Camille Takes Us to Long Beach
Hola, my name is Camille. Viewpoints are my ultimate weakness, oddities are my thing, street art/murals give me life and I am firm believer that nature is truly one of the best medicines when it comes to curing a stressed soul.
I was raised in the beautiful state of Washington, lucky, I know! Being born on a tiny island of Guam — it is quite the contrast in weather and scenes, if I say so myself. In 2013, I made the decision to move to California.
Being a Bay Area transplant, what started out with seeking out hikes during the weekend and not wanting to waste a weekend not exploring my new home eventually transformed into trying to make the most out of the area I was in, no matter how small the city or how unknown the area was. Every city has hidden gems, it’s just a matter of finding them. You’ll be surprised at what you stumble upon. Now that I am temporarily back in WA state, I’ve been making the most of my time here by jampacking my schedule with oddities & random adventures.
My formula to the PERFECT Camille-Adventure!
- Pick a city
- Do your research: roadsideamerica.com and atlasobscura.com are my go-tos!
- Make an itinerary: Bookmark places in Google Map
- Drag someone with you
- GO!
Long Beach, WA
Exploring Long Beach: A Hidden Gem in Washington
New to the game & looking for a road trip where you can knock out multiple oddities in one go? Long Beach, WA is the perfect place! Within minutes from each other, the following oddities can be found in this quaint little town.
World’s Longest Beach Sign (Bolstad St) is a state park, 28 miles in length has been corrected as World’s Longest Continuous Peninsula Beach because technically the World’s Longest Beach is in Brazil but HEY, standing under the arch that says it — makes it somewhat official, right?
Wooden Mermaid (1910 Pacific Ave) is 9-foot tall mermaid statue that was carved in the 1980s by local chainsaw artist Fred Bero. She originally placed in a little park next to the Long Beach Tavern but now is located right next to the Mermaid Inn sign.
World’s Largest Chopsticks (409 Pacific Ave) are hand painted 30-ft long chopsticks.
World’s Largest Spitting Clam (5th St SE) is just that. Insert 25 cents and it spits water right then & there. If you want to save yourself a quarter, just wait for the free spits on the hour.
World’s Largest Frying Pan (Pacific Ave) measures 14-ft long with the handle and 9’ 6” wide. Although it states World’s Largest, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Nonetheless, still an awesome photo-op. It is a Giant Frying Pan after all.
Orca Wooden Carving (Pacific Ave) is located in the same corner as the Giant Spitting Clam and the Giant Frying Pan so I would call this a BONUS.
Oddities and local adventures further solidified my belief that you don’t need to leave the country or the state in order to explore new places. I am always looking for new adventures to go on, no matter the day, time, weather and whoever is with me. Why not do the same?
If you want to keep up with Camille on her adventures, follow her on YouTube.
What are your stories about Long Beach? Share your adventures in the comment section below.
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Explore Washington State has been covering the real Washington for more than a decade. State parks, small towns, back roads, rest stops, and the people who make this place worth exploring. What started as a hyperlocal project covering individual communities grew into a full media project with more than 340 podcast episodes, a weekly newsletter with 3,800 subscribers, and coverage of all 146 Washington State Parks. The content here comes from people who have actually been to these places: locals, regulars, and lifelong Washington residents who care more about getting it right than getting clicks.
