Come to Long Beach this weekend and get the best of both worlds–luxurious B&B, great food and razor clamming–which is getting right down to the real nitty gritty (to coin a phrase from the 70′s)!  Crawl out of your beautiful, warm, cushy Boreas bed in the morning an hour or so before low tide on Sunday, then freeze your fannies off in the early morning digs and be back at the Inn with your limit of 15 razor clams, warming up by the fire with our great coffee by 9:30 am breakfast time!  The first dig on Saturday is actually a late afternoon dig–so you can work up an appetite for dinner at one of our fine dinner houses! We will make all arrangements!

Long Beach, Washington will open for razor clam digging for FOUR days at noon March 19!  Dan Ayres, WDFW coastal shellfish manager, advises prospective diggers to pay particular attention to the shift in digging times during this month’s razor-clam opening.   “It gets a little tricky scheduling digs at this time of year, but the goal is to arrange openings during the best clam tides,” Ayres said. “The split schedule also provides an opportunity for back-to-back digs the evening of Saturday, March 19, and the morning of Sunday, March 20.”

Digging days and low tides for March are:

• Saturday, March 19, 7:04 p.m. (-0.1 ft); Long Beach
• Sunday, March 20, 7:36 a.m. (-0.5 ft); Long Beach
• Monday, March 21, 8:23 a.m. (-0.9 ft); Long Beach

·         Tuesday March 22, 9:12 a.m. (-1.0 ft); Long Beach   So get your clam digging license, required if you are age 15 or older and come down and dig some razor clams.   Ayres reminds diggers that WDFW is tentatively planning another razor-clam opening April 7-9 until noon each day at Long Beach and Twin Harbors if marine toxin tests show the clams are safe to eat. Licenses expire on March 31,  so you need to make sure, for the April digs coming up, that you get a new license.

It was a beautiful, calm day of razor clamming at Beard's Hollow

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From Ellen at The Shepherds Inn B&B.

We want to cook you the perfect breakfast!

We promise you a beautiful, lazy weekend at Boreas if you decide to visit us.  We have room for you and would love to cook up a storm in the morning if it’s not stormy enough outside–and even if it is.  Don’ t listen to the weather guys–they are usually wrong, unless they tell you it’s going to be wonderful–because sunshine, rain, wind…it’s always wonderful here. The fireplaces beckon and we’re offering our Walk-in Special at our romantic getaway by the sea. $150 a night including our “perfectly plated” 3 course or more breakfast (plus tax of course).   We don’t want to be lonely–so come to Long Beach and we will fix you up with two fabulous dinners out at our fine dinner houses and promise you the most relaxing weekend with fireplaces blazing and our new hot tub beckoning.  We hope to see you soon!

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We’re almost out of the woods on the Pacific Ocean having spent the entire night up and high on adrenaline.  No big waves seem to be coming and we have survived (we hope!) the aftermath of the most devastating earthquake Japan can remember.   Our Tsunami Tspecial is a once in a lifetime (hopefully) event–$125 per night for all the goodies and we will supply the complementary Tsunami Tsauce (Mimosa’s)–or you can have your champagne straight up!  Come celebrate the ocean, from a distance, and please say prayers for our Japanese friends who have endured and are continuing to endure the worst disaster in recent history.  Take advantage of your exhausted innkeepers–come cheer us up!

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We all know the signs; less snow, a little less rain, a little more sunshine, and a lot more fun! With a little help from your innkeepers at Arlington’s River Rock Inn you can say goodbye to winter blues and start planning your springtime escape. Call us for our amazing “TWO-lips” special – 360-403-7014.

Here are a few local ways to get out and have a great time:

1) Check out the Skookum Brewery! This amazing local brewery is a treat for all beer connoisseurs, and is located between Arlington and Smokey Point. The brewery, fired up for the first time in January of 2007, is a 10 barrel Century brewing system.  Oak-clad and copper-banded fermenting vessels, mashtun, and brew kettle give a traditional look but still have all the modern brewing technologies. Visit their site for hours and tasting events!

