Why we should have a need to escape when we already live in paradise is beyond me – but sometimes mini-vacations to places far removed from daily concerns and responsibilities are just the right kind of soul refreshers.

Copalis Beach is that kind of place.

March is the perfect time to visit. We had the beach all to ourselves. A minus tide revealed dozens of sand dollars. The sunsets were glorious. And the weather – well, we came for March storms, and that’s exactly what we experienced! Sand, snow, sleet, hail – all blowing horizontally – with wind gusts that blew the tops off waves and high into the air. It’s a place where shipwrecks and mysteries wash up on the beaches. The waves literally thundered on the shore and all through the night. We kicked back, played music and read by a crackling fire in a little cabin on a bluff overlooking the sea. The Iron Springs Resort may be a little run down, but for us, the perfect hideaway. An eagle even landed on a tree just outside our window. It just doesn’t get much better than that.

Copalis Beach is located on the Point Brown Peninsula. It is a peninsula of extremes. To the south is Ocean Shores, population near 4,000, a tourism community that has squeezed a condo or hotel onto every inch of shoreline. The further back from the beach, the taller they get to capture a view. Nearly 25 miles of canals thread through the peninsula not for irrigation, but so more people can have that waterfront view. The downtown streets are busy, lined with trinket attractions, catering to the summertime zoo.

If you’re looking for solitude, Ocean Shores is not it.

But there are two places of interest I would recommend: 1) The Interpretive Center, with well-done displays on Pacific Coast flora, fauna, geology, history, and more – even a video cam inside a nearby birdhouse; and 2) The Fusions Art Gallery, which features extraordinary photography by Stuart May and supports around 75 local and regional artists. If you are looking for local photography, art, and handmade things with a coastal flavor, the Fusions Art Gallery, although small, is outstanding inspiration.

At the opposite end of the Peninsula and opposite extreme of wealth and capitalism is the town of Taholah, population around 800, tribal center for the Quinault Nation. A pass to access Tribal beaches can be purchased at the police station, where walls are lined with posters about domestic violence, death by meth, and alcohol addictions, and a white person speaks to you on the other side of a round reinforced hole. I am sure the Quinault Nation faces challenges of most northwest tribes. They have limited resources; U.S. government policies have impoverished their people. They walk the same beaches, hunt, fish, and paddle the same waters as their ancestors, but they must survive in a much different world. I am sure there is much their elders can teach us if we are willing to listen.

In the 1850s, James Swan crossed Grays Harbor and walked these very beaches north to what was then called Point Grenville. He respected and befriended the local tribes. It is easy to imagine what it might have been like back then.

And although some might say the beaches on the southern Washington coast are a little boring, we say it’s the kind of boring we like:  just flat smooth sand as far as the eye can see – a low tide that stretches to the horizon – a high tide that splashes against cliffs – a great place to fly kites or dig razor clams – some even like to drive on the hard-packed sand. Go before winter ends and the summer craziness begins. Hunt for shipwrecks and mysteries from the deep. Walk the footsteps of James Swan. Learn about the local history and the local Quinault culture. Search for whales. Watch the storms roll in. Experience timelessness.