25 September 2012
Eureka, CA

Kick ass wifi signal, decent tea drinks and cool waitstaff.

Well, it's my last night in Eureka and I can't say that I'm all too sad about it.  Not that Eureka is horrible; it's just this side if horrible which makes it tolerable.  The population is comprised mainly of Humbodlt homies, homeless people, and the occasional tourist.  Sad really.  But hey, when in Rome, appreciate the scenery they say.  So I tried.  I found myself spending lots of time at the Old Town Cafe and Chocolates which had a strong wifi signal and decent tea drinks.  A couple of night ago I was there and sat in on an acoustic set by a guy from Austin, Texas.  He did riffs of country songs with improvised lyrics which were mostly hysterical, especially his parody of "A Coal Miner's Daughter".  He ended up talking to some locals who introduced him to the world of  couch surfing.  Not sure if he ended up "surfing" that night but he indicated that he had just come from Seattle and Portland and was making his way south.  Despite his parents' push to enter grad school, Austin (that was actually his name and home town) was determined to make it on the road.  Good for him; and I dropped a buck in his open guitar case.

Tonight's dinner consisted of salmon, that Kathy from Rhythm procured from fishermen in Neah Bay, and sauteed vegetables.  It was hilarious to watch as Kathy and Stacey walked down the pier in Neah Bay and approached a fishing boat with the intent of buying a fish from them.  They asked if the guys would sell them a fish, the guys asked how many people were on thier boat, Kathy said four but they were actually with another boat, so six altogether.  The fisherman handed her two chinook salmons and would not accept any payment for the fish.  Kathy was dumbstruck by the generosity but promptly returned to Rhythm with the intent on filleting the fish.

Kathy and Aaron filleting salmon a la You-Tube.

As I looked over from the cockpit of Osprey, I saw Kathy and Aaron in the cockpit of Rhythm discussing the finer points of filleting a salmon, all the while watching a You-Tube video on how to fillet a salmon! The instructional video proved to be successful and Kathy generously came over bearing a fillet of salmon, expertly filleted!  Good job Kathy!

More Victorian-era architecture.

Well, not much more to blog about, but I wanted to post more pictures from Eureka so here you go...I hope you enjoy the random shots I've taken while in town.

The brown pelican that dove for food daily by the boat.

Try their Pale Ale, Indica IPA and Downtown Brown.