My boyfriend and I are going out to the ocean for our one-year anniversary next weekend. Yay! The only problem, besides the weather? To save money, we’re staying at a place borrowed from family, and it’s in Grayland. We have almost no idea what to do* or where to go in the Westport/Grayland area.
So: what’s cool to do around Westport and Grayland? Or really, anything as far as Aberdeen/Hoquiam. (Heck, if you know somewhere great around Copalis or Pacific Beach, I might be able to convince him to travel that far. We’ll be traveling from Olympia, so any good places to stop along the way would be great too.) We both like thrift/used clothing stores, good ice cream, and used music or movie stores. I like used book stores. My boyfriend likes to collect decorative/political/military patches and pins. A nice but not very expensive restaurant would be useful too, for our anniversary dinner, but I could just cook something instead.
*I know the obvious things- look at the lighthouse near Westport, search for pretty rocks, point out cool shorebirds to my more bird-oblivious BF, fly a kite, light a fire in the firepit and talk about stupid things while drinking cheap alcohol.
I spent a day in Westport last year.
That was pretty much it. There was a winery or two around too, if that’s your thing. They’re also having the annual seafood festival on the 4th, if you like outdoor festivals.
It’s a charming small town on the beach so you can do charming small town on the beach type things.
Thanks guys. I hadn’t thought about whale watching- I’ll look into that. We’re actually going this weekend, not next, so anything on the 4th is right out- otherwise I’d be at the Quinault Casino for the Christian Kane concert. And thanks for the tide table links- I hadn’t found that site before, and I love being able to look up the tides!
There is little to nothing to do in Westport, Hoquiam or Aberdeen. If the weather is nice, walk to beach. If the weather is not nice (most likely), stay inside and have sex.
Try to avoid Ocean Shores, unless you find out there is kite flying to watch. There is an excellent kite store in Ocean Shores, but not much else. I can’t even think of a good place to eat in the area. On your way from Olympia, stop at the Ranch House close by Summit Lake and get some good BBQ.
I do not like Grays Harbor County and would not spend time there for love or money at this point in my life. Still, I hope you enjoy yourselves!
Avoiding Ocean Shores is a family tradition. (My mom can remember the days before they bulldozed the dunes and turned it into an even bigger tourist trap, so we never visit it.)
The weather forecast isn’t great, so the staying inside option is probably going to be invoked heavily.