So, my overnight trip to Eureka. I have driven up there before, but never both times in full daylight. It's an extremely fun road trip for how short it is: once you head out of Santa Rosa, you get those fun backwoods Americana towns and stops and roadside places. And it's not just the jerky stands and gift shops with tie-dye; you also drive by a Bigfoot curio shop, a "mystery spot," the famous One Log House, a mineral and rock museum, and, of course, the requisite treehouses and/or "drive thru" trees - you don't order anything there, you just experience the novelty of driving THRU a tree, which as weird in fact as it sounds in theory.
This time I took a little more time and stopped at different places, including a new casino (Bear something, Bear River, Bear Lake, Bear Creek?) where they had yet another new Star Wars slot machine (this one was Droid Hunt - they are really reaching with these themes) and, rather inexplicably, a couple of Godfather (yes, the movie) machines. You get three Marlon Brandos and you win...something. The machines play the super mellow slow Godfather theme, which is really out of place in a casino.
I also stopped in Ferndale, billed as a preserved Victorian town - from the Gold Rush era, started as a farm town but then made wealthy, apparently, by their dairy production....the building were known as "Butterfat Palaces." And so often, when you hear about cute little towns, you get there and there's nothing but the same tchotsky tourist crap in storefronts of varying states of preservation. But this one was different...nice...had some artisan shops with local goods, a small theatre that still puts on shows, local bakers and even a chocolatier. The woman at the candy store was so old I had to ask how long she'd been running it, and was surprised to hear it was only 37 years. She must have had a first (and maybe) second career before settling down.
There's a few amazingly preserved inns that made me feel like I was in the middle of a Glenn Ford western, and once again, I resented my temporal timing, or whatever fate it was that caused me to lamentably live in a time where we don't wear corsets OR hats. Not even gloves, anymore, except for warmth, and let me say, it's a bummer. So it was nice to see some of the old shops, like the cool general drug store that stocked modern stuff that could look old (like china and glass and products with really old-school labels; I saw Sen Sen) as well as actual old things, like ivory buttons and daguerreotypes.
A few miles south of that, you can catch the Avenue of the Giants, and enjoy a lovely 25 miles of being very close to the giant trees. There's plenty of places where you can casually pull over, and stand under the trees, or hike a little if you are so inclined - which I was. A few steps and suddenly, I am Middle Earth, or something that looks like it, and I once again marvel at the tracking and pathing abilities of hobbits or Numenoreans. I mean, we're all used to sidewalks and paths and dirt trails, and we forget - or at least I do - how tangled and difficult undergrowth can be. Walking through a forest without a path would be incredibly slow going, not at all like I've always imagined the Fellowship of the Ring slogging through.
However, it's very easy to drive, and it was especially lovely with the late afternoon sun slanting through the trees, and the R. Carlos Nakai I put on was extremely appropriate, and soothing. I was very relaxed by the time I hit Willits, where I had decided to stop for dinner. I stopped at charming little bookstore that I also stopped in last time (when I was there for only minutes), and browsed at leisure. I bought a pocket Rumi, discussed ukuleles (they had LOST of uke books, all of which I either already had or know of but don't want), and got a recommendation for a decent restaurant, which turned out to be the Mexican one next store. It was OK - let's just say, I was thinking I maybe should have done the Chinese one instead, but still, it was fun. I love the big metal "Willits" town sign that arches over "Gateway to the Redwoods" on one side and "Heart of Mendocino County" on the other, depending on which way you are headed. It's very adorable and funky and makes you feel like you really are in the good part of America.
Once you are down in Santa Rosa, things are pretty much back to normal, and start to look like the California I know and love, but there was one more stop, which was Lucky Mojo (http://www.luckymojo.com/), a sort of "hoodoo, magic, sacred" shop that sells herbs of all sorts (I picked up some Balm of Gilead dried buds, and a High John the Conqueror root, which Caroline Casey suggests can be a very useful herb), spell books, magic candles, pendulums, stones and crystals and all manner of little fascinating curios. It was like being in a cross between Alice in Wonderland, Narnia, Lothlorian, New Orleans and a medieval shop straight out of Morrowind, a single-player computer role-playing game that I know from watching my partner play - it was like a shop from the dreamworld, just marvelous.
And that was my trip to Eureka. If you ever go, I suggest checking out Lucky Mojo, and the Bear Somethingt Casino, and Ferndale the preserved Victorian town, and the Gem & Mineral Museum. I recommend skipping the "Legend of Bigfoot" roadside tourist shop - the chainsaw wood carvings don't really look any better up close. I highly recommend the Avenue of the Giants. Redwoods galore. Put on some Bob Dylan (last time it was Biograph, this time it was Another Side of Bob Dylan - recorded, actually, in one session on June 9th; he premiered some of the songs at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival), and head north from SF on the 80. Have fun.
