Nicole Bales
The Westport Slough.
Continued from Page 18
Westport. McVay had a dream of stepping
off the daily grind and transforming the
run-down garage into a welcoming place
that served homestyle food to travelers and
locals alike.
When he fi rst saw the place, he was
overwhelmed at the prospect of clean-
ing up the years of neglect. The electrical
wires had been cut at the box, there was no
running water and layers of dust and bird
guano coated everything.
Yet somehow, McVay was not dissuaded.
He bought the property and came down
almost every weekend to work toward his
vision. This year, he devoted himself to the
café he calls the McVay Livery, after his
grandfather’s livery in Kansas.
The menu, though limited, is all fresh
and homemade. His chili is some of the best
around.
I asked him what had surprised him the
most about opening the café in this remote
little town.
“I’m surprised by all the people that
pop in that are from all over the world,” he
said. “Sometimes they struggle with limited
English but are happy with our offerings.”
I asked him if he knew much about the
town of Westport.
“I know it was started by a guy named
Captain John West. West came from Scot-
land via Canada. He ended up here around
1850. His great-great-grandson wrote a
book about the town. You can buy a copy of
it in the museum in Astoria,” he said.
“You know,” he continued, “if you cross
the street and walk up the hill, there’s an
old cemetery with the West family graves.
There’s a whole bunch of ‘em up there. You
can also see that people came from all over
back in the early days – Norway, Japan, you
name it. The one that got me though was a
marker that just said ‘Chinaman’ on it. No
name. No date. Just ‘Chinaman.’”
I was intrigued enough to drive back
to Westport and look for the “Chinaman”
marker.
Yellow leaves covered the cemetery. I
found some gravestones for people who had
come from Norway and one for someone
who came from Japan. I read markers for
children that had died over a hundred years
ago, but I did not fi nd the Chinaman.
After my tour of the cemetery, I looked
for other signs of what the old town had
been like when the 1935 service station was
built. I drove down by the water and found
the ruins of what had been a bustling saw-
mill – it had been rebuilt after several fi res.
The mill closed, and what was left burned
to the ground, leaving only concrete struc-
tures in its wake, now covered in moss and
lichen. Tall trees have grown where the mill
once stood.
I have been through Westport many
times just to take the ferry to Puget Island
for the farmers market or to Cathlamet.
I always thought of Westport as a pass-
through place. Now, I know it as a place
teeming with history and a place to warm
up with a hot cup of coffee and a cinnamon
roll.
Jennifer Nightingale checks out the Westport
Cemetery.
Jennifer Nightingale
Michael McVay is the owner of the McVay
Livery.
Long Beach Peninsula, Washington
Peninsula Arts Association
12th Annual FALL
OPEN STUDIO TOUR
NOVEMBER 29-30 & DECEMBER 1 FROM 10 - 4
See Art Demonstrations, Meet the Artists
in their Studios, and enjoy delicious refreshments
FREE!
Maps available from LB Visitors Bureau,
Ocean Park Chamber, and download
from beachartist.org
*Not all venues are open Sunday – see map for further details
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019 // 19