When the arctic ice starts to form, the grays whales start a two- to three-month trip south to the Baja Peninsula and Gulf of Mexico.  Around 19,000 whales migrate by the Long Beach Peninsula on their way to warmer waters and then a couple of months later, they cruise by again heading back north.  So they really don’t have a lot of vacation time for all that traveling, they say it’s the longest migration of  any mammal up to .

The gray whale is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds every year passing by the Long Beach, Washington Peninsula during the southern and northern migrations.  Gray whales can reach a length of 52 ft and can weigh about 35 tons and live a very long time, 50–70 years!  They are called “Gray” because they have gray patches and white mottling on dark skin and descend from filter-feeding whales that developed over 30 million years ago.

When the arctic ice starts to form, the grays whales start a two- to three-month trip south to the Baja Peninsula and Gulf of Mexico.  Around 19,000 whales migrate by the Long Beach Peninsula on their way to warmer waters and then a couple of months later, they cruise by again heading back north.  So they really don’t have a lot of vacation time for all that traveling.

This extensive gray whale migration all the way to Baja for such a brief stay reminds me of our several family trips during spring vacation when we would drive from Lake Oswego, near Portland all the way to Ensenada, in Baja California.  It’s a long drive in a station wagon with parents and two domineering older brothers for a very brief stay in Baja.  Of course, stopping at Disneyland and in San Diego were nice distractions away from the back seat of a Plymouth station wagon.  We’d spend a few days in Baja and then turn around and drive back to Portland.  Our family migration from Portland to Baja does have a vague but humorous similarity to the gray whales’.  The gray whales tend to breed and nurse their youngsters while in the warmer waters which certainly was not our goal while in Baja.

Our favorite place to watch for the gray whales is in Cape Disappointment State Park at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and the North Head Lighthouse.  From December until early February, we have seen the grays migrating south and then again in March, April and May when they return to the arctic.  That being said, we have seen gray whales in September just off the surf line from the stunning turnout on the Loop 100 in Cape D State Park.  There are some “permanent” gray whales living off the Washington Coast.  Just over a month ago a half dozen gigantic blue whales were spotted not far off the Long Beach Peninsula, perhaps 30 miles.  They were over 100 feet long!  Fishermen report in one day of summer fishing, seeing three or four varieties of whales including sperm whales and humpbacks or “humpies” off our coast.

Grays feed mostly on crustaceans which it eats by turning on its side (usually the right, resulting in loss of eyesight in the right eye for many older animals) and it scoops up sediments from the sea floor.  They eat by using their baleens which act like a sieve, to capture small sea animals, taken in along with sand, water and other materials they scoop up.  They feed in arctic waters during the summer and sometimes feed during its migration but mostly, when heading south, they rely on their fat reserves.  We have seen them seemingly rubbing themselves on the North Jetty near our favorite spot in the Cape D State Park.   They were feeding by scraping the rocks on the jetty.  So cool!

During migration, these giant cruisers average around 75 miles per day at an average speed of 5 mph.  The round trip of 9,900–14,000 miles is supposedly the longest annual migration of any mammal.  By late December to early January, they begin to arrive in the calving lagoons of Baja. Gestation for grays is 13.5 months so often mothers give birth in the safer waters of Baja and single females are seeking mates.  By mid-February to mid-March the whales have arrived in the lagoons and are nursing, calving and mating.

Throughout February and March, the first to leave the lagoons are males and females without new calves. Pregnant females and nursing mothers with their newborns are the last to depart, leaving only when their calves are ready for the journey, which is usually from late March to mid-April. Sometimes the mothers with new calves linger in warm waters into May.

A population of about 200 gray whales stay along the eastern Pacific coast from Canada to California throughout the summer which is why we occasionally see them in non-migration months.  They never leave to go to Alaskan waters. This summer resident group is known as the Pacific Coast Feeding Group.

Now that you know all about gray whales, drive to the Long Beach, Washington Peninsula to try to get a glimpse.  Right now you might see a few stragglers heading south and in a month or so you will see the gray whales returning from their brief stay in the warmer waters off the Baja Peninsula.  At Boreas Inn, we always have binoculars for you to borrow and helpful hints (Bill is great at spotting whales). During the busier times of migration, there are experts at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Cape D. State Park, just 10 minutes from Boreas Inn.

