There are times in life when you see and experience things that are difficult to wrap your head around. How do you interpret what is in front of you? This week Betty & I had one of those experiences. But before I elaborate, here are a couple more pictures from our current campsite at Pacific Beach State Park in Washington State.
This pic taken over a decade ago, was posted Dec.3, 2017, and again Nov.1, 2021 as a memorable camp spot – site #5 at Pacific Beach .The seagrass has grown a little higher, and Charlie found his way into this pic at site #7. But the same wine glasses helped to replicate the earlier experience and vibe. lolAlmost every night we are seeing amazing sunsets over the Pacific – too many to keep adding to this blog… But I had to post this one taken with my new telephoto lens. It shows crashing waves that must have been at least 10 feet high, almost touching the setting sun. You can just make out the birds in the foreground that perform a spectacular ballet at the beach every sunset.
Ok, on to the main story. Betty & I will often go for a drive around the area where we are camped, just to get the lay of the land and see local attractions. One of the features we like about our current spot is the proximity of the local town, Pacific Beach. It is immediately adjacent to our campground and an easy walk for basic needs.
One of the open shops on Pacific Beach’s Main Street.
The town appears a little run-down just now, with many shops and residences closed and seemingly abandoned. But I think it is more a seasonal issue, and we are here in the off-season. There is still a hotel and restaurant, gas station, post office, elementary school, church, and most other facilities one would find in a small community.
Not sure if this was a home or a store, but in any event, it’s closed.. It’s likely not a fair representation of Pacific Beach, a really quaint little town.
But just about a kilometer south, we found something unexpected. Not listed on any of our hardcopy maps, but showing up on “Google maps” is a brand-new community. Called “Seabrook”, the town is at least as large as any I lived in growing up – if not larger. While I have a fairly innate sense of direction, there were times without our gps that I wasn’t sure where we were and where we were going! Had we entered The Twilight Zone?
This sign invites a visit to a structure that doesn’t yet exist on the land behind the sign.
We found Seabrook to be both attractive and disconcerting. The shops, homes, streets and parks were all pristine – no garbage anywhere and not a blade of grass out of place. Yes, it was totally attractive, but spookily surreal at the same time. It could all have been part of a “Truman Show” set (with Jim Carrey) or “Pleasantville” (with Reese Witherspoon & Jeff Daniels). Let me explain more through the captions on the following pictures.
All the buildings in Seabrook – both shops and residences – are designed to look like they were built 100 years ago, when in fact most would not have been here last year! This real estate office commands a prime location on Main Street.This cute shop with a wine cafe on the main floor, and presumably apartments above, is across the street from the real estate office.These cedar-shake clad, maritime style shops, including a soon-to-open barber shop, are on a busy side street. Check out the cute car behind the town’s security vehicle.The whole community appears planned, down to the smallest details. Many old tourist towns – like Bayfield, Ontario – where my parents lived, had little shops you found down back lanes – opened organically as space in the main commercial districts became filled. Seabrook is starting with brand new back lane shops. They look old-style, but it’s all designed to look that way!As you look down Main Street, you see the white steepled Town Hall on a curve in the street, making it a dominant feature from many vantage points.The hundreds of brand-new homes in town are all designed to look like they were built 100 years ago. Betty & I both find that style very attractive, with the wide front porches and colourful siding. Nearly all have “historic style” name plates. This one is called “L’Amour the Mer-ier”. lolAnother attractive feature is that none of these are cookie-cutter. Betty & I have visited new communities that only had a handful of styles, with many simply mirror images of the houses next door. These century-old looking buildings all give the impression of having been constructed by different architects in different decades.There is a full mixture of single, two story, and two and a half story homes in Seabrook.More interesting home styles, on pristine, traditional suburban streets.While we didn’t go into any of the carefully staged homes, I couldn’t help but imagine that the interiors were similarly staged – with open floor plans, hardwood floors, large kitchen islands, stainless steel appliances, farmhouse sinks, yada, yada, yada…It didn’t appear that anything was left to chance in this make-believe town – even the piece of driftwood in the “ditch” between the street and the homes looks staged.There are small and large parks all over town, all immaculately kept. The homes in this pic all face the park, with access presumably through back lanes. In this park is a fire pit with a built-in seating area. And of course the firewood is already provided.Speaking of back lanes – there are narrow, immaculate back lanes almost everywhere, with most having carriage-houses above the garages: Another concept that flourished a century ago; died out; and is now revitalized as cities need to increase density in order to afford services. Seabrook is starting with this old approach to increasing density!I know none of the history of Seabrook, and my interpretation may be all wrong. But it appears to be a totally, thoroughly, well-planned, attractive community – even down to the addition of a “blind corner”. Being a brand new community, I’m sure it could have been designed without a blind corner, but think it was added on purpose, giving the illusion of organic development.Fascinated by the architecture and community spaces, I couldn’t help but take dozens of pictures. These are just a handful of the many interesting images in this seemingly make-believe town. Btw, we didn’t see any of the features from Pacific Beach: No school, gas station, church, (many towns and cities around the world were designed with churches as dominant landmarks in the communities), grocery store (although an open air market is planned for week-ends in the summer). There appears nothing that was not approved by a single developer – nothing organically built over decades – only attractive new/old buildings and spaces. Definitely no garbage or graffiti. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but we found it a little spooky and disconcerting: Very much “Pleasantville”.On a prominent location on Main Street (with the Town Hall designed like a church in the distant background) sits this over-sized adirondack chair. It faces the Pacific Ocean at the bottom of the hill on which the town is perched. Many of the town’s residences sport adirondack chairs, often with colourful cushions displayed. It was impossible to tell from this visit whether they were staged or real…
Were we witnessing a staged movie set, or an actual community? It was one of those experiences that’s difficult to get one’s head around. Maybe only time will tell how Seabrook evolves, but in the meantime, Betty & I were left with a real head-scratcher. Was it real, or was it fake? Hope you can better interpret life as you see it on your travels!
