Washington Coast

  • Westport

    What to do in Westport, Washington with kids

    When you enter Westport, Washington, you’re greeted with this sign: And that may sum it up. There’s a lighthouse, but kids under 40 inches tall aren’t allowed to climb the narrow, steep stairs. The under-construction aquarium offers only two tanks. The whale watching options can’t compete with well-developed tourism in Washington State’s San Juan Islands. The museum is OK (the fresnel light is impressive) but needs an infusion of funding for the kids’ area. The town’s streets don’t boast cute bookstores or toy shops. Most restaurants are iffy — lots of grease and meat for high prices. But still, if you wrote it off, you’d miss moments like this: When…

  • Aberdeen

    Photo Friday: The Star Wars Shop

    Driving into Aberdeen, Wash., we’re greeted with the sign, “Come As You Are,” from a song by the marine town’s local boy, Kurt Cobain. The verses that follow? As you were/As I want you to be. Aberdeen has always struggled with being, in any sense. The town now appears to be well-sunk, pulled down by the weight of dead logging and fishing industries. The downtown core’s empty storefronts offer “for lease” placards. Rotating signs spin half-heartedly in the wind, missing letters and customers. It’s enough to break a city girl’s heart. So what do you when Abderdeen’s grey skies and grey streets part and reveal the Sucher & Sons Star…