We love offbeat road trips, especially in the Pacific Northwest. Your favorite soundtrack just hits differently when you’re exploring the fairytale scenery of our gloriously dewy and dreamy landscape. Unique coastal towns are an easy drive from major PNW cities, making a weekend getaway a breeze. Considering that our coastline is a hot spot of tall-tale folklore, colorful characters, and celebrating the weird, hitting the open highway can make you feel like the star of a zany independent movie. Join us as we help you plan a delightfully weird road trip from Seattle. We’ll share the coolest quirky stops perfect for creating a wild adventure.
Why Do a Quirky Road Trip from Seattle?
When you take off on a quirky road trip from Seattle, every mile promises a dash of the unexpected. Offbeat roadside attractions and hidden gems are waiting to fill your stories. Whether chasing Bigfoot, exploring curiosities, or stopping at the best roadside attractions, a road trip down our highways and byways should be a part of any bucket list.
Quirky Stops Around Seattle:
Before you leave the emerald city of Oz on your road trip from Seattle, you should make a couple of stops at some of our quirky favorites in the local zip codes.
World’s Weirdest Novelty Store
Head to the bacon-and-monster-muraled Archie McPhee headquarters in Wallingford to stock up on possum finger puppets. For over 40 years, the world’s weirdest novelty store has sold the bizarre and unusual to a fanatical, devoted following. Their “We make it weird” tagline lets you know you’re in for a quirky treat. You’ll find everything from squirrel underwear to bacon candy and rubber chickens. Grab fistfuls of axolotls, gravy candy canes, and yodeling pickles. With hundreds of Sasquatch trinkets, you won’t have to hunt too far to find Bigfoot.
World’s Largest Gum Wall (Allegedly)
Image Courtesy of: Danelle Dodds
After loading up on novelty goodies, pop into Post Alley to visit the hidden, infamous Gum Wall. In the 1990s, theatergoers of a nearby production house would squish their chewing gum onto the wall, turning the alley into an organic, ever-changing, unintentional art display. Hundreds of thousands of colorful gobs now festoon the bricks and windowsills, making it a perfect place for wacky photos and even an occasional proposal. Bring your ABC (already chewed) gum and leave your mark.
You’ve Arrived: Exploring the Quirky Evergreen Coast
Our stunning Evergreen Coast is the next stop on your road trip from Seattle. Made up of small coastal towns in the southwest corner of Washington, quirky attractions dimple this stretch of land. With tons of cool hotel options, breweries, unique museums, and interesting locals, the Evergreen Coast is an ideal place to use as a home base for the weekend while you continue exploring the dozens of offbeat stops near our coastline.
Pour One Out for the Pickled Pioneer
Start off on an unassuming pull-off just outside the town of Raymond, where you’ll stumble across one of the strangest stories ever told. It’s a tale of whiskey, new horizons, and a promise kept to a Pickled Pioneer.
Image Courtesy of: Danelle Dodds
Willie Keil was the 19-year-old son of the founder of Bethel. An excited explorer, he sadly died of malaria days before his father could lead his colony west. Not wanting to break the promise he made to his son of a new world, Dr. Wilhelm Keil built a lead-lined wooden barrel, filled it with 100-proof Golden Rule whiskey, and placed his son’s body in the usual casket. Willie sloshed across the land for over six months and is the only person who has ever crossed the Oregon Trail dead. He finally made it and was eventually laid to rest on a peaceful hillside.
Stop by the hill on your road trip from Seattle and pour one out for the Pickled Pioneer. As you pass through Raymond, visit his original wooden grave plaque at the Northwest Carriage Museum.
Be the Pearl in the World’s Largest Oyster in the Oyster Capital of the World
Image Courtesy of: Danelle Dodds
As you keep traveling, you’ll hit South Bend, known as the Oyster Capital of the World. It’s a little shellfish of us to claim every crustacean, but when one in every four oysters eaten in the nation comes from our estuaries, we must toot our horn. As you pass through town on your road trip from Seattle, make a quick stop for a shellfie at the World’s Largest Oyster in Robert Bush Park.
Stroll on the World’s (Almost) Longest Beach
Soon enough, you’ll make it to shore! You know that old saying, “If you say something enough times, it becomes true?” For a spell, we were known as the “World’s Longest Beach.” In our defense, we had yet to go to Praia do Cassino beach in Brazil. That didn’t stop us from crowning ourselves with the title carved onto an impressive arch at the Bolstad beach entrance.
Stand under the original, boastful proclamation and snap a swoon-worthy selfie. This charming photo op is the perfect addition to your quirky road trip from Seattle. (For the record, at 28 uninterrupted miles, we are the world’s longest, contiguous beach, which is still something to brag about.)
