Weekend in Eureka

Left Calistoga around noon. Stopped at the Bluebird Cafe in Hopland for lunch. Apparently they are known for serving interesting things like bison and emu. Maybe I should have been more adventurous, I just had a grilled cheese with jalapeno jack and ortega chilies. It was pretty good.

My next stop was Confusion Hill. This is one of those places where gravity is "different"... golf balls roll uphill and a shot-put type ball hanging from the ceiling doesn't hang down, it hangs at a severe angle. The weirdest part was I felt sea-sick. These pictures are from inside the house on Confusion Hill.

Drove through the Avenue of the Giants. It's a much prettier drive than Hwy 101.

Checked in at the Red Lion. I am very impressed with this place. The rooms are large, tastefully decorated, and the staff was very friendly and helpful. Inside the Red Lion is a restaurant and a 'lounge'... ok, it's a bar. It's called R.J. Grin's. I had dinner here and ended up hanging out there the rest of the evening. They have several tv's playing various sports and a pool table. The bar is table height with comfy chairs and the bartender's side of the bar is sunk down. It's a lot more comfortable than a regular bar with barstools.

A lot of people that are in town for the car show are staying at the Red Lion. I met a couple of guys at the bar and hung out with them. It turns out they're from Lakeport... we're practically neighbors.

When I told friends I was coming to Eureka, twice I was told "You have to go to the Samoa Cookhouse!" And i'm glad I did. There's no menu, you get what the cook is serving. This morning it was biscuits & gravy, scrambled eggs, sausage, and french toast. Seconds were offered, but I couldn't eat all of the first serving. The tables are set up 'family style', which is nice when you're dining alone.

This place has been around since the 1880's. Half of the building is the restaurant, the other half is set-up like a museum.

Right next door is the Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum. This place is very small, but has a great collection of local shipbuilding and lighthouse artifacts and shipwreck stories.

Between Samoa and Eureka is Woodley's Island. I stopped at the bar at Woodley's Marina. I had a very good Bloody Mary and chatted with a professional fisherman... what an interesting life!

Next I was going to the Sequoia Park Zoo. I realized that I left my walking shoes at home, so I stopped at Mervyn's and bought some new tennies. It turns out I really didn't need walking shoes for this zoo. It's very small. I could have easily walked this in my sandals. The zoo is very nice and consists mostly of local wildlife.  I didn't take any pictures of the animals, but this is a very large bird-house.

After the zoo, I went downtown. The streets were closed off for the car show and there were a lot of people about. After parking my car, who are the first people I see... Don & George from the bar last night. The picture on the right is of Don's car.

Besides the car show, there was also a swap meet and a salmon barbecue. I didn't stay for the bbq, but I did check out the indian crafts that were on display. I also stopped at a used book store to pick-up an audio book for the trip home.

For lunch I went back to RJ Grin's. VACATION TIP: Always stay at a hotel with it's own bar!

After lunch I went to my room to watch tv. I don't have cable so I thought it would be a treat... I ended up watching the inside of my eyelids instead! Apparently, tv hasn't changed, there's still nothing on!

I decided to go back downtown for dinner. My first stop was Gallagher's Irish Pub & Restaurant, but it was late. The kitchen was closed. So I 'suffered' through a beer without food and then went to the Lost Coast Brewery. I was told this would be my best bet for a late-night dinner. Once there, I again suffered through a beer... this time with food! I tried their Great White beer and some calamari. The Great White is very light with good flavor, I liked it.

You know you picked a good hotel when on the way out the door you take a longing look back at the big comfy bed with the soft pillows and the chair in the corner with the big reading lamp and the sliding glass door to the private balcony and the soft fluffy towels... and you just don't want to leave!!!

After checking out, I went back downtown. I stopped at Old Town Coffee & Chocolates for a bagel and a bucket of coffee to go. I walked to the boardwalk to eat my breakfast. The boardwalk faces Woodley Island, this was my view:

They call it the Victorian Village. As you can probably guess, the whole town is Victorian architecture. It is very pretty. I stopped at Curly's Grill located inside the Victorian Inn. I had an excellent bloody mary. It may have been the best i've ever had... at least it's the best i've had in quite a while!

I am so glad I waited to stop in Ferndale today, instead of on Friday. The entire town, ok, a large portion of town was having a yard sale. So, I walked through some neighborhoods... didn't buy anything, but it was fun.

I stopped for lunch in Ukiah at a place called Pub. It's my kind of place. A sports bar/restaurant. I didn't get to try out the restaurant, but it was opening day of football season and they had free pizza for football fans. Definitely my kind of place!

It's been a great weekend. I'm glad I took Monday off from work. It's always a good sign when you need an extra day to rest up!