Arcata California

Arcata is a town of 17,000 located way up the north coast of Califonia in Humbolt County. The tourist mostly peter out before they get this far. There is a narrow strip of land along this coast and then small mountains. In the summer, it's foggy on this side and boiling on the other. The forest covered mountains are green with redwood trees and federal helicopters flying over at certain times of the year. The older part of the town has many Victorian style houses. Here's a photo of one of the biggest and fanciest.

Humbolt State University swells the population most of the year. My niece Renee lives here. She just got her BA in English. Plans to be a high school teacher. She's one of the reasons that I chose to come to this particular spot. Summer is a less crowded with the school on break. One of the local radio stations plays 60s and 70s rock music all day. Janis wailing about a piece of her heart...

Renee is next to me. She and her friends took me out one night. It's not your eyes. The photo was blurred. Shot in a pub.



There is a gallery on the plaza that is run as a cooperative by twelve artists. The works are various mediums and very high quality. I then spied a shop called the "Humbolt Glassblowers" near the plaza. I thought it would be interesting to see some local glassblowing. I walked into the shop. One wall had a large assortment of equipment for golf frisbie. The other side of the long room had a glass display case with all sizes, shapes and colours of Bongs! They even had padded velour shoulder bags specially for carrying the larger bongs. I guess if you're going to a party and you want to show off your latest addition to your collection... They had a tshirt on a rack that read 'vagetarian'. I liked that.


Renee took me to a ball game. The stadium is just a block from the plaza. (That photo's a baseball diamond for you Aussies.)

There was an interesting band giving a bit of support and entertainment in the stands. A very lively bunch.


The town centre has lovely grass covered plaza. The buildings on the streets surrounding it have been restored and everything is very neat and pretty except for one row of four bars (not taverns or pubs) that have managed to retain a seedy feel about them.

Every Saturday is the farmers market at the plaza. The stalls are set in the street around the perimeter. In the centre of the plaza are a few food stalls and the band for the day. Here's a pic of the local steel drum band. They were really enjoying themselves. The week before it was a raggae band. The week after The Buckey Walters! (Read the post about the Garden House to hear of the Bucky Walters.)

A guy cooking with a solar cooker made from a satellite dish. I think maybe the cover on the rim was to control the heat on his skillet.










Some of the crowd playing and cruising the stalls.



On the second Friday evening of the month,
Shops around the plaza stay open, have free wine and nibblies and live music. A cafe had a jazz qaurtet. The furniture store had a blues band. (Guys my age) They let you sit on the display couches and listen. At the book shop, there was a fiddle, guitar and mandolin playing appalachian music.... Then, on my way home, as I was passing an intimate restaurant/ bar away from the plaza, I happened to look in and discover a guitar, mondolin and double bass playing Jango style gypsy music. They were hot! It was their regular biweekly dinner gig. I went up to the bar and nursed a schooner for a nice long while.

A few blocks away from the centre of town is Cafe Mokka. Finnish saunas and hot tubs. The sauna huts have sod roofs.

The interior shot is the cafe with newspapers and magazines from around the world. It became my favourite hangout. They even had the best prices for refreshments, cakes and snacks in town.








And finally, a few miles up the coast in a small bay is the shortest lighthouse I've ever seen.