Crab, Oysters, Live Lobster, Manila Clams

Astoria, Oregon ~ May 8, 2011

'Tis the season for things that come from the water. Dungeness crabs are caught by the boats we see going back and forth on the river. Amazing oysters come from famous oyster beds just across the river in Washington. I'm not sure about the live lobsters. I think they must be flown in, and maybe someone can enlighten me about that. We can dig for razor clams at the beach during some seasons, but I'm not sure where we get Manila clams. What's the story on this?

In the background you can see the hotel and bridge from yesterday's post; I took that photo when the sun was out for a few minutes. Yes, Jacob, the tide is definitely out! The table in the foreground is for cleaning your catch. I'll show you the sign tomorrow. The cloudy sky is so typical. The blue is the anomaly, although we've had a couple of truly glorious days this year.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Oyster Shells in Oysterville

Oysterville, Washington ~ October 30, 2001

Mountains of oyster shells are what remains of many, many oysters pulled from Willapa Bay on the Long Beach Peninsula. I didn't know anything about the area when I took this drive in 2001, so I was astounded to find these heaps of shells piled up at the end of the road. I can't tell you much about the oyster farming operations, but I can tell you that these oysters are world class fare. There's nothing like a good oyster shooter or huge, fat, Willapa Bay oysters cooked just right.

I walked into a small oyster processing place where they had tubs and equipment for pulling the oysters out of the shells to clean and can them, but I believe it was after hours or off season, because I don't remember a lot of activity. But I can tell you they sold just about the best cookies in the world there, too, and the cookies were not made of oysters. You could buy the dry mix packaged, take it home, and "just add water." I think I'm going to have to go back. I'm making myself hungry. (I'll bet it was this place.)

The town is quaint, historic, and interesting, and recommended for an out-of-the-way drive. It has some cool buildings from the 1800s. I also found online a local oyster cam. I can't wait to see what it looks like in the morning, because it was dark when I wrote this. At night it looks like a deserted concert venue with the stadium lights still on and shiny rain puddles on the ground.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Ilwaco Art Walk

Thanks to an invitation from Stephanie, I spent several hours after work at the Ilwaco Art Walk yesterday evening. The Port of Ilwaco is in Washington, across the Columbia River from Astoria, Oregon, and a few miles downriver. It's a picturesque port for fishing boats and pleasure boats (but mostly private fishing boats by the look of it), and that's the direction in which I pointed my camera. On the other side of this walkway is a row of small art galleries and a few restaurants, some with lounges. The last art walk of the season sponsors a beach cean-up, and there was a drawing for prizes for those visiting all of the participating locations and getting your card stamped. It was quite festive, and the weather was perfect, provided you remembered to bring a light (?) jacket. Wine and snacks were offered by most of the galleries and shops, music was played at a few, and a good time seemed to be had by all. We ended up having appetizers at Pelicano's, and the local fried oysters on a bed of creamed corn were fantastic.