Bailey’s Bakery & Cafe

26910 Sandridge Rd * Nahcotta WA 98637 * 360-665-4449 * Baileysbakerycafe.com

Incognito bakery and baker! Okay, Bailey’s Bakery isn’t incognito, but the baker we talked to wished to remain anonymous, which only adds to this place’s appeal.

Bailey’s is a charming cottage that’s popped up in the semi-out-of-the-way northern part of the Long Beach peninsula. You wouldn’t stumble across it, you have to know it’s THERE. Local knowledge helps, and that’s where my SPECIAL GUEST KIM COOPER comes into play.

 Bailey’s is perfectly situated for an aprés bog hike bite, and that’s exactly what Kim and I did. We swooped in – two damp wee Sasquatches – and stared at the counter display. Pies, Cinnamon rolls, cake, rooooaaaarrrr! Incognito Baker Dude told us that all pies were made with buttermilk, which limited my diary impaired arse but boy can you imagine the FLAVOR of all those desserts?!

I ‘made do’ with chocolate cake which swear to god was like the most scrumptious fudge I’ve ever eaten.  Kim grabbed more pie of course, and both of us went amazeballs over Bailey’s cinnamon rolls. They’re called, ‘ Thunder Buns’; say that out loud and test your maturity level.

In homage to the fabulous Bailey’s, here is a montage of Thunder Buns and other impressions of the Long Beach peninsula. No one but the artist is to blame for this mess:

Thunder Buns disapprove of over-arty-fartiness

Bailey’s baking prowess and Thunder Buns make me wax philosophical. What if, instead of thunder clouds, we had Thunder Buns? Would the air smell of cinnamon rolls instead of ozone? Would Thor wield a rolling pin instead of a hammer? That’s a god to believe in!

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Surfing and Strolling near Bailey’s Bakery & Cafe

SURFING: This is located on the Long Beach Peninsula. Alas no surf attempts this time ‘round.

STROLLING: Willapa Wildlife Refuge looks intriguing, but we hiked around Cape Disappointment, which was anything but. Later we explored Leadbetter Point, which was a cross between peninsula, forest, beach, and bog hopping. Everything was lovely.

Cottage Bakery

118 Pacific Ave. S * Long Beach WA 98631 * 360-642-4441 * Cottage Bakery 

 Cliche alert! The Cottage Bakery and Delicatessen appears to be a ‘local hub’, but not without excellent reason. First of all, it’s impossible to miss – plopped in the center of the one and only main street in Long Beach, you’d have to be completely daft to miss it. Secondly, its capacious space holds every imaginable kind of baked yummy any hungry heart could desire. This place is a tractor beam for munching…if you can’t find something you want at Cottage Bakery, you’ve got hella issues.

Guess what this includes. These industrious folks bake so many pies they’ve built a veritable display WALL of the stuff. I’m not kidding – it took three fully separate photos to document the entirety of Cottage Bakery’s pie offerings, and three times three minutes for friend Kim and I to decide what to order.

And who is this mysterious Kim? Why, a Pies SPECIAL GUEST of course!

Kim, super friend,  hails from Home Break; a biologist, bad-ass sewer, hiker and surfer. She won my heart in many ways, but her tale of an expert wave dude blurting out, “You’re more fun to watch than a good surfer!” won me over big time. This is the most relatable quip ever uttered. In addition to inspiring poetry, Kim cut her real estate teeth as an agent in the maniacal Home Break market, and is now agent-ing in these parts. Come to Kim for all your real estate and pie insider knowledge.

 Cottage Bakery was too hopping busy for me to feel comfy barging around with a camera, so here’s Kim standing in front of an abstracted Pie Wall. Homeland Security engineers, take note.

 Those wee fish are a nearby sculpture reduced and doubled to photobomb my drawing. I have to obviously point out that despite marine reference we did NOT buy fish pie – good god –  and no, Cottage Bakery makes no such thing.  What we ordered will remain vague as my friggin’ fluttin’ phone/compuder/whatchamachiedoodle up and broke/got lost/went to hell and my digital notes went *poof!*  I’ll rely on my famous ( -ly bad ) memory. Know that Kim and I bought fruit pie slices; she ate hers the second we walked back to her house, and I ‘waited’ to eat mine about 30 minutes later. One half then, one half that night. Discipline.

Pie Wall – try THAT on the border instead.

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Surfing and Strolling near Cottage Bakery

SURFING: This is located on the Long Beach Peninsula. Alas no surf attempts this time ’round.

STROLLING: Willapa Wildlife Refuge looks intriguing, but we hiked around Cape Disappointment, which was anything but. Later we explored Leadbetter Point, which was a cross between  peninsula, forest, beach,  and bog hopping. Everything was lovely.

Market Street Bakery & Cafe

492 N. Market Blvd. * Chehalis WA  98532 * 360-748-0875 * www.marketstbakery.com

It was destiny.

I was planning a pipsqueek one night road trip whose sole purpose was to scope out Astrid’s Hatchery. ( Intrigue to be explained later ). That said, there’s always time for pie,  and a quick local search pointed to Chehalis’ Market St. Bakery and Cafe.  ‘Astrid’, (busting into pedantic mode) is more or less an old Norse word meaning, ‘ divine strength’ or ‘divine beauty.’     Where did chef/owner Eric Wearner hone his skills? Iceland! What are Lisa and Eric’s kids’ names? Nina, Elsa, and Freya.

Herded by destiny, I waltzed into the spacious Market St. Bakery and stared at the display counter. PIE. Lots of it. The fun counter girl pointed out that they had whole pies but ALL of their mini pies were sold. Keep in mind this was midday on a Monday, so  how good must those mini pies be?!

I picked up a raspberry almond tartlet and snatched the very last Vinábraud – that’s a ‘Traditional Icelandic pastry with almond filling and vanilla custard ‘, to quote their online menu. Then I took some pictures and had the worst time of my life trying to draw hands, for gods’ sake. So here is the fun counter girl sporting the official Vinábraud t-shirt in holy golden light:

I’d like to think this happened

Then I scampered to my motel room to lord over my pastry stash like a dragon guarding its treasure. Except I’m hopeless dragon wanna-be because I ate all of it. NO REGRETS. It was YUMMY! The Vinábraud in particular would have paired spectacularly with strong coffee and a desire to pillage.

Market St. Bakery & Cafe, I will return for a second attempt at pielettes  and Vinábraud! And Hooligan, stop giving me that look I promise  I’ll pick up some of their dog treats too.

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Surfing and Strolling near Market Street Bakery & Cafe

Surfing: Well, about 3 hours away there’s a place called Long Beach which states the obvious.

Strolling: I blew it! Only one afternoon and night in the area and I spent it loitering in my motel room. But what blessed loitering it was! Strolling consisted of walking from the bed to the bathroom in my mini kingdom at The Relax Inn. BONUS: The Relax Inn is a rarity; locally owned, clean, comfy, and less expensive than the big boy chain hotels/motels. Aptly named!

EXTRA SPECIAL BONUS! 15-20 minutes from Market Street Cafe and nearly shouting distance from Astrid’s Hatchery, Winlock Eggspress serves scrumptious eggy meals! I experienced a veggie/egg/hashbrown burrito, and it even freakin’ came in a to-go bag with hand drawn smily faces and, ‘ Have a great day!!’ Fan for life.