Oysterville

Oysterville, WA and Apalachicola, FL are like long-lost cousins. Apalach has an actual town core and Main Street, while Oysterville is much smaller, really just an historic village of second homes passed down through generations of the same family. But the oysters and the sense of old and salty and crusty connect these two distant towns.

Banana Yellow and I detoured from the 101 on the final morning of our journey. We took the county road up the narrow spit that points north off the Washington mainland like a thin splinter. To the east, Willapa Bay extends flat and marshy, a perfect environment for oyster growth. Mounds of discarded shells brighten the green, wet landscape with their smooth white interiors. Most of the oysters on menus from northern California and through Oregon boast their fresh Willapa Bay oysters. In Oysterville, the men and women still collect the bivalves on foot, using small metal rakes, different from the long tongs of Apalachicola. They go out at low tides, including sometimes at night. I will return to photograph this process, another great old industry.