The would-be naturalists chose Dungeness Spit as this year’s Father’s Day destination. Some research on the web unearthed The 3 Crabs as a highly recommended crab shack right on the Sound with birding on the adjacent beach. Lunch plans decided, we packed the car and drove up to Dungeness.
We arrived at The 3 Crabs a bit early, lunch not served until 11:30am, so we tried to do some birding while we waited – the Sound did not cooperate.
The 3 Crabs opened and we had crabcakes for lunch. While I like Dungeness crab, I generally finish wanting more, especially for the price, and this time was no exception. I’m still looking for a real crab shack – a dive.
Fortunately the Sound cleared while we ate. If you look closely dead-center on the horizon you can see the New Dungeness Lighthouse. Compare this photo to the one above, taken maybe thirty minutes earlier; the weather on the coast is volatile.
Somewhat disappointed, we left The 3 Crabs and drove to the Spit. Paying our three dollars we headed down the trail and stopped at a lookout which gave a great view of this unique formation.
A spit (courtesy Wikipedia):
A spit is a deposition landform found off coasts. At one end, spits connect to land, while at the far end they exist in open water. A spit is a type of bar or beach that develops where a re-entrant occurs, such as at cove’s headlands, by the process of longshore drift.
Basically, it’s a long, thin sandbar and in the case of the Dungeness Spit it protects the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. If you look at the extreme right of the horizon in the photo below you can see the Lighthouse, 5.5 miles down sand, stones and driftwood. This is one long finger.
The Black Brant winters here and while not threatened yet it is being watched because of habitat loss.
On the way home we stopped at Nash’s Organic Produce in Dungeness. My daughter loved the broccoli and almost refused to hand it over to be weighed. The produce was delicious – and cheap! I can’t wait to go back. As unimpressed as I was with The 3 Crabs, I loved Nash’s!
