Our visit to Ocean Shores on the Olympic Peninsula turned into a game of “What is it?”

For dinner we popped into Pirates Cove Pub, just across the road from our hotel. They had a good number of beers on tap and of course we had to try their IPA, which was NB IPA, and very good. So of course we wanted to know what brewery it came from.

The waitress had no idea but after a mass of pestering by Al she said, “Okay, I have to get my glasses.” and then came back and announced, “It’s an India Pale Ale.”

“That’s the type of beer. But what does the NB stand for?”  

Poor waitress. She had to go back several times before she found out that the NB stood for Narrow’s Brewing. Anyway NB IPA: very good!

I had ‘Steamers in Riesling’. But first I had to ask, “What are ‘steamers’?” It turns out they’re clams, and delicious. Ocean Shores has a Clam Festival where you can expect a lot of these tasty sea creatures.
With my steamers I decided to try a flight of beer tasters. Unlike most flights, these came without any labels so I had no idea what I was drinking. And the waitress wasn’t about to tell me, I had to guess. So another game of ‘guess what it is’ ensued. I managed to guess the Hefe by W and the Sinistør Black Ale just by the colour. The Sinistør was so good I ordered a full pint. The rest, although decent, didn’t stand out so I’m not going to mention any names.
Wandering along the beach the next morning, we came upon some strange items washed up on the sand. Higher up on the beach they were clear and desiccated to the point that I thought they might be some type of large flying seed. But I really couldn’t tell if they were animal or vegetable. 
Closer to the water they were rippled and blue-edged, looking like an exquisite piece of handblown glass. The one I picked up had a tough jelly-like consistency, making me think it was some kind of jellyfish. And later I found out that it is a special one-of-kind jellyfish called ‘By-the-wind-sailor’, Velella velella. Apparently they are washing up all over the west coast this summer.

The nitty-gritty.

We prefer not to book ahead and just go wherever the mood dictates, but we weren’t sure if this would work on a Thursday night in mid-July in Washington.

Originally we hadn’t been planning to go to Ocean Shores. But there wasn’t any tourist info around so we used the AAA Tour Book. The two towns we originally selected had only one recommended hotel between them, whereas Ocean Shores had a whole bunch.

We ended up staying at the Days Inn. The original price quoted worked out to be the most expensive hotel/motel on this trip. But with our AAA card we got a discount that brought it down to $89/night and that included a great selection of tasty breakfast items: Belgian waffles for Al and Danish pastries for me. Plus bacon. Cereal. Yogurt. Juices. Etc.

The Pirate’s Cove Pub was just across the street, a fun little pub where we got to interact with the locals. They had great ‘steamers’ and a good selection of beers on tap.

Just a little further on was the Galway Bay Irish Pub and Restaurant. This had an all together different atmosphere but was lively, and some people we talked to said the food was great. We are going to try dinner there some other time, maybe on a Saturday when they have live music!

Test Road Trip to the Olympic Peninsula

• Planning a Road Trip: Old Ways Vs. New Ways
• Anacortes
• A Deception Pass Boat Trip & Whale Watching
• Washington State Parks on Whidbey Island
• On the Ferry to Port Townsend
• Port Townsend
• Sequim Lavender Fields
• A Hike up Hurricane Ridge
• Marymere Falls
• The Hall of Mosses Trail in the Hoh Rain Forest
• Ruby Beach
• Ocean Shores
• Some Recommendations for a Trip to the Olympic Peninsula