Coaching for Pizza: Victorian Ferndale and the Avenue of the Giants

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

There is simply so much to see along the northern California coastline. We were in for a wonderful day of sightseeing.

I hope that you will enjoy coming along with us today.

We started the day in Arcata, California on a brisk, clear morning.

We found this beautiful Victorian

home at the crest of a hill on our

way to visiting one of son Michael's

former college haunts, Humboldt State

This interesting old shop now houses

a dining/drinking establishment

Our son Michael in a photo from 1996 as

a DB for the Humboldt State Lumberjacks

He had a great time playing for the 'Jacks.

I said that we were going to visit the Humboldt State campus but then we started to see something odd.

What the heck is Cal Poly Humboldt?

Of course we knew of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly Pomona but neither one of us had ever heard of this Cal Poly Humboldt campus.

At the campus entrance it still says

Humboldt State University

But it also says Cal Poly Humboldt

We queried a few of the locals about this apparent discrepancy only to find out that the University underwent this name change in January of 2022.

Now we knew the rest of the story.

The University was closed for the

Thanksgiving Holiday

With no students on campus, it was the perfect time for this young deer to explore the campus.

A recent, great accomplishment but

the Humboldt State football team

has been undefeated since 2019

That was the year that the Lumberjacks football program was disbanded due to escalating costs.

Humboldt State fielded football teams from 1924-2018.

During that time, they won 11 conference championships and amassed a record of 402-395-21 (.504). The Lumberjacks final crown, the 2015 Great Northwest Conference Championship was earned during a 10-2 season.

The Lumberjacks call . . .

. . . the Redwood Bowl their home

They need to change this sign

at the softball field

Ever southward, ever slowly southward . . .

Another gorgeous building. This

one was in Eureka and we found it!

At the various hotels that we've stayed in this past week, there was alway a rack full of brochures detailing places of interest that tourists needed to visit in the vicinity.

Two of them caught our eyes and we decided to visit both decidedly different venues.

The first stop was at the Victorian

town of Ferndale, California

population 1,396

The Ferndale brochure states that, "Ferndale is a hidden oasis of small town charm, spectacular scenery and vibrant North Coast culture."

After visiting this quaint village, we could not agree more.

Loved this Barn Quilt just outside

of downtown Ferndale

Ferndale H.S. Wildcats

8-4 in football in 2023

But their season is not done yet.

The #5 seeded Wildcats will play the #2 seeded, 9-3 Willits H.S. Wolverines on Friday at Ukiah H.S. for the C.I.F.-North Coast Section Division 7 Championship.

The winner will move on to the California State Semi-Final in their division the following weekend.

Go Wildcats GO!

Our first stop in downtown

Ferndale was at this drug store

that has been in continuous

operation since 1895

Laurie bought this football gnome

in Ring's Drugs window

Downtown Ferndale is awash

with bright, rich colors

Just love these brilliant,

old edifices

An Independent Order of Odd Fellows

building on Main Street

The Gazebo Building built in 1898

was empty, anybody want to open

a business with me in Ferndale?

More info on the historic

Gazebo Building

This is where I first found Laurie

spending more of our disposable

income to support the local economy

The kind hearted merchants of Ferndale welcomed us warmly.

Looking good, feeling GREAT!

I resisted the temptation but just barely.

Ferndale's Catholic Church

My Mother was born on the

Feast of the Assumption

Her name, Asunción, is Assumption in Spanish.

What a coincidence.

Like something out of

Andy Griffith Show

Interesting iron work

holding up . . .

. . . this gnarly tree in front of

the Blacksmith Shop

We had to enter this shop.

A pot bellied stove would be

a nice addition to Casa Contreras

The Blacksmith's work area

Orderly Tools of the Trade

Of course, the local

U.S. Post Office was cute

What else did you expect?

We asked some locals for the best coffee spot in Ferndale.

The eclectic Mind's Eye Manufactory &

Coffee Lounge was the unanimous choice

Through that glass door behind the Coffee Lounge lies another business concern. It that specializes in building hand crafted wooden kayaks, as well as classes on building them.

There is one of their creations

on the wall of the Coffee Lounge

I was tempted to play that drum

while sipping my delicious maple latte

The Mind's Eye has the perfect

ambience for this fun community

Their apple-peanut butter turnover was a huge hit with all of the Cubans in town.

The Golden Gait Mercantile, just four doors down from the Mind's Eye, has just about everything you could ever need.

It also had a small museum of note on its second floor.

Finally, a simple explanation

describing the ancient Chinese

technique of Foot-Binding

See, I told you that the Golden Gait Mercantile has all you ever need.

More from the museum showing

the early days of the Mercantile

Need some grains or beans?

The Golden Gait Mercantile strikes yet again!

We spent well over two hours shopping and talking to so many pleasant people. It was a stop well worth it as far as we were concerned.

Ever southward, ever slowly southward . . .

A random Vista Point stop along

our route to our next spot

This was the second travel

brochure that peaked our interest

The Avenue of the Giants is a scenic 31 mile road winding through the spectacular redwood groves of the Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

These Redwood trees can live to be over 2,200 years old and reach as much as 380 feet in height.

They are simply magnificent!

The start of our drive

These Redwoods are

indeed quite tall

Laurie looked tiny next

to this Redwood . . .

. . . REALLY tiny!

The canopy of Redwoods makes

for perfect conditions to grow

both moss . . .

. . . and ferns

We could not stop looking up

The Avenue of the Giants

just kept going

After all, the Humboldt Redwoods State Park is 51,222 acres of incredible old-growth forest dense with these ancient giants.

One trunk split into two crowns

We drove a little more than half way down the Avenue of the Giants before realizing how late it was getting. We still had a long way to go to get to our target city of San José, California for the night.