Grayland, Washington

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BIG BEACH IN A SMALL TOWN: Grayland has a the feel of a town time forgot, and that's just the way the locals like it. Oh, did we mention the beach?

SHORT CUTS

"This is the coolest hometown atmosphere since Mayberry," one local was heard to say. Well, who are we to argue? In fact, if you look hard enough, you just might see Aunt Bee at one of the local restaurants. Nope, they don’t make small towns like this anymore.

Grayland sits at the heart of the Cranberry Coast – a community that spreads from the shores of the Pacific, through the cranberry bogs to the hills that overlook it all. Residential streets and rural farm roads lead toward a central business district that served as a gathering place for the cranberry farmers who nurtured a native berry into a crop that today fuels the likes of Ocean Spray's drinks and snacks.

Life slows down a bit here. And if you ask most locals, that means it moves at just about the right speed. There’s time to think, time to take in the majesty of the Pacific Ocean, time to listen to the waves, walk on the endless beach, enjoy the sunset. Time, even, to watch cranberries grow.

In the days before European settlers, when the Lower Chehalis and Shoalwater Bay Indians were the only humans here, the lowlands between Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay were covered with thick undergrowth. The soggy earth quaked at the slightest footfall, and people were not apt to venture into the area between the coastal dunes to the west and the sand and clay bluffs to the east.

As it does today though, life centered on the water – the ocean and the rivers. The native people fished, collected and hunted the abundant wildlife, including salmon, oysters and sea mammals. Many of the native plants, including the cranberry, were harvested for food and medicine.

Settlers with an eye for the cranberry’s future soon began to clear ground and cultivate the native fruit that loves the rich, wet and sandy ground between the coast and bluffs. Cranberry farmers eventually built the Grayland Community Hall, a place for their scattered community to gather. This historic structure remains a centerpiece in the community.

Grayland takes its name from Capt. Robert Gray, the first American to circumnavigate the world. His voyage brought him to Grays Harbor during a 1792 expedition. Part of the town was formerly an Indian village named nuwi'lus.

In Grayland today, you’ll find a handful of small businesses that cater to the traveler – including gift shops, stores, restaurants, a bank, a salon, motels, cabins and beach homes to rent – not to mention a good measure of peace and quiet to enjoy. Peace and quiet, that is, until it’s time for one of the community’s many annual festivals, most of which are centered at the hall, and which bring visitors by the car-, van-, and RV-load to the area to do such things as show off their driftwood finds, celebrate the cranberry harvest, tap their feet to bluegrass music or fly kites at the beach.

Of course, aside from "Cranberry," two of the biggest words around here are Beach Access. Just follow the signs and find yourself on an expanse of sandy beach that opens to a whole new and wonderful world where the coast meets the mighty Pacific. Here the beach never seems to end, and time, well, time is kept mostly by the leisurely roll of the tides.

Historical information adapted from an essay by Bill Ripley. Additional reporting by D.H. Magnus