Can a place where there really isn’t that much to do actually be the perfect place for a family vacation?

Today we’re heading to one of those places our family has gone back to again and again: Westport, Washington.

And honestly, if you asked me to make a giant list of things you absolutely HAVE to do in Westport, I probably couldn’t.

But that’s kind of the point.

Westport is slower. It’s quieter. It’s a working fishing town that also happens to have some really beautiful, though cold, beaches. It doesn’t feel as touristy as some of the other towns along the Washington coast, and sometimes we’ve gone out to the beach and practically had the whole thing to ourselves.

And we love that.

So today I want to tell you why Westport became one of our family’s places, what we actually do when we spend five days there, and whether a vacation where you don’t really do that much might be exactly what your family needs.

HOW WE FOUND WESTPORT

We actually ended up in Westport for the first time because someone Brent worked with offered us the use of their condo.

That was it. We didn’t have some grand plan to discover our favorite Washington beach town. We had access to a condo, so we went.

And then we kept going back.

If you’re not familiar with Westport, it’s on the Washington coast at the mouth of Grays Harbor. If you’re flying into the area, Sea-Tac is the closest major airport, and Westport is about a two-hour-and-fifteen-minute drive from there.

If you’re familiar with Ocean Shores, Westport is basically across Grays Harbor from it. But the two feel very different to me.

Ocean Shores feels much more like a tourist destination. It’s busier. There are more restaurants, more touristy shops and more things specifically designed for visitors.

Westport still feels like a fishing village.

Yes, there are things for visitors to do. There are shops and restaurants and vacation rentals. But there’s also a working marina where fishing boats are coming and going, and commercial fishermen are bringing in their catch.

And there is something so beautiful to me about a marina filled with working boats.

I love walking along the marina and knowing that these boats aren’t just sitting there looking picturesque. People are working on them. They’re going out to sea. They’re coming back with fish.

It feels real.

OUR WESTPORT TRADITION

Over the years, Westport became one of those places that was just part of our family.

For a long time, this was where we went for Trooper’s birthday. He has since informed us that he would like to go other places for his birthday, which is fair.

But for years, Westport was it.

And actually, Westport was part of our family before Trooper was.

Before he was born, we took our babymoon there.

I love the ocean, and at that point I was about eight months pregnant. Our entire world was about to be turned upside down, as babies tend to do, and the idea of sitting on a not-so-warm Washington beach and just watching the waves and the birds sounded pretty wonderful.

So that’s what we did.

I also went beachcombing, although beachcombing at eight months pregnant is a little different.

I had to be selective.

You see something interesting in the sand and you have to stop and think, "Do I like that enough to bend all the way down and pick it up?"

Because once you’re eight months pregnant, that's a commitment.

THE BEACH IS REALLY WHY WE GO

And all these years later, the beach is still the biggest reason we go to Westport.

We normally rent an Airbnb somewhere near the water and stay for about five days. We usually end up on the beach at Westport Light State Park or somewhere farther south, depending on where we’re staying.

We have one of those wagons with the giant wheels that can actually make it through sand, and we load it up with our chairs and the kites and everything else we think we’ll need.

Then we basically set up shop.

Brent usually starts flying kites while Trooper and I go beachcombing.

And beachcombing with Trooper is one of my favorite things because he is curious about EVERYTHING.

He’ll find sand dollars. Striped rocks. Shells. Whatever happens to catch his attention.

We’re pretty sure he found petrified wood one time.

But rocks are definitely his favorite.

He’ll come back with his pockets absolutely bulging with rocks.

And after we’ve wandered for a while, we’ll usually head back and join Brent with the kites.

That’s our day.

There’s no reservation.

There’s no attraction we have to get to at a certain time.

There’s no pressure to accomplish Westport.

And I think that’s one of the reasons we love it so much.

THE OCTOPUS KITE

Although the kites have not always gone according to plan.

When Trooper was about four, he had an octopus kite that he LOVED.

One day we were out flying it, and he was wearing Crocs. Apparently something about his shoe was bothering him, so I watched him put the kite handle down so he could fix his shoe.

