(UPDATED FROM 2/26/2022)
Willapa Bay can be a lonely place, with mile upon mile of tidelands with nary a gas station in sight. Instead, vast expanses of mud flats are occasionally punctuated by dead trees that can look surreal right before darkness falls. Not a good place to break down.
It doesn’t take much imagination for the occasional headlights in the rearview mirror to evoke an episode of The Twilight Zone. You know, the television show from back in the 1960s, when men were men and freedom-loving Americans hated the Ruskies rather than their fellow citizens.
Those were the days.
But here we are at today’s Willapa Bay. Which is not all that different from yesterday’s Willapa Bay. Time passes slowly.
You can watch the tides roll in . . . and watch them roll away again. And unlike California’s more famous bay, you won’t find many $2 million condos with Jags in the garage because much of Willapa has been set aside as part of a National Wildlife Refuge.
After all these years Willapa Bay — the world’s second-largest estuary — still has clean enough water that you can eat its supposedly world-famous oysters (Wikipedia, 2021). How American is that?
Would you prefer rustic or advanced civilization?
You can camp on Willapa Bay at the Bruceport County Park. However, you can also find signs of advanced civilization at the adjoining towns of South Bend and Raymond. (Actually, they are legally described as cities but feel to me like towns. Since we have entered a post-truth era, I can call them what I want.)
South Bend has a smaller population than Raymond but is the seat of government for Pacific County, whose total population is under 24,000 (U.S. Census, 2022).
Once a center for timber and fishing, South Bend’s most recent claim to fame is being the “Oyster Capital of the World” (Ott, 2010). If you don’t find that impressive, they also put people’s names on benches. Dare you sit on Chauncey’s chair?
Not to be outdone, Raymond was the place where the grunge band Nirvana played their first gig in 1987 (Wikipedia, 2022). That’s a curious claim to fame given that this town is not otherwise known as a cultural mecca.
How then do the locals spend their leisure time? Some apparently seek adventure by heading on the highway . . . and shooting whatever comes their way.
The old is never very far from the new
Many of Washington’s coastal communities have been badly hurt by the decline of the timber and fishing industries. Indeed, Raymond has gone to pot. After Washington state legalized the recreational use of marijuana, the town’s leaders have welcomed cannabis growing and manufacturing start-ups (Wikipedia, 2022).
Ah, the sweet smell of the 21st Century. That has brought some shiny new buildings. Yet when cruising around Raymond and South Bend, what most stands out are vestiges of the area’s past, such as rusting grain silos, decaying harbor pilings and old cars.
Perhaps most interesting to automotive enthusiasts may be the Rat Kool Garage, which sports a variety of memorabilia as well as an eclectic mix of old cars (go here for further discussion). This is worth a visit all by itself.
Throughout the community new businesses have sprouted from the ruins of the old, such as Linda’s Fish & Chips. This is a terrific seasonal food trailer in a rather weathered industrial section of South Bend.
Boosting tourism is clearly a local priority, but I see another angle that deserves attention: The Willapa Bay could be a most excellent place to film a surreal teevee show on time travel.
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RE:SOURCES
- Ott, Jennifer; 2010. “South Bend — Thumbnail History.” HistoryLink.org. Posted Sept. 26.
- United States Census; 2022. “QuickFacts: Pacific County, Washington.” Accessed Feb. 26.
- Wikipedia; 2021. “Willapa Bay.” Page last modified April 1.
- ——; 2022. “Raymond, Washington.” Page last modified Feb. 18.
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