Last week, I spent a day driving north through the Skagit Valley to Bellingham, on the awe-inspiring Chuckanut Drive. This one day felt like an epic escape. My friend and I hiked down to the beach, up the coastline, and sunned ourselves on big rocks; we stopped and peeked in at the oyster beds at Blau Oysters on Samish Island. For breakfast, we ate a pork chop and a sausage patty and eggs at Don's Restaurant (open 24 hours) in Everett; for dinner, a pound of manila clams and six Blau oyster shooters at the La Conner Tavern. Sometimes you just need to get out of town to remind yourself that everything can taste delicious and new.

The long Memorial Day weekend is the perfect excuse to take a ferry ride and cross the beautiful blue-gray expanse of the Hood Canal Bridge for a quick trip to the Olympic Peninsula. And ShrimpFest 2008, which takes place in the town of Brinnon, is the perfect chance for you to watch some belt-sander races while gorging yourself on local Hood Canal spot shrimp. If you're hungry for more seafood, you're in luck: Just south of Brinnon lie the Duckabush flats, where the tide will likely be low enough to harvest clams and oysters (though you'll need a license to do that). If a road trip and mass amounts of fresh seafood aren't incentive enough, there's also the charming, official description of ShrimpFest's idyllic location: "the grassy field on the north side of the Dosewallips River."

Hood Canal ShrimpFest in Brinnon is Sat May 24, 10 am–6 pm, and Sun May 25, 10 am–5 pm, free. For directions visit www.emeraldtowns.org/shrimpfest.htm.