And I knew immediately what was about to happen.

I just wasn't close enough to stop it.

The kite took off.

Without Trooper.

We started running after this octopus kite, but it got pulled into this thicket that went up a hill.

We could SEE it.

We just couldn't GET to it.

And Trooper was devastated.

But that's not even the worst part.

We eventually went back to our Airbnb.

And from the Airbnb...

we could still see the kite.

It was stuck in the bushes across this gully. There was a cliff, so there was absolutely no way for us to get over there and rescue it.

We just had to look at it.

And because it was an octopus kite with a face, it basically sat over there smiling at us.

Taunting us.

Poor four-year-old Trooper had to look across the gully at his lost kite smiling back at him.

Sometime during the night, it either blew away or got so tangled in the bushes that we couldn't see it anymore.

We never saw it again.

Brent and I still think this story is hilarious.

Trooper does not find it nearly as funny.

WESTPORT IS A FISHING TOWN

Of course, kites aren't what Westport is known for.

Fishing is a huge part of this town.

Westport has a commercial fishing industry as well as a large charter fleet, with charters going out for salmon, halibut, rockfish, lingcod and albacore tuna.

Brent and my dad have actually gone salmon fishing out of Westport, and they caught salmon and had a great time.

But there was one other thing they caught a lot of...

Seasickness.

Not theirs, thankfully.

Apparently it was a pretty rough day out on the water, and quite a few people on the charter were hanging over the side of the boat.

Brent and my dad still joke that everyone was "chumming" for the fish.

So if you decide to go charter fishing in Westport and you tend to get seasick...

Maybe prepare for that.

Trooper really wants to go sometime, so I'm sure eventually we'll have another Westport fishing story to tell.

WANDERING THE MARINA

When we aren't on the beach, one of our favorite things to do is just wander around the marina area.

And "wander" really is the right word.

The shops change, so we don't necessarily have a checklist of places we go every time.

Brent does usually want to stop at the kite shop on the dock and see if there's another kite he needs to add to his collection.

And apparently there is always another kite he needs to add to his collection.

We also usually need taffy.

Granny Hazel's has been in Westport since 1962, and this is one of those stops that's become part of Westport for us.

And if we're eating out, we like Aloha Alabama BBQ.

We've tried different things there, but the thing we always get is the cornbread.

Get the cornbread.

Otherwise, we actually don't eat out much when we're in Westport.

We usually rent a place with a kitchen, bring food with us, and Brent does his magic and somehow turns whatever we brought into really good meals.

Which is another reason staying for five days doesn't have to turn into an expensive restaurant trip.

THE ART FESTIVAL

We also tend to visit toward the end of summer, and twice we've been there for the Westport Art Festival.

It's a juried arts and crafts festival, so the things being sold are actually made by the artists.

And there is a lot of quirky, interesting stuff.

One artist we've really liked makes glass wind chimes, and we've bought some of those.

It's one of those events that fits Westport really well.

You wander around. You see what people have made. You find something weird or beautiful that you didn't know you needed.

Then you probably go back to the beach.

THE LIGHTHOUSE THAT MOVED...SORT OF

Another thing you'll see in Westport is the Grays Harbor Lighthouse.

Now, I am not a person who sees a lighthouse with 135 stairs and thinks, "You know what sounds fun? Climbing that."

So we have visited it.

We have looked up.

Other people can do the climbing.

But what I think is really interesting about this lighthouse isn't just that it's the tallest lighthouse in Washington at 107 feet.

It's how far it is from the ocean.

Because when you're standing there, you might wonder why someone built a lighthouse so far inland.

They didn't.

The shoreline has changed dramatically since the lighthouse was built, so what once made perfect sense as the location for a lighthouse now looks strangely far from the water.

It's one of those little bits of history I love because you can actually stand there and SEE the landscape changing over time.

CHECK THE TIDE BEFORE BOTTLE BEACH

Now, there are a couple of places around Westport that have not exactly become family favorites.

One is Bottle Beach State Park.

We went there expecting...

a beach.

Which seems reasonable.

What we failed to do was check the tide.

