Driving to the coast of Washington

One of the best things about living in a coastal state is you can wake up one morning and decide to spend the day at the ocean. I love me a day at the ocean. I often feel a call to visit the sea so it’s absolutely nothing for me to pack up my car and drive in any direction to the majestic pacific. Some days I make it a solo experience. Others, I happily bring my friends along.

My most recent trip, I was joined by two sister-friends and sorors. The night before we left, I made an epic roadtrip playlist featuring the women of R&B across generations. All the greats — Whitney, Aretha, Bey, En Vogue, SWV, Sade and more — were present. When we hit the road at 9:30am, we were pumped with java and jamming to some R&B hits. You know the ones you can sing word for word, every ad lib and every run? Yep, they were on the list.

Leaving Seattle, we headed south on I-5 past Tacoma and Olympia before we made a quick little detour to Hama Hama Oyster Farm for lunch. This is actually a tradition. Any time I head to the water, I stop at one of the PNW’s storied oyster farms to feast of fresh oysters, geoduck, and a host of other PNW seafood.

The Hama Hama Oyster Saloon is one of my favorite destinations. They have cute covered picnic tables scattered along the Hood Canal shore, a great selection of beers, wines and seasonal beverages, and of course the saloon serves up oysters, seafood dishes, charcuterie boards, soups and sandwiches. They have started requiring reservations for the saloon so if you’re going to make a trip out, be sure to plan ahead with a reservation. That caught us by surprise as we’ve never had to do reservations before. Thankfully, we found a spot at a table (these are all first come first serve) and ordered from the grill (no reservations required here). I will warn you that the menu at the grill is very limited so if you want the full experience, make a reservation.

After we dined on rosé, fresh oysters, grilled cheese sandwiches, and white beans and pork soup, we made our way to the water front for a mini photo shoot. You knew that was going to happen! We took selfies, usies, and a host of candids before loading back into the car and starting our final leg to the coast.

This trip we decided to skip the main beach and make a stop in Seabrook. This cute little coastal community was founded in the early 2000s as a planned vacation home community. You have to take steps down to the beach but once there, the sand and ocean stretch out in front of you for miles. It is breathtaking. I immediately forgot about all the stress I was feeling and understood why I needed this trip on this day at this time. I could inhale out here because the air was cleaner. Fresher. Fuller somehow. The salt air danced around us on the wind, lifting every ounce of heaviness I might have carried with me to the shore. I kept walking until my feet met the edge of the water. Once my toes were submerged in the wet sand with the water inching up my legs, I felt the healing, renewing power of the ocean. I was in my happy place.

I played in the water, prayed, meditated, and took time to surrender to and receive from the ocean. There is just something so mighty and powerful about being still at the seaside. I can’t exactly explain it, or rather, I won’t explain it. It is something that should be experienced. It’s spiritual. In that moment, the beach was my church while I communed with God.

As I mentioned, Seabrook is a cute little town, so after our time at the beach, we walked around the town. There are a variety of specialty shops ranging from candy to toy to clothing. There are also a handful of restaurants and an arcade. The action revolves around the main strip which is not far from the church, community center, and beach. The whole town is walkable. And this really makes for a great girls trip, baecation, or solocation. The best part is it’s only two-and-a-half hours away!

After grabbing some new candles and other little treats, we ended the day at the Stowaway Wine Bar. Sitting by the fire, we sipped wine and nibbled on flatbreads as we laughed and enjoyed girl talk. It was the absolute best end to a wonderful roadtrip with my girls.