In large part, at least for me, pickin’ is about preserving the past and the Hidden Coast Scenic Byway from Hoquiam to Taholah is full of interesting history and folklore. Here you’ll find ghost forests, shipwrecks, and the stories from people who made their livings on one of the last frontiers as loggers, clammers, fisher-people, artisans, and entrepreneurs. From 1960’s newspaper articles to deep dives into the history of chainsaw woodcarving (which was seeded here) and everything in-between we hope you enjoy this little slice of the world!
News from the Hidden Coast Scenic Byway
Secrets from 1977; Finding Glass Floats on Grays Harbor Beaches
From time to time, we find and buy small hoards of glass floats for the shop. They sell fast and visitors are always amazed when we get into conversations about the abundance of glass floats on Grays Harbor beaches still being found, to this day. If you know when and...
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Talking Crows on the Washington Coast? Who said that!
Over the summer, I was chatting with Boaz Backus, the chainsaw carver guy who built Ocean City Marketplace in 1995, and son of woodcarving pioneer (and my friend) Judy McVay. Boaz doesn’t live along the Washington Coast anymore but his legacy lives on in stories; about saving Dorothy Anderson’s...
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Signs are Art: The Silent Impact of Judy McVay
My dad, Jim Mason (1943 – 2014) was a self-taught cartoonist who practiced drawing Mickey Mouse and other characters in the margins of his homework starting in Kindergarten. Later, he put himself through graduate school as a sign painter and eventually he became one of only a handful of Art...
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Dead Crabs all Over the Beach at Pacific Beach & Moclips
All sorts of people wander into the shop on any given day and many of them ask interesting questions and we get into conversations about history, pickin‘ and the North Beach. But recently I was asked an odd question and surprisingly — I knew the answer! A couple came, shopped...
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Beachcombing on the Hidden Coast
Beachcombing on the Hidden Coast; a favorite pastime for locals and tourists alike, has been going on for as long as things have been washing up! On the Washington Coast we have some great examples of salvaging items from the beach such as Dorothy Anderson’s Tourist Harbor. Crafted from reclaimed...
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Relocating to the Hidden Coast Scenic Byway – What you Need to Know
After relocating to the Hidden Coast Scenic Byway, two years ago (from Tacoma) we’ve learned a lot about the area, and especially what it’s like to live and run a business here. As we grind through our first Covid-19 summer on the Washington Coast, it’s abundantly clear that lots of...
Read MoreDorothy Anderson Cabin, The Story of a Girl Picker
A little backstory on the historic Dorothy Anderson cabin at Seabrook. Dorothy Antonnette Anderson In 1926, at the age of 19, Dorothy Antonnette Anderson, an immigrant from Nessa, Norway, along with the thousands of other city dwellers, poured into towns along the Hidden Coast Scenic Byway to take a break...
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Antique Shops and Thrift Stores on the Hidden Coast Scenic Byway
Not sure about you, but when I leave town a favorite pastime is going to local antique shops and thrift stores. Big surprise, I know. 🙂 And to find them, I do exactly what you do… Google Search. The problem with that is a lot of times all sorts of...
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