Ocean Shores is famous for Razor Clamming. So much so that we’ve been celebrating the little buggers at the Razor Clam Festival every third weekend in March for going on thirteen years. Cook-offs, wine tasting, music, special events, and seafood galore.
All good stuff!
Razor Clams
No big surprise that celebrating the razor clam has been a part of Ocean Shores history for eons. Starting with indigenous tribes and then as a main-stage celebration courtesy of Bob Ward, in 1967.
PR guy, Bob was all about fun and it just so happened Ocean Shores had a bumper crop of huge (seven inch) razor clams that year, which of course is a great reason to party.
Bob’s Ocean Shores Clam Prix was a clam digging contest that awarded the winner a $500 cash prize along with engraving their name on the event’s one-of-a-kind, 10-foot, custom made (probably the world’s largest) clam shovel.
Reportedly, over 200 spectators arrived to watch entrants race through the dunes towards the water and dig their 18 clam limit in the shortest time.
At the inaugural event in 1967 Robert Smith, a local logger, hit the jackpot when he sped through the course in four minutes, ten seconds. A year later, he did it again, making him the two-time Clam Prix champ of Ocean Shores. Go Robert!
Peanut Butter
Nobody should go hungry. Especially kids. The Green Lantern is a pub up the road in Copalis Beach. It has pretty great food and a relaxed, family friendly bar atmosphere. More importantly, it supports the Green Lantern Lunch program that serves food-insecure kids in areas like this where government sponsored year round free lunch programs can’t reach. Founded by an incredible woman with a big heart and supported by a community of donors and volunteers, the program delivers over 500 lunches a day.
Think about that for a minute!
Right now, Coast Communications in Ocean Shores is collecting peanut butter for the cause and you can always make a financial donation on the Green Lantern Lunch Program website.
Surprise, Surprise!
A couple weekends ago we took a field trip up to Taholah to see where Hwy 109 dead ends. We made stops along the way, picked up a couple old chainsaw carvings and had lunch at the Green Lantern Pub on the way home.
I hadn’t eaten there in a long time but it was still familiar. TVs were tuned into football, pull tabs at the bar, a very strange, interactive picture in the women’s bathroom that I’ll let you discover for yourself, and the French Dip was the best I’ve had around here so far.
It’s funny how in a place like that the TV sucks you in even if you don’t love football. But I guess it didn’t keep my attention long enough. I started looking around – above the TV, a big red “R.” Typical bar art. Above the R, some sort of tool – maybe it belonged on a farm or maybe a logging implement? It was old, that’s for sure, with a long wooden handle and a metal shaft.
Oh-Em-Gee
You see that? I stared at that thing for quite a while before I realized it was that damn oversized clam shovel from the 1967 Clam Prix! And then I was obsessed with finding out if I was right… so I asked and sure enough – it is!
No big neon sign pointing at it, not behind museum glass, no story on the menu or any mention. It was like finding a hidden treasure… or seeing a celebrity – in person!
So, friends channel your inner Bob Ward, pack your bags for an adventure to the Washington Coast and stop by the Green Lantern Pub. While you’re there, grab some grub and admire the World’s Largest Clam Shovel for yourself!
The French dip is G-O-O-D!
And don’t forget the peanut butter!
#WhyOceanShores
