A Quarter-century in Paradise
Twenty-five years ago today - February 26, 1982 - I first set foot in Humboldt County, California, and my life changed forever. During the five short days that followed, this born-and-raised urban Angeleno fell in love with Humboldt, and the quaint, quiet little rural college town of Arcata in particular. After a second visit in August of that year, I determined to make Arcata my new home. Over the next few months, I sold or gave away more than half of my worldly possessions in preparation for my move, and on April 2, 1983, my dream came true. I left the nest of my birth and began a whole new life in my idyllic adopted home town.
Time changes everything, though, and Arcata was no exception. By the mid-'90s, the town I loved was all but gone. Physically the place wasn't much changed, but the population had become increasingly urbanized, to the point that, by the turn of the century, Arcata had lost its rustic charm. Gone, too, were most of the places and institutions that were familiar to me in my early years here...
Al Capone's
Alliance Market
The Arcata Theatre
Arcata Bowl
Arcata Burger Bar (R.I.P. Lillian, 2/17/2007)
Arcata Drive-In Theater
Arcata Stereo
The Bank Of Loleta trailer
Barter's Smarter
Ben Franklin
Beno's
Big 'O' Tire
Bim's
Bistrin's
The Blue Goose
Casa de Que Pasa
Crocker Bank
The (original) Depot
Downtown with no panhandlers
The Epi(curean)
The "Essence" sculpture at the Sunset Ave southbound 101 on/offramps
The Far Side Cafe
Franklin's Chevron
Frankly Delicious
Garcia's
The Greyhound Bus terminal
Humboldt Federal Savings
"Humboldt Honeys"
Isackson Motors
The (original) Jambalaya
Janes Road Flea Mart
Jonah's Seafood Restaurant (where my father ate his last meal)
Kelly's
Larry's Market
(The original) Luzmila's
Marino's Club
Matthews Art Shop
McKinley's statue with its steps still showing
Mojo's
MTVideo
Ottavio's
Paradise Ridge Cafe
Pay Less Drug Store
P.C. Sacchi's
Phillips Camera Shop (before it was Phillip's)
The Plaza Gourmet
Ramada Inn (where Dad had his fatal heart attack)
The Record Store
The Red Pepper
Red Roach Records
Rico's Taco Wagon
"The Ronald Reagan Memorial Redwood Grove" (actually still there, just nobody knows it by this name anymore)
Rosalinda's
Seely & Titlow
Seely's Photography
Sentry
Spier's Appliance
Sprouse Reitz
The Union
Thrifty Drug Store
(The original) Tin Can Mailman
Toni's as a walk-up diner
Valley West Laundramat [sic]
Neil Watter, M.D.
Youngberg's
I know that today, people still come from L.A. and S.F. and elsewhere and see Arcata with the same eyes I saw it 25 years ago. Even now, it must appear as a Heaven on Earth to those who were born and raised in our hellish big cities. But know this: Arcata today is nothing - NOTHING - like it used to be. The town has completely shed its old skin, and it's a different creature now altogether.
But Humboldt County and the rest of the North Coast is still one of the best places to live on the whole planet - there's no doubt of that. And moving here was one of the best decisions I ever made. I do miss the old Humboldt, though. I miss it quite a lot...
Time changes everything, though, and Arcata was no exception. By the mid-'90s, the town I loved was all but gone. Physically the place wasn't much changed, but the population had become increasingly urbanized, to the point that, by the turn of the century, Arcata had lost its rustic charm. Gone, too, were most of the places and institutions that were familiar to me in my early years here...
Al Capone's
Alliance Market
The Arcata Theatre
Arcata Bowl
Arcata Burger Bar (R.I.P. Lillian, 2/17/2007)
Arcata Drive-In Theater
Arcata Stereo
The Bank Of Loleta trailer
Barter's Smarter
Ben Franklin
Beno's
Big 'O' Tire
Bim's
Bistrin's
The Blue Goose
Casa de Que Pasa
Crocker Bank
The (original) Depot
Downtown with no panhandlers
The Epi(curean)
The "Essence" sculpture at the Sunset Ave southbound 101 on/offramps
The Far Side Cafe
Franklin's Chevron
Frankly Delicious
Garcia's
The Greyhound Bus terminal
Humboldt Federal Savings
"Humboldt Honeys"
Isackson Motors
The (original) Jambalaya
Janes Road Flea Mart
Jonah's Seafood Restaurant (where my father ate his last meal)
Kelly's
Larry's Market
(The original) Luzmila's
Marino's Club
Matthews Art Shop
McKinley's statue with its steps still showing
Mojo's
MTVideo
Ottavio's
Paradise Ridge Cafe
Pay Less Drug Store
P.C. Sacchi's
Phillips Camera Shop (before it was Phillip's)
The Plaza Gourmet
Ramada Inn (where Dad had his fatal heart attack)
The Record Store
The Red Pepper
Red Roach Records
Rico's Taco Wagon
"The Ronald Reagan Memorial Redwood Grove" (actually still there, just nobody knows it by this name anymore)
Rosalinda's
Seely & Titlow
Seely's Photography
Sentry
Spier's Appliance
Sprouse Reitz
The Union
Thrifty Drug Store
(The original) Tin Can Mailman
Toni's as a walk-up diner
Valley West Laundramat [sic]
Neil Watter, M.D.
Youngberg's
I know that today, people still come from L.A. and S.F. and elsewhere and see Arcata with the same eyes I saw it 25 years ago. Even now, it must appear as a Heaven on Earth to those who were born and raised in our hellish big cities. But know this: Arcata today is nothing - NOTHING - like it used to be. The town has completely shed its old skin, and it's a different creature now altogether.
But Humboldt County and the rest of the North Coast is still one of the best places to live on the whole planet - there's no doubt of that. And moving here was one of the best decisions I ever made. I do miss the old Humboldt, though. I miss it quite a lot...