Sizzle with the World’s (Almost) Largest Frying Pan
Speaking of bragging, we didn’t start out trying to have one of the world’s largest frying pans. We were simply looking for a fancy way to promote our first annual razor clam festival. In 1941, we commissioned Northwest Copper and Sheet Metal Works to create a frying pan large enough to cook a behemoth clam fritter. We wound up with a 20-foot-tall, 1,300-pound frying pan that sizzled up the largest clam fritter the world had ever (allegedly) seen. Our frying pan is so big (“How big is it??”) that it took 200 pounds of clams and 20 dozen eggs to create the 9-foot fritter.
Folklore states that attending chefs wore skates made of butter to coat the frying surface. The pan retired from fritter duty in the 1950s and eventually rusted beyond repair. A fiberglass replica was lovingly created and outfitted with the original handle of the former fryer. It proudly stands in the center of town as an homage to its sizzling past. You’ll spot it instantly as you roll through town on your road trip from Seattle.
Get Shell Shocked with the World’s Largest Razor Clam
Image Courtesy of: Danielle Dodds
The World’s Largest Razor Clam is within spitting distance from the (almost) World’s Largest Frying Pan. There may be little competition regarding massive mollusks, but we have more bragging rights regarding super-sized shellfish. Our driftwood carving is a 5-foot tribute to our annual Razor Clam Festival. The display also hides a sprinkling secret. The statue will spout water, just like an actual razor clam. Place a quarter in the nearby machine and activate the fountain.
See You Later with Jake the Alligator Man
Once you’ve gotten your fill of oversized skillets and shellfish, cross the street and head into the mysterious curiosity known as Marsh’s Free Museum. This oddity shop is overflowing with funky gifts, wild vintage arcade games, mind-bending taxidermy creations, and the most famous alligator man ever to walk (or crawl) the earth. Jake the Alligator Man is a local Long Beach legend. He’s a must-visit celebrity on any quirky road trip from Seattle. Part reptile, part man, Jake’s mummified skin is as murky as his past.
Get a Grip with the World’s Largest Chopsticks
After you visit with Jake, step outside to see the World’s Largest Chopsticks. Chainsaw artist Josh Blewett carved the chopsticks from single logs measuring 30 feet long. You may wonder how the Evergreen Coast became the home of such a unique attraction. It was born from a school project by local student Zhuang Zhuang Zhao. The impressive carvings live on the lawn outside Marsh’s Free Museum, making it another easy, quirky stop to visit on your road trip from Seattle.
Dive Into the Graveyard of the Pacific
While on the topic of murky things, our coastline is known for occasional mystery and fog. Its treacherous waters earned it the somber name of “Graveyard of the Pacific.” While not a quirky location, discovering the coast’s history is a worthy pitstop on your road trip from Seattle. Head to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center to view water-logged artifacts dredged from some of the 200 shipwrecks along our coastline.
Clown Around on the World’s Longest Continuous Truss Bridge
The magnificent Astoria-Megler Bridge stands out as a star in a landscape tattooed with bridges. The iconic patina-green truss marvel connects the quirky, rugged, beachy Evergreen Coast of Washington with Oregon’s colorful jewelry box port town of Astoria. As impressive as it is that we have the world’s longest continuous truss bridge, it’s even wilder that it may be the only bridge built by clowns.
Trucking over this bridge is essential on any quirky road trip from Seattle. Travel between Washington and Oregon while suspended almost 200 feet above the beautiful Columbia River. You’ll feel like you are ascending into the clouds. Peer into the water, and you may see carousing whales, endless boats, and an occasional jaw-dropping cruise ship.
Tap Into Your Inner Goonie
Image Courtesy of: Danelle Dodds
Leaving our beaches is tough, but sometimes you want to explore the surrounding area, especially if you’re a Goonie at heart. Since you’re already on the bridge, skip over to Astoria for a few hours and visit a few locations from the beloved 80s movie, The Goonies. Start at the Oregon Film Museum and stroll through the jail set where the Fratellis broke free. Inside, you’ll find costumes, props, and a bubble chart lovingly dedicated to film darling Corey Feldman. Outside, take pictures with the second most famous Bronco to ever evade police capture. Then, cross the street to finish off at the iconic Favel House featured in the movie. A Goonie day visit to Astoria is the perfect cherry on your quirky road trip from Seattle down the Evergreen Coast.
By: Danelle Dodds
Danelle is an international traveler, road tripper, writer, and artist. She firmly believes in testing the limits of word count, mileage, and AYCE sushi.