This time I took a little more time and stopped at different places, including a new casino (Bear something, Bear River, Bear Lake, Bear Creek?) where they had yet another new Star Wars slot machine (this one was Droid Hunt - they are really reaching with these themes) and, rather inexplicably, a couple of Godfather (yes, the movie) machines. You get three Marlon Brandos and you win...something. The machines play the super mellow slow Godfather theme, which is really out of place in a casino.
I also stopped in Ferndale, billed as a preserved Victorian town - from the Gold Rush era, started as a farm town but then made wealthy, apparently, by their dairy production....the building were known as "Butterfat Palaces." And so often, when you hear about cute little towns, you get there and there's nothing but the same tchotsky tourist crap in storefronts of varying states of preservation. But this one was different...nice...had some artisan shops with local goods, a small theatre that still puts on shows, local bakers and even a chocolatier. The woman at the candy store was so old I had to ask how long she'd been running it, and was surprised to hear it was only 37 years. She must have had a first (and maybe) second career before settling down.
There's a few amazingly preserved inns that made me feel like I was in the middle of a Glenn Ford western, and once again, I resented my temporal timing, or whatever fate it was that caused me to lamentably live in a time where we don't wear corsets OR hats. Not even gloves, anymore, except for warmth, and let me say, it's a bummer. So it was nice to see some of the old shops, like the cool general drug store that stocked modern stuff that could look old (like china and glass and products with really old-school labels; I saw Sen Sen) as well as actual old things, like ivory buttons and daguerreotypes.
A few miles south of that, you can catch the Avenue of the Giants, and enjoy a lovely 25 miles of being very close to the giant trees. There's plenty of places where you can casually pull over, and stand under the trees, or hike a little if you are so inclined - which I was. A few steps and suddenly, I am Middle Earth, or something that looks like it, and I once again marvel at the tracking and pathing abilities of hobbits or Numenoreans. I mean, we're all used to sidewalks and paths and dirt trails, and we forget - or at least I do - how tangled and difficult undergrowth can be. Walking through a forest without a path would be incredibly slow going, not at all like I've always imagined the Fellowship of the Ring slogging through.
However, it's very easy to drive, and it was especially lovely with the late afternoon sun slanting through the trees, and the R. Carlos Nakai I put on was extremely appropriate, and soothing. I was very relaxed by the time I hit Willits, where I had decided to stop for dinner. I stopped at charming little bookstore that I also stopped in last time (when I was there for only minutes), and browsed at leisure. I bought a pocket Rumi, discussed ukuleles (they had LOST of uke books, all of which I either already had or know of but don't want), and got a recommendation for a decent restaurant, which turned out to be the Mexican one next store. It was OK - let's just say, I was thinking I maybe should have done the Chinese one instead, but still, it was fun. I love the big metal "Willits" town sign that arches over "Gateway to the Redwoods" on one side and "Heart of Mendocino County" on the other, depending on which way you are headed. It's very adorable and funky and makes you feel like you really are in the good part of America.
Once you are down in Santa Rosa, things are pretty much back to normal, and start to look like the California I know and love, but there was one more stop, which was Lucky Mojo (http://www.luckymojo.com/), a sort of "hoodoo, magic, sacred" shop that sells herbs of all sorts (I picked up some Balm of Gilead dried buds, and a High John the Conqueror root, which Caroline Casey suggests can be a very useful herb), spell books, magic candles, pendulums, stones and crystals and all manner of little fascinating curios. It was like being in a cross between Alice in Wonderland, Narnia, Lothlorian, New Orleans and a medieval shop straight out of Morrowind, a single-player computer role-playing game that I know from watching my partner play - it was like a shop from the dreamworld, just marvelous.
And that was my trip to Eureka. If you ever go, I suggest checking out Lucky Mojo, and the Bear Somethingt Casino, and Ferndale the preserved Victorian town, and the Gem & Mineral Museum. I recommend skipping the "Legend of Bigfoot" roadside tourist shop - the chainsaw wood carvings don't really look any better up close. I highly recommend the Avenue of the Giants. Redwoods galore. Put on some Bob Dylan (last time it was Biograph, this time it was Another Side of Bob Dylan - recorded, actually, in one session on June 9th; he premiered some of the songs at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival), and head north from SF on the 80. Have fun.
I love all the details in this post -- I could almost picture things while reading about them. I have heard lots of good about Ferndale; there is a well-known B&B there. Thanks for the recommendations! =)
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