So when we got there, there were basically a couple of feet of beach left to walk on.

It was a little underwhelming.

But in Bottle Beach's defense, we weren't really approaching it the right way.

Bottle Beach is known much more for its tidal flats and bird watching. More than 130 species of birds have been recorded there, so if you're there during a migration and you plan around the tide, I could see it being really cool.

If you're just looking for a traditional beach day?

That's probably not where I'd send you.

So learn from us.

Check the tide.

AND THEN THERE WERE THE FISH HEADS

And then there's Grayland.

We went down to Grayland State Park one time to see if we liked the beach there.

You can drive out onto parts of the beach, and we thought that sounded convenient.

Except the sand was NOT packed down.

Even with four-wheel drive, we were driving along thinking, "This may have been a terrible decision."

And then we started noticing birds.

A lot of seagulls.

And I think a turkey vulture or two.

Which probably should have been a clue.

Because then we came upon...

fish heads.

So many fish heads.

I would guess there were around 50 of them.

We assume fishermen dumped them there, but we don't actually know.

All I know is we found a whole bunch of fish heads on the beach surrounded by some VERY happy birds.

So Grayland did not win us over that day.

We'll leave that beach for the vultures.

YOU MIGHT GET A SUNSET

One thing Westport does extremely well, when the Washington weather decides to cooperate, is sunsets.

We usually get at least one spectacular sunset while we're there.

But this IS the Washington coast.

Sometimes you're standing in exactly the right place at exactly the right time and the entire sky is...

clouds.

Just clouds.

So I can't promise you a sunset.

But when you get one, it's worth it.

SO WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FIVE DAYS?

At this point you may be wondering how we possibly spend five days in Westport.

And the answer is...

We don't do that much.

That's why we stay five days.

We aren't trying to squeeze Westport into a schedule.

We'll sleep in.

Have breakfast.

Pack up the wagon and go to the beach.

Brent flies kites while Trooper and I wander around looking at rocks.

Maybe we'll wander through the marina later.

We'll get some taffy.

Maybe we'll go to the art festival if it's happening.

We'll eat whatever Brent makes for dinner.

And if the clouds cooperate, we'll watch the sun go down over the Pacific.

Then we'll get up and do some version of it again the next day.

And I love it.

IS WESTPORT RIGHT FOR YOUR FAMILY?

So here's what I would say if you're thinking about taking your family to Westport.

If your family wants a vacation where you have an itinerary packed from morning until night, I don't know that I would choose Westport.

There just isn't that much to do.

And I mean that as a compliment.

If your kids need rides and attractions and a new activity every hour, you might prefer somewhere like Ocean Shores.

But if your family is happy wandering...

If your kid can spend an hour examining rocks...

If you like flying kites, fishing, walking along the water, wandering through little shops, watching working boats come into the marina, sitting in a beach chair and doing absolutely nothing for a while...

Westport might be your kind of place.

WHY WE KEEP COMING BACK

I think that's ultimately why Westport has stuck with us.

We didn't discover it because it was on some list of the best family vacation destinations.

Someone offered us a condo.

We went.

And we liked it enough to go back.

And then we went back again.

Eventually I was sitting on that beach eight months pregnant, enjoying a few quiet days before our lives changed forever.

Then we brought that baby back.

He became a four-year-old who lost an octopus kite.

Then a kid who spent his birthdays there.

And now he's the teenager walking the same beaches with pockets full of rocks.

The beach hasn't really changed for us.

We have.

And I think sometimes those are the places that end up meaning the most.

They aren't necessarily the places where you saw the biggest attraction or had the most perfectly planned vacation.

They're just the places where your family has spent time together.

Westport is one of those places for us.

And maybe that's the answer to the question we started with.

Can a place where there isn't that much to do actually be the perfect place for a family vacation?

For our family, absolutely.

And maybe your family has a place like that too. Or maybe you haven't found it yet. Either way, I think there's something to be said for occasionally choosing a trip where the goal isn't to see and do everything. Sometimes you just need a place where you can slow down, spend time together, and come home with a few good stories. And, in our case, probably a few too many rocks.