Photos courtesy State of Washington Tourism Division
One of the more popular activities on the Long Beach Peninsula is kite flying, a sport supported by numerous kite shops, and even a kite museum.

Washington Tourism Division
The Cape Disappointment Lighthouse sets high atop rocky cliffs at the mouth of the Columbia River.

Famed for its broad, sandy strand, the Long Beach Peninsula has become a major tourist destination. The beach attracts strollers, bicyclists and, in some places, horseback riders.

Season of vibrance

Summer comes to the Long Beach Peninsula with an explosion of color and activity

ALEC CLAYTON, FOR THE OLYMPIAN

With harsh winds and pounding surf torturing vast expanses of gray beach and rock, the Long Beach Peninsula is a storied place of romance and mystery.

For much of the year it is cold and foreboding, but over a short span of time each summer the Long Beach Peninsula becomes a bright, cheerful tourist destination with colorful kites flipping and darting in a clear blue sky over beaches buzzing with family fun.

Museums, lighthouses, beaches, amusement parks, restaurants and shopping on the Peninsula are so numerous and so varied that a day trip is never enough. A minimum of a weekend is required, if not a full week.

Fortunately, accommodations are as plentiful as are the attractions, with 14 distinctive bread-and-breakfast inns and well over 20 hotels, motels, resorts, cottages and condominiums.

For Pat Starzyk of Olympia, going to the beach is a way to escape.

"It's mostly relaxing," she said, "a chance to get away. Last time, I remember I slept very well."

Starzyk's last trip was in September, when she spent five days at the Shakti Cove Cottages in Ocean Park.

"I always get a place with a kitchen and bring my own food," she said. And she spends her time near the ocean "mostly relaxing and walking on the beach."

Visitors can tour the area by foot or on rented mopeds, bicycles and bicycle-surreys.

For the kids there are carnival rides, bumper cars and go carts; beach strolling and shopping are a delight for everyone.

Watch for the giant clam that squirts every hour in the Long Beach shopping hub and see the world's largest clam pan at the Long Beach City Park. Marvel at the many wooden carvings of sea life that dot the main streets, and be sure to see the notoriously ugly wooden mermaid.

The Long Beach Peninsula sits between the Pacific Ocean and Willapa Bay at the southwest tip of Washington. With its hard-packed sand and gentle ocean waves, visitors are tempted to wade into the beckoning ocean. But beware.

Riptides and underwater tows can be treacherous. This is not a beach for swimming and surfing. Swimming is dangerous, and the beaches are not patrolled by lifeguards.

These beaches, in fact, are made for driving. The 20-mile stretch of unobstructed beach has become such a favorite place for driving that it is now designated as a state highway with a posted and enforced 25-mph speed limit.

For purists who prefer their beaches sans-automobiles, there is a section of beach stretching from Seaview to the Bolstad Beach Approach in Long Beach that is closed to vehicular traffic from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

This area of the beach is the site of the famous International Kite Festival, the annual Beach Run & Walk, and the traditional SandSations Sand Sculpting Contest.

When asked to talk about his favorite events on the peninsula, Laurel Kirsch of the Long Beach Visitors Bureau went off on the International Kite Festival with soaring words as colorful as the kites that fill the sky.

"It's beautiful," Kirsch said, "all the colors with the sun shining through. It's a feast for your eyes. And you get people from all over the world, so you can have some of the most interesting conversations.

"The manufacturers send demonstration teams, and some of that is absolutely fascinating. Then they have the coordinated flying. It's like Torvill and Dean on ice, only it's in the sky."

Camping is not permitted on the beach, but there is an excellent campground nearby at Fort Canby, a state park on the southwest corner of the Peninsula, bordered on the north by the Northhead lighthouse, and on the south by Cape Disappointment lighthouse. Camping accommodations include tent and RV sites, yurts and cabins.

Summer festivals

In the summer the Peninsula is alive with exciting festivals and events with activities for the whole family. Here are a few favorites:

-Summerfest, Memorial Day to Labor Day in Long Beach, is a season-long festival featuring folk, rock and jazz music, street entertainment, hands-on art activities and more. Big bands will be featured in July, and the festival highlight in August will be free outdoor movies.

A new venue added this year will be a refurbished historic train station housing art workshops and exhibits, and offering children's activities and literary events. For information, call the Long Beach Visitors Bureau at (800) 451-2542.

-The Northwest Garlic Festival, scheduled June 16-17 at Ocean Park, offers everything the garlic lover can possibly dream of, from chocolate-covered garlic to garlic doughnuts, garlic oysters, jam and ice cream.

Inspired by the famous Ark Restaurant & Bakery (3310 273rd on the Nahcotta Dock, Nahcotta), which for many years would create a full six-course garlic dinner, the festival has expanded to include delicacies from more than 80 makers of garlic dishes.

-Giant sand sculptures both beautiful and humorous will be on display at the 17th annual SandSations Sand Sculpture Contest, July 13-14 at Long Beach.

Masters, intermediates, novices and youths are invited to compete for prizes. The festival tops off with a dance after the awarding of prizes.

-The Washington State International Kite Festival, Aug. 20-26 at Long Beach, is the Peninsula's crowning glory, with thousands of aerial displays and a profusion of more colors than a rainbow.

Alec Clayton is a free-lance writer, artist and published novelist who lives in Olympia.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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