Day 11, Wandering in Westport

When we started out on our trip, we take weren't sure what the weather would be

 This morning was sunny and crisp. So crisp, that we can see the snow on the mountains.

We went looking for the path down to the beach. We started down Path #2 and pretty soon found it was underwater. We were walking in running shoes so we turned around and tried our luck with Path #3. We successfully wove our way down to the beach keeping our feet mostly dry. There were a number of folks clamming. I picked the right couple to ask about it and they gave us a quick tutorial, including how to get a license and the best clam tube/gun to use. They asked if we wanted to try but they were pretty near their 20/day limit so Denis stepped up and managed to harvest a large razor neck clam. It looks like fun and should we come back to this area, we may rent the tools, buy a license, and give it a go.

We stopped by the park rangers' office to get some ideas of what we should do. Given a nice day, Denis had been hoping we'd ride bikes but the two-lane road up to Westport is narrow and the traffic is fast. So we needed to make other plans. While we were there, I spotted mosquito repellant for sale. Turns out, spring is a prime time for mosquitos in this area. The ranger thought in 2-3 weeks they'll begin being a nuisance but by fall they are pretty much gone. Note to self, don't plan on coming back in the summer.

We thought we'd be able to get lunch at Brady's Oysters. Because it is not yet tourist season, we were only able to get clam chowder and oyster shooters. The shooters had pretty spectacular oysters and I almost considered getting another but instead, we set out for Bottle Beach State Park. 

It has wide open tidal flats and advertises itself as a great place to bird-watch. Sadly, the birds must have known we were coming and all decided to take off. We walked out along the beach and back through a path with wildflowers, including the red deadnettle, which doesn't have the spiny stingers and was used by Native Americans for medicinal purposes. 

Westport was our next stop. It has its own Maritime Museum. Unfortunately, it was closed but we did get to walk around the grounds. They have a collection of skeletons, including one of a one-year-old gray whale. It was given to the museum shortly after the whale washed up onshore. Scientists and local students prepared it for exhibition. That must have been one interesting science project.

I wanted to buy fresh local fish. We'd been given a recommendation by the park ranger but at the moment, the only local fish readily available are oysters and Dungeness crab. We wandered around and found Seafood Connection at float 8. They had lots of fish but not much of it local aside from oysters and crabs. I settled on Rockfish from the Columbia River for tonight's dinner. They also had a variety of house-smoked fish. We bought some tuna which is pretty yummy.

We found out how to find fish in the future. There is a board with the names of the boats that sell fish and the month you are most likely to find a kind of fish. If you come to Westport, look for this

On our way back into the campground I spotted this sign

I don't know enough about foraging mushrooms but if you do, you might want to put this on your places to stop next time you are up this way.

The high today was about 60° which is the warmest we've had so far. Sitting outside is a nice way to finish off the day and for grilling the fish and sipping on one of those local beers we've picked up along the way.