March!

Here comes Spring - it's so good to see the flowers poke through. Though it's been a mild winter for the most part, we get a bit antsy at this time of year - sort of a fever left over from childhood, when we knew a break was coming and the weather was so in-betweeny that it seemed we could just *will* the warmer times to be here already.

Flower boxes coming to life - March 6.

In our wanderings we've seen the signs around town - cleaning taking place, a general tidying up and awakening. On the hotel grounds we have the showings of green leaves, the early birds - and bees, our fuzzy honey-producing friends.

The ubiquitous grape hyacinth, common but welcome.

Of course - there's always stuff to do - as we can see from the picture below - the process is ongoing. Soon we'll be painting and putting up the trellis for hops and sweet peas. The Crow's Nest (room above the lobby) will be getting a snoot full of light scent this summer if all goes well.

Roses are just putting out leaves - the trellis will be going in, the tree-that-ate-Cleveland will be tamed sometime soon.

One thing's for sure - these bright days are teasers. It's still sweater weather, but it's nice not to wear a coat over it all. Layer by layer we get closer to the busy summer season.

Plants to be - poppies, cerinthe, pinks, snapdragons, and a tomato.

January - Mid

It's been pretty sunny here for most of the winter so far - with the exception of a couple of days a week or so ago. Very mild and bright. There is the illusion of warmth, but you will want a sweater.

 Things are starting to come into flower again - just barely, but once it starts, it really takes off. So far, the rosemary's showing the color. It seems to be an early indicator in these parts.

This was tonight's sunset - it looks like a huge fiery fingerprint right over the ocean.

Late December Around Town

It's been unusually clear for a December this year - which means a walk around town to see the lights and sights. Here we have the bandstand (about half a block from Banana Books), which is, in warmer times, the site of many a concert. 

The sea monster - with wagging tail (caught here mid-wag) lives in a pocket park right next to Marsh's Museum. (Jake the Alligator Man is inside, being a warm-weather creature.)

Another pocket park has an orca, a giant razor clam, and a suitably-sized frying pan. 

It's a good place to walk around. Not pictured, because you really  have to see it yourself, is the amazing village set up in the back room of the Hungry Harbor, where they also make a very smooth espresso. 

Around town in December

Starting out  from downtown where I was visiting the wooden fisherman- walking along clean sidewalks to the Cottage Bakery on my way back to the hotel.

It is possible to be too close to something, maybe. I suppose an argument could be made, however, that if you have to be too close to anything, the Cottage Bakery's not such a bad thing.

A lot of the cranberry growers in the area are part of the Ocean Spray collective. The eyes of a couple of people on this mural on the side of the Dennis Company will follow you. Somehow it's not creepy, but reassuring. "Would you like some fresh cranberry sauce, ma'am? We can help."

Yes, and when I got home I was forced to share these florentines - what you should know about the Cottage Bakery is that the more subtle "grown up" pastries are kept on the bottom two shelves in the case by the spinning cakes. All of it about 7 minutes from the hotel.

Strolling down Bolstad - Almost December

I started out at almost noon, up Bolstad just a couple of blocks from the Arcadia. It's gorgeous out, as you can see - November 30 never looked so pretty.

This buoy is huge - and has a warning about the dangers of swimming - you will see this warning all over town. Really, Long beach is not a good swimming beach, but you can usually wade out pretty far, and we do surf here. It's also not as cold as one would think - due to the Columbia flowing out and North. But be careful - it is the ocean, after all.   

There are several of these neat little mosaics around town - I think there are about five or ten of them on the Bolstad approach. There are real black bears in the area. Mind your picnic baskets!

Bolstad runs through the Discovery Trail - there are several monuments and statues just yards off the street. It's funny how the seagrass rises up around you once you're on the trail - despite being paved, it's still a very peaceful and nifty place to explore. It's also a great bike path.

The dunes - a recent (last hundred years) addition to the Long Beach Peninsula. Accretion has added about 400 yards since the hotel was built - the grasses and (not pictured) young pine forests are teeming with tiny life. 

Thanksgiving Eve at the Coast

Last night we had gusts of close to 80 mph - as recorded at Cape Disappointment. Our mid-week guests reportedly loved it - "very dramatic!" Storm watching is a frequent winter past-time out this way.

There was a casualty - one strawberry plant kaput (here pictured on the low roof, where we put the blue pot to keep the &*%% deer away. That's the Crow's Nest room in the background).

The sky tonight - calm and beautiful. 

Evening views - mid November

We went out for a walk this evening (about four minutes to the beach - *with* a kid in tow, so you know it's close!) - the weather's starting to turn to the crisper side.

The World's Longest Beach arch at Bolstad Blvd - approximately three blocks away. 

As we're headed down to the ocean - looking a bit North - beautiful fluffy clouds. I do believe Bob Ross would have referred to them as "happy clouds". 

Edge of the dunes - the ocean itself - sunset - going into winter.