Dining at the Beach Over the Holidays

Don’t forget there are LOTS of activities the weekend following Thanksgiving!

TOM TRUDELL | saturday 21 | 7:oo

JESSE MEADE | jessemeade.com |saturday 28 |8:oo | $3 cover

ongoing | women’s night | wednesdays | $5 pours

ongoing | mahjong night |thursdays | french and italian conversation |tuesdays  | 7:oo

LWACO, Wash. – (Business Wire) ShoreBank Pacific has received certification as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund.

As the only bank chartered in Washington with CDFI certification, ShoreBank Pacific is now uniquely positioned to apply for Treasury grant funds that can be used for loans and development services in underserved Oregon and Washington communities. CDFI funding would increase ShoreBank Pacific’s capacity to provide commercial loans to the renewable energy, green building, fishing, and specialty foods and agriculture industries.

Read the article

“IIwaco is a quaint little town on the coast of Washington State just across the Washington – Oregon boarder. Took a few photos at the marina before an early morning meeting last year.

Ilwaco, Washington… Located at the mouth of the Columbia River, Ilwaco is the gateway to one of our nation’s newest national treasures, the Lewis and Clark National & State Historical Park. Lighthouses, pristine beaches, fabulous campgrounds and breathtaking hiking trails all invite you to experience the unparalleled natural beauty of the area. The Port of Ilwaco is the Pacific Northwest’s premiere sturgeon, salmon, halibut, crab and tuna fishing destination.”

From http://colorizedphotos.blogspot.com;  click to see the photos.

Peninsula Arts Association Studio Tour
November 27 & 28 | 10am – 4pm
18 locations | 29 artists | demonstrations | unique gifts

Pick up a map at the Peninsula Visitors Bureau (Seaview, Ocean Park Chamber (Ocean Park), Picture Attic (Long Beach), M&D Designs (Chinook), Full Circle Café (Ocean Park), Campiche Studio (Long Beach)

One sure bet around this part of the country is that if you have a hankering for an oyster treat, you’ll probably be getting an oyster from Washington’s Willapa Bay.

The Willapa was carved out by glaciers long ago. When the ice retreated, the ocean rushed in to fill the void. Eventually, sand collected, forming the Long Beach Peninsula, a 24-mile spit that protects this shallow bay and creates a unique cool rich upwelling of marine water mixed with fresh water from the many streams draining the Willapa hills. It makes a perfect place for algae to grow, and shellfish happen to love the stuff.

Depending on whom you believe, Willapa Bay supplies either one in six oysters or up to 30 percent of the oysters that oyster lovers throughout the United States crave. Either way you shuck it, that’s a lot of oysters.

Oysters are packed with nutritional goodies: They’re rich in proteins, vitamins and such trace elements as iron, iodine, copper, phosphorous, cobalt and manganese – all of which make for a healthier body. But above all, these little bivalve mollusks are tasty and fortunately very available here in our area. I’ll get to that a little later.

[Read the whole article at the Daily Astorian]

Washington has seen an increase in the number of fishing licenses sold this year, beating a national trend.

The number of fishing licenses sold from January through September is up 18 percent compared with the same months last year. Through September, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife has sold more than 1.06 million licenses, including annual, temporary and shellfish licenses.

[read more]

Clam diggers got the go-ahead to proceed with an evening razor-clam dig starting Saturday, Nov. 14. Tentative dates have also been announced for upcoming digs in December and January.

Twin Harbors will open for digging Nov. 14-17, while Long Beach, Copalis and Mocrocks are scheduled to open Nov. 14-16. Kalaloch Beach will be open for digging on Monday, Nov. 16 only. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) gave final approval after a series of marine toxin tests confirmed the clams were safe to eat.

Digs at all beaches will be held on evening tides, with digging restricted to the hours between noon and midnight. The National Park Service approved the one-day dig at Kalaloch Beach, located within Olympic National Park, to coincide with those at the other beaches.

Dan Ayres, WDFW coastal shellfish manager, advises clam diggers to check weather and surf forecasts before heading out. “With the rough weather we had during the last opener, digging dropped off significantly as people played it safe,” Ayres said. “On the plus side, there’s likely enough clams remaining in the quota to offer more digs later.”

Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin also reinforced taking night dig safety precautions, especially at Kalaloch.

