In 2018, while moving out here from Tacoma, we met Leo, an old-school used car salesman who long ago peddled hot rods on South Tacoma Way (a legendary cruzin’ strip, back in the day). Long since retired, he owned the scrappy looking former site of Sam Cameron’s Tourist Garage in Copalis Beach, across from the […] The post Ghost forests aren’t just a Copalis River thang! appeared first on ..read more

Having spent a lot of time on the North Beach over the course of our lives, it was rather shocking to see a hidden coast scenic byway sign on State Route 109 while house hunting out here in 2018. Not that SR 109 doesn’t deserve the lofty title but — what the heck, how did […] The post Is the hidden coast scenic byway really a “thing”? appeared first on ..read more

Occasionally on the quick, 90-minute trip between the beach and Olympia I think about what it must have been like to live out here, long ago. From what I gather, homesteading on the Hidden Byway wasn’t easy but for those who did it, I have yet to come across a tale of regret. In one […] The post Over the Rivers & Through the Woods at .5 MPH — Traveling the Hidden Byway in 1883 appeared first on ..read more

Over a century ago, North Beach resident Sampson Johns received a congressional life saving medal for rescuing over a dozen shipwrecked men who were otherwise doomed at sea. Can you imagine being a 19th century sailor; far from home on a sinking ship in unforgiving waters, praying for someone, anyone to jump the breakers and […] The post Sampson Johns: First ‘Modern’ Hero on the Hidden Coast appeared first on ..read more

In 2018, before settling on the North Beach we put an offer on the most adorable, small, round-ish house we’d ever seen. Stocked with remnants of a simple mid-century modern life, Phyllis whose husband hand-built it, lived there until 2017 when she passed away at the ripe old age of 91. It’s a red zone […] The post WASHAWAY NO MORE: The eerie story of North Cove appeared first on ..read more

From time to time, we find and buy small hoards of glass floats for the shop. They sell fast and visitors are always amazed when we get into conversations about the abundance of glass floats on Grays Harbor beaches still being found, to this day. If you know when and where to look, you might […] The post Secrets from 1977; Finding Glass Floats on Grays Harbor Beaches appeared first on ..read more

Over the summer, I was chatting with Boaz Backus, the chainsaw carver guy who built Ocean City Marketplace in 1995, and son of woodcarving pioneer (and my friend) Judy McVay.   Boaz doesn’t live along the Washington Coast anymore but his legacy lives on in stories; about saving Dorothy Anderson’s cabin, drunk adventures, travel, carving, […] The post Talking Crows on the Washington Coast? Who said that! appeared first on ..read more

My dad, Jim Mason (1943 – 2014)  was a self-taught cartoonist who practiced drawing Mickey Mouse and other characters in the margins of his homework starting in Kindergarten. Later, he put himself through graduate school as a sign painter and eventually he became one of only a handful of Art Therapists in the State of […] The post Signs are Art: The Silent Impact of Judy McVay appeared first on ..read more

i like vintage toys – who doesn’t?! At least once a week Sue comes up with a good shop story and this week it was about a young lady no more than ten years old who came into the shop with her mom. As you might imagine, most kids who come in, mope around half […] The post The Plane, dog, and girl: a Good Shop Story! appeared first on ..read more

All sorts of people wander into the shop on any given day and many of them ask interesting questions and we get into conversations about history, pickin‘ and the North Beach. But recently I was asked an odd question and surprisingly — I knew the answer! A couple came, shopped around and at checkout they […] The post Dead Crabs all Over the Beach at Pacific Beach & Moclips appeared first on ..read more