If your romantic getaway includes walks on the beach, waves breaking over jetties and a lighthouse to add drama to your pictures, you’ll find the Shelburne Inn to be the ultimate coastal experience.

Located on the gateway to the Long Beach Peninsula in Seaview (just three blocks from the sand dunes), the Shelburne Inn is the oldest continuously operating hotel in Washington. Established in 1896 (with additions made in 1911, 1983 and 1986), it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Innkeepers and hosts David Campiche and Laurie Anderson have owned the inn since 1977. The pair fell in love with the old building and have retained its historical charm while updating it and adding excellent food to the mix. With 30 years in the hospitality field, they are professional innkeepers who delight their guests with an attentive level of service while never intruding on their privacy.

If you’re looking for something even more secluded, try their sister property, China Beach Retreat. A Craftsman cottage nestled in a small cove at the mouth of the Columbia River in Ilwaco, it offers tideland views and puts you up close to the shorebirds navigating the tide flats. The Lewis and Clark expedition actually walked through the land on which China Beach now sits.

A relaxing retreat

The Shelburne Inn houses 15 guest rooms furnished with Victorian and Edwardian antiques. All have private baths, and most offer a private deck. There are another two guest rooms and a suite at China Beach, plus the Audubon Cottage, (opened in late 2006) that offers an upstairs bedroom, 42-inch, flat screen TVs, two-person hydrotherapy tub plus an exterior deck downstairs with two-person soaking tub.

With freshly baked cookies upon your arrival, fresh flowers in the room, coffee and tea service all day, plus a computer for guests’ use, you will feel pampered at every turn.

Award-winning

food and drink

The innkeepers’ award-winning breakfast is a command performance of traditional Pacific Northwest offerings (salmon, berries, wild mushrooms and edible greens) influenced with Scandinavian and Asian tastes. In particular, I especially enjoy David’s omelets, and Mardi looks forward to starting her day with Laurie’s sourdough pancakes.

The nationally acclaimed Shoalwater Restaurant on site features gourmet dinners of fresh, locally harvested foods. Their wine cellar offers more than 400 wines and has received many awards, including the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.

For lighter fare, the more casual Heron & Beaver Pub is a “mini-Cheers,” offering more than 40 beers/ciders plus more than 20 wines by the glass. The Art Nouveau stained glass enclosing the restaurant and pub areas casts a beautiful light in the room, creating the perfect ambiance. Accessible from the pub is a deck overlooking the beautiful Victorian gardens of the Shelburne. A favorite spot of Mardi’s, we usually enjoy our dinner under one of the festive umbrellas.

Before leaving the inn, we make it a ritual to visit the gift shop. In addition to being innkeepers, David is a potter and Laurie is a weaver, and their selection of cookbooks, imported baskets, jewelry, antiques, textiles, small carvings and pottery (thrown by David himself) is an adventure all its own.

This season at the inn

The fall and winter are wonderful times to head to the coast. It is about a three-hour drive from the Eastside. If the weather is clear, the beach walking can be spectacular. The 28-mile beach by the Shelburne Inn is relatively flat and easy walking. However, it is the stormy moments that pack the real excitement and take beach walking from an ordinary scenic stroll to an adventure that provides a heart-pounding experience with winds, huge waves and gulls whistling past. Those moments give one a personal appreciation for the power and majesty of nature.

Then, when you have had it with nature, you can go back to the Shelburne for a hot shower and a wonderful dinner. Right now they are featuring wild mushrooms, foraged from local forests in their breakfasts, lunch and dinner.

Throughout the fall and winter the inn is offering mid-week packages, which can include lodging and dining or multiple night stays with or without dining (breakfast is always included, of course). These special offers cover stays from Sunday through Thursday, October through June, excluding all holidays. Use the web or toll free number for more details or reservations.

Fred & Mardi Nystrom have called Issaquah home for close to 25 years. Their current travel guidebooks, “Special Places of Washington,” and “The Great Wineries of Washington” can be found in bookstores or purchased online at www.specialplaces.com.