A Very Cool Place

Yesterday I dropped into a place I've been driving past for years. I'm glad I stopped.

The Moby Dick Hotel and Oyster Farm is located on a beautiful property on Willapa Bay. The small hotel has a long history.In the late 1920's, a railroad man named Theo Russell arrived at the Clamshell Railroad train station in Nahcotta. He fell in love with and married a local woman named Margaret, and built the Moby Dick Hotel for his new bride in 1929.

During World War II, fearing potential land invasion, the Coast Guard billeted at the Moby Dick and constantly patrolled the beaches on horseback. In 1948, a night at the Moby Dick Hotel was the prize for Queen for a Day, a popular radio show.

Here's the link to their website: http://www.bbonline.com/wa/mobydick/

Today the hotel is an example of how one can use renewable energy, successfully grow organically and provides a unique get-away opportunity. Don't look for a high tech environment, but do expect a relaxing atmosphere and an opportunity to disconnect.

The owners are also oyster growers raising some 3 million dollars in the shell fish out in the bay which serves as part of the hotel's backyard. They don't agree with the state or other major oyster growers about the dangers of spartina, an invasive plant species found along the shores and intertidal mud flats on the bay. It's thought spartina made its way here about 100 years ago when it was a popular packing material for shipments. I've been told for years that unless controlled this grass would choke out the oyster industry as it takes over the beds. The Moby Dick Hotel people told me that chemicals used by the state to control the weed has seriously damaged the bay. They also contend that spartina produces it's own chemical that acts as a deterrent to naturally occuring Vibro which kills oysters. They say a recent vibro outbreak was the direct result of a spartina eradication program on the bay. They claim that spartina is good for oyster reproduction.

On another front, the owners say they think the state should charge a fee to oyster growers who use state owned submersible lands for their oyster beds. Apparently that isn't happening and could mean millions of dollars for state coffers to help support helping programs at a time when dollars are drying up.

The Moby Dick Hotel and Oyster farm is far more than meets the eye.