There’s a saying you get told a lot as a mother. The days are long, but the years are short. And while I generally find it to be true (especially with small kids), the past 12 months have felt particularly long.
After a routine mammogram last May, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and spent the following months undergoing treatments and multiple surgeries. In March, the majority of it was behind me. With a clean bill of health and the brain fog of chemo slowly dissipating, I decided a small celebration was in order.
As a longtime fan of former Seattle chef Heather Earnhardt’s fried chicken and anything quirky, I cajoled my best friend into a getaway to Tokeland for a weekend where we could just hang out, laugh and eat some really good food at Washington’s oldest hotel. It’s located on the southwestern edge of the state, and I think we fell in love with Tokeland immediately upon arrival — and we weren’t the only ones. The first time Earnhardt and her partner Zac Young stayed at the Tokeland Hotel, Earnhardt knew she was going to one day buy it.
Neither of them was from the area — just in town because Young’s father lived nearby and was watching their children — so the couple decided to “go stay at that old hotel.” “No one was here,” Young says. “It was dark and [the owner] just left the keys.
It was quite a unique experience.” When Young’s dad found out the hotel was for sale in 2018, Earnhardt and Young jumped at the chance to buy it. Earnhard.