Yappy Hour at the Westport Winery

Love tasting wine? Love your pet? Love Sunday afternoons relaxing in the sun? You can have it all every Sunday, 1pm to 3pm from June through August at Westport Winery.

Join the lovely folks at the Westport Winery for Yappy Hour on the Winery patio with your canine companion. (No adult beverages for the pets, water bowls are provided.) It’s the perfect time to hone those socialization skills (yours and your pets). All ages—dogs and people – are welcome at the winery. Wine tasting and purchasing wine by the glass or bottle is available to those over 21.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of various wines benefits local animal-friendly charities: including the Coastal Animal Rescue and Adoption (CARA), Harbor Association of Volunteers for Animals (HAVA), and Grays Harbor PAWS.

Westport Winery is located on the corner of Highway 105 and South Arbor Road (halfway between Aberdeen and Westport). For more information call Westport Winery at 648-2224. The winery is open daily from 11am to 6pm year around, and additionally until 9pm on Friday and Saturday evenings from June through August.

After the Yappy Hour, come and bring your pup to the beach for a well deserved vacation! Dogs love the beach!

Fleur de Lis Festival for Flag Day at Westport Winery!

Join the Westport Winery in celebrating Flag Day with their Sweet Flag Irises or Fleur de Lis Festival on Saturday and Sunday, June 13 and 14 from noon to 5pm. This free event will highlight all things Francophile in a tribute to the long history of French wine, cheese and chocolate making.

In the new culinary herb garden the Roberts family has built a Petanque Court. The game is similar to Bocce with the goal to throw aluminum balls as close to the “jack” as possible. This is a sport often played in French villages. Throughout the weekend the winery will host a Petanque challenge with prizes for the winners.

This new garden space will increase the area available for the winery’s sculpture garden. Sculpture garden artists will be selling some of their work in the garden in the style of a French market. Classical guitarist Scott Lindenmuth will be playing in the winery’s Gathering Room on both days.

And Chef Erin Worth will offer Fleur de Lis French Onion Soup for those who wish to purchase food while listening to music and tasting wine. A series of French cheeses and chocolates will also be available for tasting and purchase.

All these festivities will be set against the backdrop of the winery’s 10,000 irises (which may or may not be in bloom on this date, but everyone is keeping their fingers crossed.) There is no charge to attend this inaugural Fleur de Lis Festival.

Westport Winery is open daily between 11am and 6pm to guests of all ages and is located on the corner of Highway 105 and South Arbor Road (halfway between Aberdeen and the Westport ‘Y’).

Whale Watching off the Westport Coast

This past weekend, as we were recovering from an amazing Cleanwater Classic, and enjoying the fabulous weather on the beach in front of Westport by the Sea, we noticed something that we've heard a lot about but never witnessed first hand - a pod of grey whales. It's a little hard to describe, and if I didn't see it with my own eyes, I probably would not have believed how close they were to shore - maybe 200 feet. Close enough to see the barnacles on their skin!

Since Sunday, we have heard from many neighbors that the Whales have been spotted offshore along the beach from the Jetty south all week long. It's an amazing sight, and one well worth the drive. I was not able to catch a picture, since you're never quite sure where they will surface, and I'm simply not that patient.

Here is a link the Washington Department of Ecology page on whale migrations off the Washington Coast, as well as the American Cetacean Society Gray Whale Page. Hope you can see these special creatures yourself!

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/coast/animals/gray_whale.html
http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/graywhl.htm