2) The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is almost here! Beginning April 1st, 2011 and ending the 30th, you can walk through fields of brightly-colored blooms and enjoy various displays including a Kiwanis Tribe salmon barbecue, a “Chili, Chowdah, and Chocolate Cook-off”, boat tours, and much more. Check their website for bloom dates and other information. Call Arlington’s River Rock Inn to hear about our “Two-lips” special! 360.403.7014

3) Starting March 1st, 2011, visit the Outback Kangaroo Farm! Located in Arlington, Washington, just a short drive from Arlington’s River Rock Inn, this is a zoo like no other; you’ll have a chance to see emus, kangaroos, wallabies, wallaroos, lemurs, miniature donkeys, and much more. Get a real “down-under” atmosphere with this great Australian-inspired interactive zoo! Check their website for operating hours and tour times.

It’s blowing sideways tonight.  We awoke to the same intensity of wind and are going to bed to a different storm.  In between, we had sunshine and rainbows.  Pre-spring weather is ever-changing.  Who would have thought we would have a glorious weekend with lots of sun?

Weather forecasters can really affect tourism on the Long Beach Peninsula when they forecast bad weather on the beach when we are actually experiencing sunny days instead!  If you like storms, however, tonight is the night!  The inn is empty, except for Bill, who is painting the living room.

We have plenty of availability this weekend, so come sleep in our dreamy beds, dine on our perfectly plated breakfast feasts, dream in the new hot tub, and plan on some great weather, perhaps between the storms.  So romantic…. Perhaps we will have mountains of foam after this storm too!

Can you tell the sea foam from the cumulus cloud after a great storm?

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Ours is a quiet, little town and especially so in Winter. So, the Shelburne Restaurant & Pub is doing its part to liven things up. We have three regularly scheduled events on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. On Tuesday nights in the Pub you’ll find crooner, Brian O’Connor singing and playing guitar. Brian’s mellow, soothing [...]

If you are in the bad books after Valentines Day, you can redeem yourself by booking a massage for your sweetheart in our Day Spa. Our Signature Massage is the most popular and luxurious option, with almost 2 hours of pampering for $99.

Note that you do not need to be an overnight guest to enjoy the Day Spa, but you should make a booking at least 24 hours prior.

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I know you have a hard time coming up with romantic ideas, you struggle with figuring out what your sweetheart wants or needs from you, and you’re afraid of coming up short. Believe me, I know how you feel! But this Valentine’s day, we at the River Rock Inn are here to make your day a little easier and a LOT more memorable.

Does your lover love to be pampered? We have luxurious beds, large two-person soaking tubs, private bathrooms, an on-site spa, and a relaxing hot tub that they’ll just die for.

Maybe you know the way to your partner’s heart is through their stomach, but cooking just isn’t your specialty? Well it IS ours! We serve up a romantic multi-course dinner that’s sure to tantalize your taste buds and leave you satisfied and smiling.

Perhaps your darling is the traveling type. He or she is always dreaming of far away places, daring adventures, and distant escapes, while never quite being able to get there. Well the River Rock Inn is located on 5 secluded acres with hiking and walking trails on-site, and near hikes to glacier lakes and the Ice Caves.

Arlington’s River Rock Inn has something for everyone, and Snohomish county has a little of everything from artisan farms to 4 star dining to premium outlet shopping. Make your escape today, and make the inn “home base” for all your exciting adventures.

The Shelburne Inn was built in 1896 as a hotel with a dining room.

This year, 2010, marks the 114th year of business for the Shelburne Inn, Restaurant & Pub. It is the oldest continuously operating hotel in Washington State. Many of our guests ask about the details of that history, so we printed up a flyer that offers up some of the Shelburne’s colorful past, though not as colorful as some have imagined–to our knowledge it never was a brothel. It has always been our goal, in any of our projects here at the inn, to maintain the design integrity of the past while accommodating the modern traveler. We’ve run the inn since 1977, and in that time have developed a relationship with it that is more animate than inanimate, or shall we say innanimate? Needless to say, we like old things. When properly cared for, they exude a certain comfort and character that is difficult to recreate in new construction. Here’s a brief history…

David and Laurie and their staff invite you to step back in time while savoring a longstanding Pacific Northwest tradition in heartfelt hospitality and outstanding cuisine.