10
community
october4
2018
Sou’wester Lodge on the Long Beach Peninsula continued from front page
the bridge into Washington,
and onto the Long Beach
Peninsula where we checked
into the Sou’wester Lodge.
We spent the night in The
Picnic Trailer, a 1953 Spar-
tan Royal Mansion, that
featured a music lounge area
complete with turntable,
speakers, and a collection
of vinyl albums, plus an
outdoor patio and stone fire-
place. The bed was comfort-
able, it had a small kitchen/
dining area we didn’t really
use, and a very small bath-
room with toilet and shower.
Each of the trailers
is outfitted with retro décor
and tastefully appointed, with its own
kitschy charm and unique vibe. The
Lodge has a large common room with
coffee set out in the morning (although
not until 9:30 am - in the true bohemian
style the place is known for), an honor
system store/gift shop where you can
Left: The Olney Saloon on Highway 202
Above: The vintage Picnic Trailer at Sou’wester Lodge
purchase food, snacks, drinks, and local-
ly produced arts and crafts, and a large
vinyl album collection you can play in
the Lodge or in some trailers.
The Lodge building was origi-
nally built by Oregon Senator Henry
W. Corbett in 1892 as a vacation home.
It was opened to the public as a lodge
in the 1940s and later a mix of travel
trailers were added as addi-
tional accommodations. Six years ago
the property was purchased by a trans-
planted Portlander, Thandi Rosenbaum,
who has added artist-in-residence pro-
grams, a small digital recording studio,
and wellness programs.
Elsewhere on the grounds are
a Finnish sauna, a Thrifty Trailer with
used books, clothes, and more, an art
gallery trailer with changing exhibits,
bicycles you can borrow, a pavilion for
larger group events and activities, and
an outdoor kitchen for campers. There
are health spa services, like massages
and yoga, available, and the grounds
often host live music on weekends,
educational and wellness retreats and
workshops, and private events like
family reunions and weddings.
The laid back atmosphere and
rustic accommodations made our visit
an enjoyable and relaxing get-away. I
wish we could have stayed longer.
The Sou’wester is located just
blocks from the beach so you can take
a relaxing stroll; there is a full access
road so you can drive your vehicle out
onto the beach – apparently a favorite
pastime of Peninsula visitors. There is
also access here to the Lewis and Clark
Discovery Trail, an eight-mile paved
trail that parallels the coast from Cape
Disappointment State Park north to the
town of Long Beach, with an arm ex-
tending east to Ilwaco. The trail mean-
ders through sand dunes, grasses, and
trees before rising up onto a boardwalk
and offering views of the ocean. Just up
Highway 103, still in Seaview, is North
Jetty Brewing, a small brewpub with
tasty beers that seemed popular with
both locals and tourists. The town of
continued on page 11
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