This is a perfect time of year to take your Valentine to the beach to watch for whales and sleep in the Boreas Inn’s lovely beds, dine by the fire on the best three-course B&B breakfast you’ve ever had, breathe the cool ocean breezes, be lulled by the gentle sound of the Pacific Ocean lapping on the beach and to relax.  Let your innkeepers, Susie Goldsmith and Bill Verner design your time away with great dinners at The Depot, Pelicano, the 42nd Street Cafe, The Lost Roo and Shelburne’s dining room and maybe an in-room massage!  Check our online specials or give us a call at 888-642-8069. We hope to see you soon!

Gravy:

• 1/2 pound bulk pork sausage
• 3/4 pound wild mushrooms, brushed clean, trimmed and coarsely chopped * (see note)
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/4cup flour
• 2 tablespoons fresh minced chive
• 2 cups half-and-half or milk
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons sherry (optional)

Biscuits:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons fresh minced chives

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly butter (or spray) a heavy baking sheet. For the biscuits, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to blend. Add the butter and pulse until it’s finely chopped and mixture has the consistency of coarse cornmeal. (You can also cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives.). Transfer the mixture to a bowl, add the milk and chives and stir until the batter is evenly mixed–or keep the ingredients in the processor and very gently pulse. Don’t over-mix or you will have tough, heavy biscuits!

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Press the dough into a circle about six inches across and one inch thick. Cut the dough into quarters, setting the biscuits on the baking sheet with one inch or so between them. Bake the biscuits until they are puffed and lightly brown on top, 12-15 minutes. Transfer them to a rack to cool.

Cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until cooked through and lightly browned, 12-15 minutes. Stir often and break up the sausage chunks as they cook. Spoon out and discard excess fat. Add the mushrooms and onion; increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender and any liquid they give off is evaporated, 5-7 minutes. Add the four and cook for 1-2 minutes longer, stirring so that the flour evenly coats the sausage and mushrooms. Slowly stir in the milk or half and half and cook until the gravy has thickened, 5-7 minutes. Stir in the chives and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add the sherry just before serving.

To serve, cut each of the biscuits in half horizontally and set the bottom halves on the individual plates. Generously spoon the mushroom-sausage gravy over, top with the top of the biscuit.  Sprinkle with paprika and garnish the plate with fresh herbs or edible flowers. Makes 4 servings.

*I prefer to use 1/2 pound dried porcini mushrooms reconstituted in a cup or so of water. Drain the mushrooms and save the liquid. Make the wild mushroom and sausage gravy the night before and then use the saved liquid to thin the gravy prior to heating and serving. The liquid adds more depth to the wild mushroom flavor of the dish.  You can double or triple the recipe and freeze.  Freeze extra unbaked biscuits and bake as needed. Delicious!

This contest in Long Beach awards cash to the winners.  We got only ribbons at Cannon Beach and maybe a printed certificate.  It didn’t matter.  The intensity of taking on a project with sand and sea water and coming up with a fine sculpture was reward enough. SandSations is a great event here in Long Beach, Washington and it’s growing every year.  You can experience the great hospitality at Boreas Inn, dine on our feast at breakfast time, walk our trail to the beach and watch the SandSations competition!  So come to the beach for a long weekend, July 21-24!

We love the 4th of July in Long Beach, Washington.  Well–sort of.  It is clearly the most exciting day of the year on the gorgeous Long Beach Peninsula.  We would love it more if all the people packed out what they pack in. (Our Boreas guests are always perfect–it’s the other 20,0000 guests on the Peninsula who aren’t so perfect!)  The Long Beach Peninsula is truly a place for amateur and professional pyromaniacs!

To address this post-explosive and partying beach clean-up problem on the 4th of July on the Long Beach Peninsula, there are now “Treasure Our Beach” volunteers at all the beach approaches, handing out trash bags and fliers encouraging everyone who comes to the beach to picnic and blow things up, to take their trash home with them!  We treasure our Treasure our Beach volunteers.  Thank you all!  If any of our readers would like to help in this effort, please let us know.  Shelly Pollock’s Grass Roots Garbage Gang will have hundreds of volunteers combing the beaches on July 5th to pick up after the 4th of July revelers and we are grateful to those volunteers also!   This is a big beach clean-up and we always need more volunteers!