“Kalaloch is considerably more remote than the other clamming beaches, and visitors should be prepared for primitive conditions,” she said. “With no streetlights or lighted buildings in the area, flashlights or lanterns are a necessity.”

Harvesters are allowed to take no more than 15 razor clams and must keep the first 15 they dig, regardless of size or condition. Each digger’s clams must be kept in a separate container.

A license is required for anyone age 15 or older. Any 2009 annual shellfish/seaweed license or combination fishing license is still valid. Another option is a razor-clam only license available in annual or three-day only versions. Descriptions of the various options are available on the WDFW website at fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov.

Digging days and tides are:

• Saturday, Nov. 14 (4:34 p.m. -0.3 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks
• Sunday, Nov. 15 (5:21 p.m. -0.7 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks
• Monday, Nov. 16 (6:05 p.m. -0.9 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch
• Tuesday, Nov. 17 (6:47 p.m. -0.8 ft.) Twin Harbors

Additional digging days and tides tentatively scheduled through Jan. 3 are:

• Wednesday, Dec. 2 (6:32 p.m. -1.2 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors
• Thursday, Dec. 3 (7:18 p.m. -1.4 ft.) Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks
• Friday, Dec. 4 (8:04 p.m. -1.3 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch
• Saturday, Dec. 5 (8:51 p.m. -0.9 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch

• Thursday, Dec. 31 (6:16 p.m. -1.1 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch
• Friday, Jan. 1 (7:01 p.m. -1.8 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch
• Saturday, Jan. 2 (7:45 p.m. -1.6 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks
• Sunday, Jan. 3 (8:29 p.m. -1.2 ft.) Twin Harbors

Beaches scheduled to open are:

• Long Beach, which extends from the Columbia River to Leadbetter Point.
• Twin Harbors Beach, which extends from the mouth of Willapa Bay north to the south jetty at the mouth of Grays Harbor.
• Copalis Beach, which extends from the Grays Harbor north jetty to the Copalis River, and includes the Copalis, Ocean Shores, Oyhut, Ocean City and Copalis areas.
• Mocrocks Beach, which extends from the Copalis River to the southern boundary of the Quinault Reservation near the Moclips River, including Iron Springs, Roosevelt Beach, Pacific Beach and Moclips.
• Kalaloch Beach, which extends from the South Beach Campground to Brown’s Point (just south of Beach Trail 3) in the Olympic National Park.

Your Visitors Bureau has compiled a list of restaurants open over Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.  Click the image for a closer look:

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Grocery, Coffee & Libations:

It’s a clam dig weekend and we are concerned about folks being out on the beach in current conditions:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A HIGH SURF

WARNING…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM FRIDAY TO 4 PM PST SATURDAY.

A LONG SERIES OF GIANT WAVES WILL START TO IMPACT THE WASHINGTON COAST ON FRIDAY MORNING AND THEN CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY. POWERFUL WAVES OF 25 TO 28 FEET ARE EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE BEACHES DURING THIS TIME PERIOD. THE GIANT WAVES WILL BE SEPARATED BY ABOUT 15 TO 20 SECONDS OF TIME…SO DO NOT BE LULLED BY PERIOD BETWEEN WAVES INTO THINKING IT IS SAFE TO VENTURE CLOSE TO THE WATERS EDGE.

WAVES OF THIS SIZE PUSH LARGE AMOUNTS OF WATER ONTO THE COASTLINE AND INTO HARBORS…COVES AND INLETS. COASTAL INLETS…INCLUDING GRAYS HARBOR…CAN EXPECT TO SEE TIDE LEVELS RUNNING ABOUT A FOOT HIGHER THAN TIDE TABLE PREDICTIONS. TIDE TABLES FOR ABERDEEN PREDICT A HIGH TIDE OF 10.9 FEET AT 245 PM FRIDAY…A HIGH TIDE OF 8.8 FEET AT 441 AM SATURDAY…AND ANOTHER HIGH TIDE OF 10.4 FEET AT 339 PM SATURDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

THESE WAVES ARE POWERFUL ENOUGH TO SWEEP UNWARY BEACH WALKERS OUT TO SEA. PEOPLE CAN BE SERIOUSLY INJURED BY DEBRIS…SUCH AS LOGS…TOSSED ABOUT IN THE WAVES