Long Beach, Washington

When you think of beach towns you might be picturing tiki bars, sand volleyball, and a bathwater temperature ocean, but the beaches of Washington are, well, a little different. They are a bit more rugged, much colder, with fewer foam parties and spring breakers. They are wonderful and charming, though, and definitely deserve a visit (of course, if you want to order a pina colada at one of the restaurants and pretend like you are on a topical beach, by all means). We headed to Long Beach, WA for a little getaway and had such a good time in this quaint little town. It’s small and easy to get around and can definitely be handled in a long weekend. Below is our guide highlighting our favorite spots.

Where to stay:

Adrift Hotel – We love this eco-friendly lodge that sits right on the beach and the boardwalk. They rent bicycles to guests for free, have a cute restaurant with live music most nights, a game room with shuffle board and ping pong, and loads of board games and DVDs for your use. Also, it's dog friendly!

What to do:

Visit the beach – Long Beach has an 8 mile boardwalk that lines the beach. It is perfect for walking or biking and there are a few geocaches hidden along the way. It’s peaceful and pretty. You can also drive your car straight on the beach, which is great because you can easily bring all your beach supplies with you (beer! frisbee!). Long Beach is actually the world’s longest beach, so you have miles and miles to explore.

Cape Disappointment State Park - There are a lot of trails of different lengths throughout this park. We chose the Cape Disappointment trail, which is easy and around 4 miles long. It takes you to the lighthouse at the mouth of the Columbia River and past Fort Canby that you can explore. It's set up to give you history about the fort, and the mouth of Columbia is crazy and insane!

Marsh’s Free Museum – This wacky shop is filled with all sorts of bizarre knick knacks, tourist gifts, antique coin operated machines, a two headed calf, and Jake the alligator man. If anything, it’s good for a laugh.

What to eat:

Cottage Bakery & Delicatessen - THE BEST DONUTS ON THE PLANET. They are so good that we may or may not have stopped here twice. They are handmade, fluffy and out of this world.

Captain Bob's Chowder - get the smoked salmon chowder because, duh.

Laurie's Homestead Breakfast House – We love this little diner. It feels like the perfect place for breakfast when visiting a beach town…huge portions, delicious food and a lot of character. Insider tip: borrow bikes from Adrift Hotel and ride the boardwalk all the way down to the restaurant!

5 Things To Check Out In Snoqualmie, WA

Snoqualmie. The first town name that visitors have to learn to pronounce correctly, right up there with Issaquah and Tulalip. All our neighboring towns have something in common besides their unique Native American names, they also all have great attractions to draw you out of the bustling city. Snoqualmie is our favorite, simply because it has such a variety of things to experience for people of all ages. It is a great town to take family visiting from out of town, head to for a date night, or simply a day with friends. 

1. Check out Snoqualmie Falls - Alright, we have to get the most obvious out of the way first. It's worth the hype (unless we are having a dry season and then it's just like any other waterfall). It's a free attraction, which is always a plus, and the viewing deck is accessible (bring on the strollers and wheelchairs). It has a great review of the history, and you can also hike down to the base of the falls for some really spectacular views to compliment the ones from the viewing deck.

Insider Tip: Go hungry and grab lunch after at Salish Lodge's bar, The Attic. It is right next to the falls so you can just pop in after. The views are kind of awesome. 

The real deal: a steam engine train

2. Visit the Northwest Railway Museum and Ride the Train - This one isn't for everyone. The steam engine is a cool piece of history, and since it is old and authentic, it goes very slowly and the trip is not through a particularly stunning part of the country side. That being said, if you aren't too cool for school, ride the train! It's fun and you get to experience a piece of history in a real way. In addition to the train, you can visit the museum at the train depot. It's small, but if you are interested in the history of the area or love trains, stop in.

Sugary crack. Photo via mrslemontea Instagram

3.  Grab some ice cream at Snoqualmie Falls Candy Factory - if it's a hot day or you have kids in the group this a great place to stop in for a snack. They have candy, popcorn, and a good selection of ice cream to give you a little (or big) sugar kick. There is a chalkboard wall for kids to enjoy and seating outside for soaking up some sun. 

Sigillo Cellars has a cute atmosphere and great staff! 

