Looking for coastal fun without a long drive or risking ocean and river waters that may be too cold and dangerous for newbies in winter and early spring? Try the ultimate local watersport and do a little crabbing. Calmer bay waters and sheltered ocean coves used by recreational fisherman provide great access for the less […]
Visitor’s Guide
Posted inEat + Drink
Hot Wheels
After her camping gear was stolen at the World of Music, Arts and Dance Festival in England, Jennifer Thompson found herself regrouping with friends in the medical tent. As Brits are wont to do in a crisis, someone kindly brought her a cup of tea. “That cup of tea stuck with me,” she says. Later, […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Adventure Club
Kayaking. Pan drumming. Blacksmithing. Beer tasting. Glassblowing. Laughing yoga. Ziplining. In Adventure Club, the escapade is limited only by price and the imagination of the planner. Outings are monthly, with the date and time announced a few weeks before, but the exploit itself remains unknown until the last minute. That’s because the very purpose is […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Matsutake Madness
Matsutake mushrooms are the truffles of Japan. The fall arrival of the dusky fungi, artfully displayed in wooden boxes on sprigs of pine, like high-end shadow boxes, is marked by a frenzy and the abandoning of fiscal reason: A small handful of premium matsutake can run you over 8,000 yen, or $100. This is a lot […]
Posted inShopping
Take it With You
Trinidad Trading Company Trinidad, CA (707) 677-0711 Chemical Wedding Bag $278 Beaded Watch Face Bracelet $68 Mer-Octomaid Flask $22 Salty’s Supply Company Trinidad, CA (707) 677-0300 Salty’s Hat $18 Blue Fishing Lures $1.69 Zen Home Décor & Exotic Gifts Arcata, CA (707) 630-5007 Mermaid Shelf Sitter $45 Mermaid Bookends $40 The Neighborhood Humboldt Arcata, CA (707) […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Hum Plate Roundup
How was your New Year’s Eve? Good? Too good? Here, this will make you feel better. Behind the Eight-Ball So this is not actually “the hair of the dog that bit you.” Which is disgusting if literal and really just about staying drunk if figurative. This is better. The Eight-Ball Stout Chocolate Cheesecake at Lost […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Secrets of Holiday Bartending
All this week, somebody, somewhere, is throwing a party. They will plan the menu and music to the letter, but when it comes to the bar … things fall apart. Short of following a bartending guide to stock up on dozens of ingredients you will likely never use, most people have no idea how to […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Hum Plate Roundup
Pining for Pie How did your Thanksgiving go? Maybe a wedge of Costco’s satellite-dish sized pumpkin pie satisfied your cravings, maybe it didn’t. Even if all your favorites showed up on the table, you are not done with pie. North Coast Co-op’s (25 Fourth St., Eureka; 811 I St., Arcata) pumpkin cream pie is worth […]
Posted inEat + Drink
All Hail the Queen of Kale
Watch a few of Meagen Baldy’s cooking videos and you might just think you’ve found a new best friend. Approachable, spunky and down to earth, she films Cooking Healthy in Indian Country in her own kitchen. Her show airs on the Access Humboldt TV network and has hundreds of followers on YouTube. A Hoopa tribal […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Winter Glow
Asian persimmons are festive: in shades from yellow to red-orange, depending on the variety, they glow in the crystalline light of the final months of the year. In neat rows at farmers’ markets and grocery stores, persimmons look like lanterns lit for a street celebration. Due to a poor season, local supplies are short, so […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Flaming Octopi
When I was a kid, my grandmother called me, my brother and his friends into the kitchen to peer into a boiling pot. In it was an octopus, turning purple and curling up its arms, the flopped head ballooning with heat. Behind us came a loud thump and we turned to see my brother’s friend […]
Posted inNews
EL PULPO MECANICO
The amazing, blazing El Pulpo Mecanico is taking the world by storm. An animated, two-story-tall, fire-spewing mechanical octopus, the sculpture has become perhaps the most famous work by Humboldt County’s best-known artist, but few locally have ever seen Duane Flatmo’s piece in action. Built specifically for the Burning Man festival in 2011, El Pulpo — […]