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!

Come Watch the Fireworks from our Hottub!

Personally, New Years’ Eve isn’t my favorite holiday.  I think of doing taxes, of what I haven’t accomplished this year, what I need to accomplish next year… but every year, our guests jolly me into appreciating the holiday more than I would were we not innkeepers. After all, 2012 sounds more well-rounded than 2011.  I like even numbers. THERE WILL BE FIREWORKS at the beach, in view from Boreas, on New Years Eve!! I almost forgot!

The Christmas tree is still fresh and lovely for some reason (Bill takes good care of the tree!) and we haven’t tired of the decorations so prettily placed by our decorating crew the first weekend in December. We had a great time decorating this year. This year was extra special with a sweet blend of family and beloved guests who are now family too. We are hoping that we fill up for New Years’ weekend. We are always filled up after Christmas but not this year! Groupon and Living Social may be the reason—people shopping for bargains.  Frankly, for what Boreas offers, we are a bargain! But we’re offering the Carpe Diem, Walk-in Special rate starting today. $150 for luxury and pampering! Even the cottage is open this weekend.

Our guest list so far is a fun one and Odell will be here to help us dismantle the decorations if we can work around our desire to watch football…at Mark and Helen’s Lost Roo, of course!  Go DUCKS!  Everyone is invited to take DOWN the decorations with us and go to The Roo!

Fresh Dungeness Crabcakes and Champagne on Sunday morning, New Years’ Day, sounds pretty perfect for one of our FOUR courses, and Bill will do beautiful work on the crab cakes as always and I will bake pastries, whip up sauces and make the fruit entrée glow so that consuming all that vitamin C seems very sexy.  Well…it is! But I hope that if it’s going to be cloudy this week end, that it is also stormy so we can feel comforted by the fireplaces.  But I also hope that there is a break in the weather so we can go for a fresh walk to start the New Year. We have been fortunate with fine weather this fall.

Come stay with us this weekend at the prettiest inn on the Long Beach Peninsula—featherbeds, down comforters, fireplaces, fine and fancy breakfast fare, freshly baked brownies, and the incredibly-wonderful-almost-brand-new hot tub for two with a little aromatherapy—mint and eucylptus, to soften your skin. Boreas Bed & Breakfast Inn is posh but hip, fun, but mellow and very food-crazy with a great location on the beach in Long Beach Washington.  Relaxation is the best way to start the next banner year—2012!  Happy New Year!

Of course, one of the most scenic parts of the Park are the two lighthouses, The North Head Lighthouse and the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.  The North Head is easily explored by parking in the lot and walking down to the lighthouse on a road alongside the rock face overlooking the Pacific Ocean and just north of Benson Beach.  This is a place to linger.  All day.  The waves, huge in the winter but omnipresent, are hypnotic. The color of the water seems to change from blue to green to gray in a storm, but always a stunning contrast with the white tips of the peaks of the waves.  Whale watching from the North Head is often rewarding.  We look for the clumps of kelp offshore and occasionally see the spouts. The pelicans, eagles, many varieties of gulls, terns and a huge array of seabirds make this spot make for some of the best birdwatching in the West. Cape D lighthouse is a hike from the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center (in winter and anytime, the best view of the Mouth of the Columbia and the jetties), around Dead Man’s Cove.  Our guests come from around the world to see these two lighthouses, within miles of Boreas!

I mentioned Serious Pizza!  Well–seriously now, take the combination of a wood-fired pizza oven, burning cherry and apple, the “00 fino” flour imported from Italy, imported cheeses, meats from a great Seattle butcher chop and a location at Waikiki Beach at Cape D (as we call it), and you have not only the recipe for the best wood-fired pizza in Southwest Washington, but a spectacular setting near the amphitheater at Cape D State Park.  With eagles flying overhead (perhaps looking hungrily at your pizza-or maybe at your dog) and osprey circling around with crows and gulls harrassing them, you have an experience you will never forget.  Our favorite pizza is, you guessed it, “The Boreas”–the vegetarian pizza with garlic olive oil base, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives and pepperoni.  How special is it to have a pizza named after Boreas Inn?  State Parks built Jim and Chi, the purveyors of this fine pizza, a permanent structure so that visitors to the park, including campers staying in the 240 campsites, can have pizza!  We call ahead to avoid waiting perhaps an hour for the most memorable pizza. It’s truly Neopolitano–a thin delectable crust and just the right amount of cheese for a non-guilt producing light meal.  They also have wood-fired oysters and mouth-watering wood-fired wings.  Homemade ice cream and brownies….oh my!  Watch for Jim and Chi’s Serious Pizza to come soon to the town of Long Beach!

I have attached a very fine video about Cape Disappointment State Park to this blog!  It stars a few of our favorite State Park employees and some of the best scenery this area has to offer.  The Park is located 10 minutes from Boreas Inn.  We are soooo lucky to have Cape D State Park in our backyard.  So come to Boreas Inn and we will direct you to our favorite park, Cape Disappointment!  Enjoy the YouTube about Cape D.!

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!

Long Beach, Washington will open for razor clam digging for FOUR days at noon March 19!  Dan Ayres, WDFW coastal shellfish manager, advises prospective diggers to pay particular attention to the shift in digging times during this month’s razor-clam opening.   “It gets a little tricky scheduling digs at this time of year, but the goal is to arrange openings during the best clam tides,” Ayres said. “The split schedule also provides an opportunity for back-to-back digs the evening of Saturday, March 19, and the morning of Sunday, March 20.”

Digging days and low tides for March are:

• Saturday, March 19, 7:04 p.m. (-0.1 ft); Long Beach
• Sunday, March 20, 7:36 a.m. (-0.5 ft); Long Beach
• Monday, March 21, 8:23 a.m. (-0.9 ft); Long Beach

·         Tuesday March 22, 9:12 a.m. (-1.0 ft); Long Beach   So get your clam digging license, required if you are age 15 or older and come down and dig some razor clams.   Ayres reminds diggers that WDFW is tentatively planning another razor-clam opening April 7-9 until noon each day at Long Beach and Twin Harbors if marine toxin tests show the clams are safe to eat. Licenses expire on March 31,  so you need to make sure, for the April digs coming up, that you get a new license.

It was a beautiful, calm day of razor clamming at Beard's Hollow

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!

Valentine’s Weekend calls upon not just us, but also our  restauranteurs, to “pony up”  with the most wonderful special Valentine’s weekend menu’s.  Sample the Shelburne Inn Restaurant’s menu–itself a beautiful piece, not to mention the cuisine that completes their package!  Take a peek at the hotlink and then let us know if you would like us to book you a table at The Shelburne Inn Restaurant over Valentine’s or President’s Day weekend!

Valentine's Day at Boreas Inn will be the highlight of your February!

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’…!