As we entered Long Beach from the south on our way to the RV park, the first thing that caught my eye was a pink pig and a black-and-white spotted cow floating high up in the air. As we got closer, I saw that they were big windsocks, belonging to Ocean Kites, one of the many colorful kite stores in town. With its murals, kite and gift shops, and many pocket parks, Long Beach remains bright and upbeat even on overcast days, which, truthfully, were few and far between during our stay. It lives up to its self-described name, Fun Beach, and only a very jaded child would not find fun stuff to do here.
The arch on Bolstad Street’s beach access proclaims World’s Longest Beach. The maker of the arch exaggerated, or perhaps in the interests of tourism, ignored longer 90-mile beaches in Australia, 75-mile Cox’s Bazar Beach in Bangladesh, and a 55-mile beach in New Zealand. Now, as to whether Long Beach is or isn’t the longest uninterrupted natural beach in the northern U.S. – I don’t care! It’s undeniably LONG and it’s a GREAT BEACH! Why? You can jog up or down the beach as if in a dream and it never seems to end. Frequent wind makes it optimal for kite-flying, Long Beach has hosted Washington State International Kite Festival for more than two decades during the third week in August, and Sandsations’ sandcastle building competitions, during the third week in July (the week before we came), have broken several Guinness world records for tallest creations in this art form. The World Kite Museum and Hall of Fame is in a small building downtown. They were supposed to have moved to a roomier space by Summer 2005, but perhaps this fell through. We decided to save our $5 admission for another time. 
Jake, the Alligator Man: I don’t go out of my way looking for side show curiosities, but Marsh’s Museum in Long Beach is an example of this peculiar tradition. I went inside mainly to see Jake the (obviously fake) Alligator Man. Jake’s hyped in tourist brochures and magazine articles, and even on area billboards. He’s the mummified head and torso of a long-deceased monkey seamlessly attached to the tail of a similarly defunct alligator. He’s the main attraction and star of the show in this cavernous "museum" store full of oddities and attic rejects. Jake the Alligator Man even has his own website and fan club, Jake’s Place. I kid you not. Wellington Marsh Sr. opened what became the "museum" in 1935 in Long Beach. It was more of a tavern then. Cash-short during the Depression, people would swap junk from their attics for a beer. Eventually, the business grew to a collection of… very odd things and weird stuff, in the tradition of P. T. Barnum. Jake was auctioned from Whitney’s Museum in San Francisco in 1965 for $750, and ended up at Marsh’s, which was run by Wellington Marsh Jr. by then. Now Marsh’s grown grandkids run the show. As they say at Marsh’s, If you haven’t seen it at Marsh’s, you haven’t stayed long enough.
Beach highways???: The first time I walked out to the beach at Pacific Holiday RV park, my first thought was, "There is something wrong with this picture." For a California-grown person, the thing that doesn’t fit is cars and trucks right on the otherwise pristine beach, driving merrily through the sand and parked at water’s edge. The state of Washington, though, designates beaches as state highways, with a 25mph speed limit. Certain areas are posted off-limits to vehicles between April 15th and Labor Day. Personally, I’d prefer my beach experience without any vehicle, any time.
Beach boardwalk and Discovery Trail: If walking on the sand is not for you, you have several other choices. A half-mile of spacious boardwalk runs between dunes and beach from Bolstad Avenue to Sid Snyder Drive. Winding beside it is the much longer paved Lewis and Clark Discovery Trail, 8 miles long. Both trails are well maintained and educational. The boardwalk has signs describing fauna, flora, and historical facts of the town. Discovery Trail is more artistic. North of town on 26th Street, a 20-foot bronze statue, Clark’s Tree, marks the north end of the trail. A basalt monolith and gray whale’s skeleton are found farther down. The paving stops at Seaview and becomes simply sandy beach, then turns to gravel as it begins to climb towards Beards Hollow, reaching its high point at an overlook, then descending to Ilwaco using surface streets and ending at the Port of Ilwaco. I walked the stretch from the monolith to just south of the whale skeleton.