Cherchez le Dip The French dip sandwich you’ve been ordering everywhere in hope of finding a good one isn’t actually French. There, there, mes amis. France can dry its tears on its long list of culinary accomplishments. Or it can stop at Oberon Grill (516 Second St.) to feed its feelings with Nick’s French Dip […]
Visitor’s Guide
Posted inEat + Drink
The Sweet Hereafter
When the spirits of the departed return, you don’t offer them just anything. Sweet, colorful pan de muerto, or bread of the dead, only shows up on altars and tables during the Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations on Nov. 1 and 2. Have you been under a rock? Or on the East Coast? If […]
Posted inNews
Albert and the Baskets
The women in her family made baskets — Yurok, Karuk and Hupa women who, since time immemorial, went into the woods and hills to gather sticks and bark, lily stems and other materials, then pounded, split, dried, dyed and bleached them and wove them into beautiful, strong tools. Baby carriers, hoppers, cooking and eating bowls, […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Baking Beauties
Cosmetically challenged,” read the politically correct sign on a case of apples I saw at a farmers market a few years ago. I applaud the farmer for promoting the blemished or not-perfect-enough, but I would like to propose something bolder: I hereby launch the campaign to focus on those apples’ virtues, labeling them with names […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Saddle Up!
I’m fresh off the trail with Sis Bruner of Redwood Trails Horse Rides. An Orick native, Bruner grew up out by the little red schoolhouse just south of town. As a young girl, when her dad wouldn’t buy her a horse (because you can’t milk a horse) she rode a dairy cow instead. “Years ago,” […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Sour Grapes
Anyone who thinks farm life is simple and idyllic has never tried to preserve without the benefit of gas heat and electric refrigerators. As a kid, I watched my mom make pickles using an heirloom pickling crock and an intimidating amount of wax. The whole process seemed like something best left to the professionals. That […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Hum Plate Roundup
Slow Mocha Is that rain? Quick, run into Café Mokka (495 J St., Arcata), slide into a window seat and watch the back garden get all misty. We can’t afford to waste wet days anymore, so make your mocha a double ($3.10). There is no pit crew of headset-wearing baristas, and you are not going […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Hill of Beans
The farmers market is a source of roiling internal debate. On one hand, there’s the glory of fresh, delicious chard and peaches; on the other, I dread the Battle of the Strollers and small talk with tan people in Tevas. This time of year the cons are definitely outweighed by one giant pro: fresh, unshelled […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Salmon Mountain: Humboldt’s Highest
Around 170 million years ago, in a period geologists call the Middle Jurassic, huge reptiles ruled the seas and skies: quarter-ton pterosaurs above, killer whale-size pliosaurs below. On land, shrew-like mammals were rapidly evolving as they dodged several new species of predatory dinosaurs. Meanwhile, some 20 miles below what we now think of as northeastern […]
Posted inStories
Keep Paddling
The universe is on Marna Powell’s side. “We were driving along Highway 101 and I looked up and saw this hill and I just pointed at it and said, ‘There, I want to live there.’ The next day that property went up for sale. It had never been for sale before.” The hill was just […]
Posted inStories
Humboldt Greens
If you crave a round of golf while in Humboldt County, you’re covered north, south, east and west, with options geographically and economically. Seven courses dot the area ranging from Willow Creek in far eastern Humboldt to Shelter Cove right on the Pacific Ocean in Southern Humboldt. Five are public courses: two nine-holers and three […]
Posted inPerfect Trips
Perfect Fall Trips
You can’t please everybody. Unless you can. Adventurers, artists, epicureans — whether you’re traveling solo or with the whole family, the North Coast has something for every palate and pace. The Outdoorsy Type The Trinity River can be dangerous for visitors unused to its powerful current, not to mention the poison oak and occasional steep […]