Alligators and Kangaroos . . .

After coffee and bagels this morning today was pretty much a ‘touristy’ stuff day.

It started about noon with a walk down to the beach almost a half mile away thru the grass land.

Beach Walk 1

Beach Walk 2

It’s a long, flat beach leading down to the water’s edge

Beach Walk 3

Beach Walk 4

Beach Walk 5

I saw this barnacle-encrusted rope laying on beach, then on looking closer I thought it was a power cable.

Seaweed

But when I picked it up, I discovered it’s a type of rope seaweed. The clump of green leaves is connected to that large knot. The rope floats vertically with the clump of leaves near the surface and the rest of the rope dangling below.

Seaweed 2

About 2 pm we all headed out to Jack’s Country Store about 10 miles north in Ocean Park.

Jack's Country Store

This place is really something. It’s been in business since 1885, and is the oldest retail business in Washington. A combination of old-time hardware store and grocery store, they stock over 200,000 items, from kerosene lamps to I Love Lucy lunchboxes to Radio Flyer wagons to fresh seafood. It has been called the largest hardware store in the world.

This is a place you could spend days in, just walking the aisles, checking out all the neat stuff you haven’t seen for years.

I would like to go back just to see all the stuff I probably missed the first time.

Finally coming back to Long Beach, we next stopped in at Marsh’s Free Museum, a cross between a tacky seaside gift shop with shells, live hermit crabs, and saltwater taffy,

Marsh's

Marsh's 1

to a freak show with a two-headed calf,

TwoHeaded Calf

and Jake, the Alligator Man,

Marsh's Jake

to a museum with stuffed animals, and old coin-operated machines,

Marsh's 2

including this 1937 World Series Baseball machine that still works.

Marsh's 3

Oh, and they also sell funny hats.

Moose Hat 2

By the time we left Marsh’s, everyone was hungry so we decided to check out The Lost Roo, as in kangaroo.

lostroo

Though primarily a sports bar, their food is excellent, and the good online reviews were very accurate.

Terry had a Grilled Portobello Mushroom sandwich, while Jan had Fish and Chips Tempura with lemon fennel slaw. And Nick and I both had the Roasted Prime Rib Dip sandwiches, which were delicious. This is one place we all agreed was worth a repeat visit.

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Thought for the Day:

"I’m not lying to you. I don’t tell lies anymore, I’ve given it up….The field is overrun with amateurs…." – Mark Twain

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