Just south of Blaine between Birch Point and Point Whitehorn is a community of people united by the love of seaside living. Here the outdoors reign supreme. Situated adjacent to Birch Bay State Park, the warm, shallow waters of the bay are great for swimming, windsurfing and late summer crabbing.
“Fourth of July is amazing here,” Amy Schnackenberg, an employee of Salt + Shore, says with a smile. “Fireworks are legal here so the whole shoreline lights up.”
Photograph by Nicole Kimberling
The shop is housed in a charming cottage right on the waterfront and sells just the kind of souvenirs that one would expect at the popular seaside locale. Totes, T-shirts, pretty jewelry, toys, locally-made macrame bags, cards, and lots and lots of fun items featuring crab motifs, reflecting the bay’s most popular pastime.
Started by young mother Courtney Vanderzalm three years ago, Salt + Shore aims to recapture the fun of browsing for that perfect trinket to remember your trip by.
Birch Bay itself is quirky in the way that only a former (and current) campground destination can be. You can still see the shadow of summertime resorts of yesteryear reflected in the street names and tiny, densely-packed homes.
Photograph by Nicole Kimberling
Since the early 1900s families have journeyed to this corner of Whatcom County to enjoy nature’s bounty. There was even a boardwalk and ferris wheel at one point. Nowadays the shoreline boasts a paved and accessible path around the bay so that everyone can have a chance to feel the sea breeze and take in the views.
On any given day you can see all manner of people, from fit silver-haired joggers to groups of giggly teens making their way along the shoreline.
“This summer we’re partnering with Kona Ice,” Amy informs me. “We’ll be hosting them in our parking lot to bring more fun options for treats.”
Photograph by Nicole Kimberling
Amy seems to love her job and is a veritable repository of information about her adopted home. She shares everything from the history of the area to restaurant recommendations—just exactly the experience a traveler wandering into a small, pretty shop wants to have.
I pause at a table, poking curiously at what appears to be a bowl of diminutive rolling pins, and Amy is quick to inform me what I’m looking at.
“Fish bonkers,” she says. “For knocking the fish out after you’ve caught it.”
I confess I had the urge to buy one right away and send it to my golfer Dad as a novelty gift.
Photograph by Nicole Kimberling
And that’s the fun of a place like Salt + Shore: you get to chat with a local and learn a little bit about the place where you are, and share that information with whomever you’d like in the form of a gift.
Salt + Shore is open 10-5 p.m. on weekdays from October till mid-May, and 7 days a week for the rest of the year.
7900 Birch Bay Drive, Blaine, 640.830.4430
