spotted. Stepped in to check out what they had. Artisan breads are my weakness. There were so many varieties they carried, I couldn’t make up my mind. Picked up a Portuguese Herb loaf and a Jalapeño Cheddar loaf. My daughter gave me ultimatum to take only one out of those. They offered the Portuguese herb bread as option in their veggie sandwich, so decided to get the sandwich and share it between us. Bought the jalapeño cheddar loaf to go. In addition to the sandwich we shared a yummy mushroom soup and a slice of apple caramel cheesecake. Needless to say the cheesecake was divine. 

It was a long walk back to our car. Already 5000 steps done for the day! Next destination was Cape Disappointment Light House. A rather funny name. Turns out the place got its name after early explorers mistook the waters to have an inland access. The place happens to be a meeting point of the largest oceans of the world ( the Pacific Ocean) with the largest rivers in the United States( the Columbia River). It was quite a steep walk to the historic lighthouse but entirely worth it. There are gorgeous views of the Columbia bar from the lighthouse. The trail to the lighthouse leads from a forest area with a cove on the way. People were seen lounging at the cove and swimming in the waters. By the time we returned from the trail to the lighthouse we had exceeded 10,000 steps. 

Taking the northbound 101 freeway we drove through scenic landscape crossing a number of rivers and sloughs to reach our cabin in Grayland. This is another beach town on the peninsula. After getting the room keys we proceeded to the nearby town of Westport for dinner and returned right away to enjoy the sunset on the beach behind our cabins. This beach was beautiful and stretched for miles in both directions. There were hardly 6-7 people on that beach. The horizon was cloudy and the sun soon disappeared behind a large dark cloud before the actual sunset time. Yet we witnessed a beautiful evening and dusk on that gorgeous beach. 

Back in our room, we chalked out tomorrow’s program before calling it a day.

Saree for the day was one of the finest of chiffons I had bought more than 15 years back at a store in Los Angeles. All day I kept getting compliments for this saree wherever I went. At the kite festival a lady walked up to me and said my pallu was flying in the wind like the kites in the air and she couldn’t resist taking a picture on her professional camera. We struck up a conversation. She took my phone number and said she will send me the photo. Besides her there were many other women who spontaneously complimented the saree including a young helper at the Cottage Bakery. It seemed to be a favorite with the western crowds. More importantly both my daughter and me were impressed that they called it a saree, not dress! Made me very happy for sure. 

The first photo taken at Long Beach in the morning. Some others on Grayland beach at sunset.