We woke to glorious sunshine and it lasted all day. The plan today was to visit Eureka, just 20 miles or so south of Trinidad. Our previous sole contact with Eureka is driving through it on the way to Trinidad and stopping at the Trinidad Costco Eureka (population: 27,000), for your information, is the largest coastal city between San Francisco and Portland, Oregon and the westernmost city of more than 25,000 residents in the 48 contiguous states. Our modest plan was to visit its zoo and its historic old town and to have lunch.
Click on the galleries below to bring up scrollable windows with full size pictures – the gallery previews may show just thumbnails of the pictures.
The Sequoia Park Zoo
The Sequoia Park Zoo is small and its most noted feature is not animals. It has the Redwood Sky Walk through a redwood grove. Remember, we are in redwood country. (Aside: we saw absolutely no sign of fires in our drive from Scottsdale to Bakersfield to Santa Rosa to Trinidad.) The skywalk is exceptionally well done and we enjoyed it. Of course, we also saw animals. No lions, tigers, or elephants here. Bears are coming to a new enclosure being built. Our favorite were the red pandas which we saw being fed. The eagles were impressive as was the scarlet ibis. So here are pictures of the skywalk and our stroll through the animal enclosures. It’s a fun zoo!
The Sky Walk
The Animals
Eureka Old Town
Old town is interesting. Obviously regentrified, it is filled with old Victorian buildings, the most impressive of which is the Carson Mansion. It has been reborn as a private club. You can’t go in (too bad, for it must be filled with interesting nooks and crannies), but it is certainly impressive from the outside. Another restored structure is the Pinc Lady. And there is a yellow building that is now a large B&B. You’ll be able to easily pick these three out by the colors in the galleries below. There are also some colorful murals and old commercial buildings including the old theater and a bank. We had a good walk around and then adjourned for lunch within Old Town at the . . .
The Lost Coast Brewing Company
The Lost Coast Brewing Company specializes in burgers and, of course, beer. Since we have a big dinner planned tonight, we wanted something less. Elaine had a bowl of New England clam chowder and a Lost Coast IPA. I had a (too big!) Caesar salad and a Revenant IPA. Good lunch!
Then it was home for naps and ocean watching. We have seen a couple of large grey whales, lots of seals and/or sea lions, and plenty of birds. Elaine also saw a guy swimming alone out in the middle of the bay. Weird. No boat near him. We’re not sure where he came from, but he did make it back to shore, a long swim. We had the odd cocktail on the sun shiney deck before getting ready for dinner.
The Larupin’ Cafe
The Larupin’ Cafe is certainly eclectic. And busy! We had a great meal. They provide a gratis house appetizer platter – home made bread, two cheeses, chicken pâté, a mustard, and salmon on cucumber. I added four delicious oysters to the mix. For mains, Elaine had STUFFED BELL PEPPER & PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM – feta and herb stuffed bell pepper served over a large portobello mushroom then finished with braising greens and pine nuts – along with house salad and sweet potato. I had scrumptious LAMB CHOPS – Kosher, Australian lamb drizzled with port wine, balsamic & fig reduction – with house salad and a twice baked potato. For dessert Elaine had a lemon tart, more like a cheesecake, and I had crème brûlée. We cross tasted. The wine was a 2014 Manzoni pinot noir. Great meal.
And then it was home to bed under the most star filled sky I have seen in many years. I wish you could take a pictures of the stars. All in all, a perfect day!