The best part of being in this area near Cape Disappointment is watching the surf roll in and crash on the rocks. We’ve spent a lot of time walking the beach and enjoying the view.

There are also several farmers Markets and we enjoyed the one at nearby Port Ilwaco on a rainy Saturday. In spite of cloudy skies there was a vegetable/fruit stand along with other food and craft vendors along the marina. We enjoyed looking in various shops including a bookstore with new and used books.

Just a few minutes from our campground is Beards Hollow Overlook. There is a great view of the beach along with some historical information. After that we visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at Cape Disappointment. We took the self-guided tour with pictures along a historical timeline. There were many exhibits showing types of clothing, boats and equipment used on the expedition and a short documentary film. The hike to Cape disappointment Lighthouse was strenuous but we enjoyed our picnic lunch on a bench by the Coast Guard building. This lighthouse is not open for tours so we backtracked to the parking lot and drove a few minutes to North Head Lighthouse. A short .25 mile walk took us past restored buildings to the lighthouse itself. Again, I am amazed at the beauty of the ocean and size of the waves coming in.

We took a driving tour of the peninsula, driving as far as historic Oysterville, WA. There are several restored homes and a beautiful Baptist Church built in 1892. On our way back we stopped at the Cranberry Museum and Gift shop. There we enjoyed seeing the antique equipment and learning about raising cranberries in this area.

We took a day trip to Astoria, OR and visited the Columbia River Maritime Museum. It is well worth with the $12.00 entry fee. The exhibits tell the history of fishing and shipping on the Columbia. There are excellent short videos as well as hands on projects for children. Included in the museum is a self guided tour of the Columbia WLV-604 it served as a floating lighthouse from 1951 and was decommissioned in 1979. Also of interest was 20 foot boat that was lost in Japan during the 2011 Tsunami that was and washed up on the shore nearby. From the museum we drove over to Fort Clatsop a National Historic Park. This is the site where the Lewis and Clark Expedition spent the winter of 1805-1806. The visitors center has historic Exhibits and a place for children to do hands on activities. We enjoyed walking through the replica of Fort Clatsop seeing the small space in which they spent that winter. There were activities going on all day with people in period dress explaining how they lived that winter. There are also a variety of hiking trails that can be walked.

Another interesting part of the time here is just getting here. The Astoria-Megler Bridge,
stretches 4.1 miles from Astoria, Oregon, across the mouth of the Columbia River, to Point Ellice, Washington. The bridge’s main span is 1,232 feet in length, the longest “continuous truss” in the nation.

We also enjoyed the Kite Museum in Long Beach, OR. The collection includes kites used in WW II and kites from around the world. We saw kites used to train anti-aircraft gunners, a kite to use with emergency rescue equipment and a mail kite used in Alaska so airplanes could get mail without landing. The beauty and variety of kites from around the world was amazing. Some of the fighting kites are huge! There are several videos available to watch about the various kites.

Being here on July 4th was an experience. We knew the city of Long Beach provided a fireworks display that could be seen from the beach by our campground. We began hearing lots of fireworks being shot off by early afternoon and by the time we went to the beach the crack of fireworks was non-stop. There were thousands of people shooting off fireworks – many were big ones, loud, high, and colorful. For about 2 hours we sat and watched fireworks up the beach as far as the eye could see. The city fireworks were impressive but people kept on shooting off their own all through the show. It was an amazing event.

There’s a lot to see and do here in the southwestern tip of Washington and the northeastern tip of Oregon. I guess you could say we weren’t disappointed at all in Cape Disappointment!