Arcata, California - Oregon Trip, Part 10

After Ashland, we took the coastal road back to Berkeley, with a stop at Arcata, Californa for rest and meeting friend.  I had never been to Arcata and was told that it was a big hippie town; however, these advance warning did not prepare me for what I had experienced.

We arrived at the town square - Arcata Plaza, of whose edge my hotel situated, and started to unload our luggage.  As soon as we approached the entrance to our hotel - Hotel Acata - a whiff of strong marijuana smothered me.  Blessedly, it was not so bad inside the hotel. 







The town was quaint and full of characters and quite young.  I also liked the nice bookstore they had.









While waiting for friend at the hotel lobby, I saw a huge crowd cycling through the street and congregated in the center of the plaza, ended with a loud cheer when they all held their bicycles up high.





However, the enthusiasm of the youth went to far at night when our hotel became a party camp - loud music and smoke permeated the building in the middle of night.  It was not until the early morning that the sound died down and I was able to sleep a bit.  Naturally, I feeling towards Arcata turned sour.  But that was short-lived.

We had a nice breakfast at the plaza cafe and then saw a lovely farmer's market and the offerings were very lovely.





Incidentally, that Saturday morning (1 October 2011) was the day that the plaza floor was divided and merchants sponsor a drawing contest.  People started in the early morning and it would be done by noon.  All kinds people participated this event and that totally redeemed Arcata.




















Children were not merely onlookers.  They were given space to express their own creativity as well:





We left before noon and on our way out, we saw a huge mural on the back of one of the buildings surrounding the plaza.  That was a nice goodbye to Arcata.




Related articles:
--> Coastal Northern California and Wine Country - Oregon Trip, Part 11 (The End)
--> Arcata, California - Oregon Trip, Part 10
--> Idyllic Parks and Cute Animals in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 9
--> Art in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 8
--> Natural Bridge and Crater Lake, Oregon - Oregon Trip, Part7
--> It Got Better - Three Plays at Oregon Shakespeare Festival - Oregon Trip, Part 6
--> Ashland Springs Hotel - Oregon Trip, Part 5
--> Ashland, Oregon - Oregon Trip, Part 4
--> A Night at McCloud, California - Oregon Trip, Part 3
--> Burney Falls in McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Shasta County, California - Oregan Trip, Part 2
--> Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, Redding, California - Oregon Trip, Part 1

My Photo of Kirk Theatre, New York on CitySeekr

Last September, I saw a play - Oresteia  in Kirk Theatre, one of the theaters in the Theatre Row, Manhattan.  Last week, I was contacted by CitySeekr.com for permission to use the photo.  Naturally, I granted the use of the photo if they would give me proper credit.



Now, it is the featured picture for Theatre Row, New York on New-York-CitySeekr.com.

It is a wonderful play to see innovative plays and I'm glad they found my picture interesting. 

Idyllic Parks and Cute Animals in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 9

Ashland is a beautiful little town, comfortably nestling in love natural environment.  The best aspect of that was that the downtown main street intersect with a lovely creek, around which was a large Lithia Park, which not only delighted visitors, but served as homes to many wonderful animals.

There were two ponds in the park - Lower and Upper Ponds, connected by the creek.  There were fish, ducks and turtles lived there:



















I was able to capture the sight of three little turtles coming out of the water to sun bath.  They stayed there without moving for a long time:









In the drier part of the park, I saw a several deer enjoying their meals, happy, content and peaceful, without an iota fear of people:













Related articles:
--> Coastal Northern California and Wine Country - Oregon Trip, Part 11 (The End)

--> Arcata, California - Oregon Trip, Part 10
--> Idyllic Parks and Cute Animals in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 9
--> Art in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 8
--> Natural Bridge and Crater Lake, Oregon - Oregon Trip, Part7
--> It Got Better - Three Plays at Oregon Shakespeare Festival - Oregon Trip, Part 6
--> Ashland Springs Hotel - Oregon Trip, Part 5
--> Ashland, Oregon - Oregon Trip, Part 4
--> A Night at McCloud, California - Oregon Trip, Part 3
--> Burney Falls in McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Shasta County, California - Oregan Trip, Part 2
--> Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, Redding, California - Oregon Trip, Part 1

Art in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 8

There were many interesting shops, street art and art galleries in Ashland, Oregon.  It was obvious that people there took great pride in their aesthetics and the presentation of themselves.  Strolling in Ashland was very pleasant therefore and window browsing brought me many surprises.

One of the window shops featured some lovely intriguing shaped lamps and they positively glowed in the evenings and were great enticement for customers.





Other shop - antiques and crafts vied with understated offerings and always interesting and never vulgar:





Well, almost.  This one below is nothing but vulgarity.  It was in a shop full of Chihuly wares, therefore, it was almost mandatory:



But please don't be put off by this silly offering.  Almost next door to it, there was a very serious art gallery - Hanson Howard Gallery, which showcased wonderful oil paintings by nationally renown artists.  The exhibition was "Lost and Found" with paintings by Bobbie Jansen and sculptures by Nelson Davis below.  I particularly love those oil paintings for the composition, the palette, and the ways the paintings were applied. 

Hopscotch, Oil on canvas, 16" X 20" / Distilled Despair, Oil on canvas, 24" X 18" / Two Chair Abstraction, Oil on canvas, 24" X 18"

Morning Candlelight, Oil on canvas, 20" X 20"



I also love the oil paintings by Carol Ingram in the second room of the gallery - they were hauntingly luminous:



Tall Rocks, oil on canvas, 16" X 20" / Waiting, oil on canvas, 24" X 36" / Woman, oil on canvas, 10" X 12"

Indeed there were art work of all levels in every corner of the main streets, such as the dragonfly and the geese in a restaurant and the sculptures and art fountain in the main square below:





 





Even a window in the best coffee house in town (or anywhere), Nobel Coffee, looked like a piece of art:



I was quite satisfied.



Related articles:
--> Coastal Northern California and Wine Country - Oregon Trip, Part 11 (The End)

--> Arcata, California - Oregon Trip, Part 10
--> Idyllic Parks and Cute Animals in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 9
--> Art in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 8
--> Natural Bridge and Crater Lake, Oregon - Oregon Trip, Part7
--> It Got Better - Three Plays at Oregon Shakespeare Festival - Oregon Trip, Part 6
--> Ashland Springs Hotel - Oregon Trip, Part 5
--> Ashland, Oregon - Oregon Trip, Part 4
--> A Night at McCloud, California - Oregon Trip, Part 3
--> Burney Falls in McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Shasta County, California - Oregan Trip, Part 2
--> Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, Redding, California - Oregon Trip, Part 1