4. Enjoy a wine tasting at Sigillo Cellars - This tasting room is easy to locate and convenient to get to and has friendly service and delicious Washington wine. You can stop in for a short visit or long, depending on what you want. We personally recommend spending some time here (are you surprised? We loves the wine). You can sample all the wine (and then some), have some food, and enjoy the live music they have on most weekends! In the summer the outdoor patio with views of Mount Si make for a perfect night. 

See, that's what we are talking about! Photo via Nyonyoge Instagram

5. Try not to lose all your money at Snoqualmie Casino - It's new and shiny and you can gamble. I don't really think we have to add many more details here except maybe an additional disclaimer to be careful gambling, you are not Rainman and never, ever will be. 

Sidenote: Are we the only people who associate this place with very overplayed tagline? "Seattle's Closest Casino!" Why is that the selling point? Are people who gamble frequently also lazy and do not like to drive? Is it because you will stay here until the buttcrack of dawn and want to drive home quickly to pass out in your piles of money? If you want us to come to your casino tell us about your awesome fountains and sparkly decor, also the buffet.. draw us in with crab legs!

Ok, sorry. Rant over. Other than the sub-par casino tagline, Snoqualmie is a fantastic place to visit! Let us know if you have other favorites in town in the comments below. 

Kubota Garden

Seattle is definitely not short on parks, but Kubota Garden is a different story. It’s special because it’s not actually a park, it’s a garden! Plus, it’s the only one that is a historical landmark in the City of Seattle. This beautiful place was the dream of Fujitaro Kubota, a Japanese immigrant from the island of Shikoku. He purchased 5 acres of land in 1927 and started a garden entirely self-taught (which is pretty amazing to us since we can’t even keep succulents alive). Over time features were added, and the garden expanded to the 20 acres it is today. It was always Fujitaro’s dream that his garden would be open to the public and help promote Japanese culture. After Fujitaro passed away, the City of Seattle was able to purchase the garden and make this dream come true. The garden is now maintained by the gardeners of the Department of Park and Recreation.

The park is a beautiful and peaceful place to take a stroll and admire the Japanese architecture. There are a couple of picnic tables for you to enjoy lunch and a handful of benches throughout. Dogs are welcome as long as they are on a leash and the park is wheelchair accessible.

Since no trip to a garden is complete without food (who are kidding…no trip to anywhere is complete without food!), we recommend grabbing some fried chicken at nearby Ezell’s (11805 Renton Ave. S.) or a donut at King Donuts (9232 Rainier Ave. S.).

3 Favorite Seattle Geocaches

Two Seattle geocache locations! Hail to the Chief and Keep Reading

The PNW is one of the best places to be a geocacher. The oldest surviving geocache is located in Oregon and Geocache company headquarters are located in Fremont, Seattle, which has been accurately dubbed "The Center of the Universe."

When we are out and about the city with a few moments to spare we always open our app and see if there are any fun cache locations near by. Don't let us fool you though, we are absolutely amateur geocachers. You can usually find us confused and crawling around like crazy people at cache locations. Sometimes help comes in the form of a hint from the app or a helpful person watching and every once in a while we succeed just on our own skill (Happy dances always follow). We have not ventured outside of the PNW, but have explored Seattle quite a bit, so we decided to share our favorite spots around city. 

Fremont's Chairy Tree

1. Chairy Tree

This geocache is crazy fun to find. It was created by the Geocache Headquarters and their enthusiasm for treasure hunting is apparent at this location. You will feel like a kid again when you finally find it! Geocache HQ has placed some other caches around Fremont, see the others here. 

The gum wall cache is extremely difficult to find

2. Double Bubble Toil and Trouble

This cache is hidden really well, because we have been looking for it for over a year and still haven't been able to find it. But the hunt is half the fun, so we keep coming back and staring for something out of the ordinary sticking out of all that gum!

Searching at the waterfront

3. Mimi's and Papa's 50th

This cache is a favorite because of it's location. Walking to the end of Pier 56 in Seattle, rain or shine, is a spectacle. You can see the ferries coming and going, the ferris wheel in all its glory and shipyards hard at work. After you take in the views, hunt down this cache and sign its tiny logbook (bring your own pen)!

Are you way beyond finding these easy-peasy caches? We found this article, PNW Geocaching Bucket List, full of some more difficult geocaching around the area (the butterfly one looks right up our alley)!

Are we speaking a strange language? It's probably because you aren't geocaching yet! Check out our post on Geocaching 101 for newbies.