On our first day exploring the Oregon Coast we actually explored the southern end of the Washington Coast instead, sightseeing along Willapa Bay, eating Oysters, and hiking on Goose Point.
After driving west all morning from White Pass, we eventually arrived in South Bend, Washington, a town situated next to Willapa Bay. Google Maps showed us an interesting feature in this town: “The World’s Largest Oyster.” This seemed like quite the claim, so we stopped to check it out. And, yes, technically it probably was the world’s largest oyster, regardless of being made out of cement. We took some photos of it, anyway.
We continued driving down the coast on Highway 101, with oysters on our minds. Google showed us the location of Goose Point Oysters. Vicki was hungry for oysters by this time, so we pulled on in. She went inside and discovered that they didn’t sell them to the public there, that it was basically a wholesale operation as they were a big distributor. They sold them worldwide, shipping them everywhere. But they did tell us where we could buy some, retail, from one of their local vendors. Not surprisingly, it was located back in the town of South Bend, right next to the World’s Largest Oyster. Sigh. So back we went.
We drove back to town and had a late lunch / early dinner at a fish and chips place near the river. It was drizzling and breezy, so we hung out in the lee of a pine and ate at a picnic table. Life was good again, and many oysters were consumed.
So back down the coast we went. This time we made it all the way to Goose Point itself, which stuck out into Willapa Bay. We found yet another oyster operation along the way, and they had an old wooden boat sitting in the middle of a huge pile of oyster shells. It was so funny we had to stop for a photo.
There was a park at Goose Point, so we stopped and took a day hike. After a long day driving, it felt good to stretch our legs. There was quite a bit of fog over the bay itself, and the plants along the trail were rather soggy from the mist, but we had fun anyway.
What we really needed at that point was a campground, and there wasn’t any national forest land nearby, which usually made it easy (and inexpensive) to camp. We lucked out and found a small campground in Bruceport County Park, right along Highway 101 on the shore of Willapa Bay, and it was reasonably priced. We found a small campsite and got ourselves ready to spend the night.
Luckily, our early dinner sufficed for us, and the only thing left to do was for Vicki to try out the Goose Point Oyster Shooter. It was an oyster in a double shot glass, suspended in a tomato-based cocktail sauce. Vicki slurped it down like a champ. I’m glad it wasn’t me!
After that, we got into the car and made plans for tomorrow’s day on the Oregon Coast. The next day would be all about the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and the Columbia River. We went to sleep soon after, eager to begin this new phase of our big road trip.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
Onward to Day 2 >> 
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