Camping the NorCal Coast
Discover Crescent City, a hidden gem near the border of Oregon
Crescent City near the Oregon border has become one of our favorite stops on the coast. There’s a lot to recommend this slightly-tawdry little enclave that Highway 101 runs right through: several excellent restaurants, a lighthouse on a tiny island only accessible on foot at low tide; good fishing, surfing at the main beach, a pier with lots of active and silly sea lions to observe, and an RV park that butts up to a beach that goes on practically forever.
The town of Crescent City, California, is also nicely positioned as a stopping point between Brookings, Oregon, on the border of that state (always gas up in Brookings; it’s a dollar less than anything in California!) and the bigger metropolis of Eureka, California. Eureka’s the largest town along the far NorCal coast, a logging enclave that holds down the northern end of the state like a paperweight.
“I know how to cheer you up,” Mike said on our return trip with the Retro as, road-weary, we pulled into Crescent City after leaving Oregon behind—still fruitless in our attempt to buy a home on the coast there. “We’ll go to the jambalaya place on the pier, then visit the lighthouse and watch the sunset.”
We parked the rig at the furthest south RV Park (there are several; all similar in closeness to the beach as long as you choose one on the ocean side) and ate dinner at our favorite restaurant, Schmidt’s House of Jambalaya.
This tasty little bistro is run by a lovely couple passionate about good food; they make classic Cajun dishes that are not only fabulous but reasonably priced. We had po’boys, crawfish etouffee, and delicious French Onion soup; the jambalaya itself is too spicy for our wimpy tastebuds. Washed down with a glass of local red, we were fueled by delicious food and ready for one last adventure that day.
The tide was out and I enjoyed the novelty of crossing the tidepool reef on foot to reach the area’s lighthouse on its little island. The Battery Point Lighthouse is one of the oldest in California, and its little Cape Cod lightkeeper home is still occupied (tours are available, but not at the time of day we were there.)
After crossing the wet reef, we hiked up a curving path to the crown of the island as the sun began to set in streaks of mauve and gold. A few intrepid cypress trees protected the buildings from prevailing winds, thankfully absent this evening, as I studied the historic white clapboard house where a light burned inside and jazz music floated out of an open window trimmed in hardy old-fashioned roses.
Sitting on a boulder beside a crowded, weathered wood observation deck, I dreamed of how wonderful it be to live all year round at that residence. Every day would be a panorama on a tiny island surrounded by water, with seals, birds, whales and fishing boats passing by.
(On the other hand, you’d have to share your tiny island with the public, and that would get old fast…we were far from alone on our sunset trek to Battery Point.)
Streaks of amber, oxblood and maroon lit the low cloud line off the horizon in a dreamscape; before it was entirely dark and too hard to see our way back, we trekked across the reef back to our trailer.
Still restless, I took Koa for a walk on the nearby beach.
One of those elusive extreme happiness moments I’ve randomly experienced all my life occurred as I chased my little dog in the gloaming along the hard silver sand; my brain burst into momentary knowledge of the exquisiteness of being fully aware of being alive. A bubble of bliss encapsulated by the bittersweet sense of an ephemeral moment passing, never to be known again, overwhelmed me—the lucky soul that beheld it.
When I’ve had these moments they were unconnected to any typically predictable situation, or believe me, I’d try to have them more often. Instead, like the stealthy kiss of an invisible angel, they are a random occurrence with only slightly more frequency than being hit by lightning.
And it was Crescent City, California, on the beach at night, where I experienced that—even without the lighthouse and the jambalaya place, that would make the town a favorite. Highly recommend a stop to explore.
Have you ever had a moment of extreme and radical bliss? What was it like, and what brought it on?
Loved your description of your moment of bliss. Can totally relate. And you don't always have to be somewhere special, like you were, to have those. But unpredictable they most certainly are.
Thanks, it was nice to visit Crescent City vicariously thru your missive again!