From Tokeland, our next stop was Raymond, Washingon, located inland near the Wilapa River. From Raymond, the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway heads westward first and then south along the Pacific Coast. This drive highlights the diverse landscapes, including marshes, estuaries, beaches, dunes and forests that exist in the area.
A bit exhausted, I regret that we did not visit the Northwest Carriage Museum while in Raymond as it claims to have one of the best collections of horse-drawn carriages in the United States. What we did pulled over for was
- Tokeland to watch birds, but I don’t think our time of year was quite right.
- Robert Bush Park for the world’s largest oyster, which was a great disappointment.
- Southbend for its historic Pacific County Courthouse, whose gorgeous dome and staircases did not disappoint. This darling town is famous for its oysters and the Pacific County Courthouse. It is known as the “Gilded Palace of Extravagance.” When the original design for the interior proved too costly, a jailed artist ended up painting the colorful murals. The concrete columns were also painted to look like marble.
- Long Beach, which as the name implies boasts a continuous stretch of sandy shoreline that is often referred to as the “World’s Longest Beach”. They were supposed to be having a kite festival when we were there but there was sadly, not enough wind. Downtown was packed with people so we also avoided the World Kite Museum that now houses over 1500 kites from 26 countries around the world. We should have gone, but instead went for a low key activity…picking as many blueberries as the RV would hold! Yum!