Well first of all, on Saturday, the 2nd of July, to lead off the pyrotechnic displays, there is a stunning and sparkly professional fireworks show on the Port of Ilwaco over the harbor.  We like to reserve tables for our guests at Pelicano on Saturday at the Port of Ilwaco, before the 4th so that they have front row seats for the Ilwaco Fireworks display.  So in addition to wine pairings at Pelicano that evening, there are fireworks pairings also!  If you have dinner at Pelicano, you will also have a place to park right on the harbor for the fireworks. It is truly inspiring to see the glittering on the water and this display just whets the appetite for the total pyrotechnic craziness that is the true 4th of July in Long Beach, WA.  We’ve never seen anything quite like Long Beach on the 4th.  So there is a method to our madness–we like our guests to dine on the best for breakfast and dinner and watch the celebration of our nation’s independence!

We brag about our 28-mile long beach.  Well just about every foot of our very long beach will be filled with cars, families, picnics and We’d estimate–millions of dollars of fireworks that will blow your socks off.  This doesn’t include the very fine professional show that happens at dark on the ocean-end of the Bolstad Beach approach five blocks south of Boreas Inn.  It’s all FREE and quite insane.  Stay on the boardwalk or sit in the back yard of Boreas Inn, (the hot tub has a great view) and stay a safe distance from all the pyromaniacs and you will have a great time in Long Beach, Washington on the 4th of July, 2011.   I found a video taken by visitors to the Peninsula last year and you can get a little idea of what it’s like in front of Boreas Inn on the 4th.  Hang onto your sparklers, baby!

Grab our last rooms and watch the 2nd and 4th of July shows at Boreas Bed and Breakfast Inn on the lovely Long Beach Peninsula!

We want to cook you the perfect breakfast!

We promise you a beautiful, lazy weekend at Boreas if you decide to visit us.  We have room for you and would love to cook up a storm in the morning if it’s not stormy enough outside–and even if it is.  Don’ t listen to the weather guys–they are usually wrong, unless they tell you it’s going to be wonderful–because sunshine, rain, wind…it’s always wonderful here. The fireplaces beckon and we’re offering our Walk-in Special at our romantic getaway by the sea. $150 a night including our “perfectly plated” 3 course or more breakfast (plus tax of course).   We don’t want to be lonely–so come to Long Beach and we will fix you up with two fabulous dinners out at our fine dinner houses and promise you the most relaxing weekend with fireplaces blazing and our new hot tub beckoning.  We hope to see you soon!

Winter months are the best for viewing the surf from your car at Cape D.

It’s blowing hard in Long Beach, Washington. The weather is stormy, cold and for awhile this afternoon, the snowflakes were waltzing in all directions with the wind gusts directing their ballet!  It was a joyful dance.  Now it’s much warmer, 36,  and rainy with gusty winds up to 30 or so.  We had a relaxing holiday season with mellow guests and fireplaces crackling. Now it’s calm and far too peaceful, except for the weather.  So the inn is getting painted, a little at a time by Bill.  This weekend is looking quieter than most MLK weekends are.  Ask for our Walk-in Special if you are very last minute in making plans!  We are ready for guests…and we hope that they come!  We have a few rooms remaining for Valentine’s Day weekend, February 11,12  and President’s Day weekend 18, 19, 20.  I have been blocking out rooms for the Kite Festival and we have two upstairs rooms open for the week of August 14-21.  The Stargazer is open the 18,19,20 of August for a three night stay.   I know it’s far from now…but as they say, I’m just sayin’…!

PS.  Our newest restaurant and bar, The Lost Roo, has six large screen TV’s if you would like to watch football on New Years Day.  Your innkeepers will go with you!

Boreas Inn’s 14th Annual Crab Cake and Champagne Brunch Weekend!

There is a three-night minimum over New Years Eve weekend, you pick the days and we will provide you with first class service, fine gourmet breakfast cuisine, the most delicious fresh Dungeness Crab Cakes ever and incredible relaxation!