A Day Trip to Washington's Long Beach Peninsula

On Wednesday, October 12, 2006, a beautiful sunny autumn morning, we left Woodland for a day trip to the Long Beach Peninsula. We decided to travel on the Washington side of the Columbia River and come back on the Oregon side. The highway on the way there was very scenic with nice views and a feeling of wilderness. Take your time and enjoy the twists and turns. It was 98 miles there and 220 miles round trip.

It would be very easy to spend a week or two on this same trip so we had to make tough decisions on what to skip, such as the Gray's River Covered Bridge, World Kite Museum, Ledbetter State Park, Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, and the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, just to mention a few.

Photography by Noel Johnson - Click to enlarge.

Arriving in Long Beach we were very pleased at how easy it was to find the Longbeach Visitors Information Center. The people were very helpful and made us feel welcome. Be sure and stop here first.

We ate lunch at the Lightship Restaurant. The clam chowder was the best I ever tasted as was the seafood pasta special. Congratulations to the chef.

Next we stopped at Anna Lena's Quilt Shop. What a treat. The shop is world famous. In addition to the quilts and fabric they are famous for scrumptious FUDGE. We purchased our share.

Click here for more pictures of Anna Lena's Quilt Shop

While my wife shopped at Anna Lena's, I took a few pictures of an outstanding mural about the history of harvesting cranberries.

After filling up our car at the Chevron station, we drove the short distance to the Cranberry Museum and Gift Shop and the Pacific Coast Cranberry Research Foundation. We were very fortunate to arrive on a day when they were harvesting cranberries. It was a fascinating experience.

Click here for more pictures of the Cranberry Museum

By this time it was getting late so we decided to visit the North Head Lighthouse at Cape Disappointment State Park. From here we also were able to get a nice picture of Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.

Click here for more pictures of the Lighthouse