Skywalk, swimming and limos oh my!
- katryanmarketing
- Mar 27, 2023
- 5 min read
Kiddos were on spring break last week and we needed an easy to get to getaway and after seeing another family posting about a great swimming pool at a hotel, Eureka was the choice! It is just over a 3 hour drive but we took a casual pace and made an adventure of it on the way there and back. I had so many people reach out asking for the deets that I am going to compile them here and share our finds.
If you have been to this area or are from here let us know in the comments what else you recommend because we are def going again.
Drive Through Tree, Leggett, CA
On the way up for us, in Leggett, just a few minutes off the freeway you will find the Drive through tree. It is $15 per car to visit this cool attraction. You get to do exactly what it says, drive through a huge redwood tree. On the other side of the tree is a cute gift shop as well as bathrooms and a park to get out and stretch you legs. Not sure we would need to do it every time but it was definitely fun for a first time thing.
Getting to head into the tree!
The Hotel, Best Western Humboldt Bay Inn
This was the cause for the whole trip so it had some big shoes to fill. We got there easily and found it to be right in the heart of the town. Upon checking in we had some bummer news that the hot tub was closed 😭. Eureka experienced an earth quake a few months before our trip and it affected the large stones around the hot tub and they had a last minute opening to fix it and jumped on it. Good news, by the time you take a visit, and we go again, it will be good as new. Also chatting with one of the staff while the kids were swimming I mentioned we had come up mainly for the pool and she ended up giving us free passes to the zoo which was so kind!
But here is a list of the things worth writing home about:
A complimentary limo to use for out to dinner and back at will
An amazing coffee and hot chocolate machine in the lobby- lattes, cappuccinos, coffee at will- I may have over caffeinated while visiting
Really good breakfast; kids LOVED the automatic pancake maker, you just wave and two pancakes start cooking. They all had two round of breakfast
Indoor/outdoor pool with a basketball hoop
In the outdoor deck area there is a pool table
Outdoor fire pit with chairs were great to hangout with and enjoy hot chocolate
Check out was at noon which is nice
Only little thing to note, they don't have a lobby store with snacks or drinks like many hotels do so plan to bring what you need. They do have vending machines on the property.
The Sequoia Zoo and Redwood Sky Walk
A quick google search of things to do in Eureka pulled up the zoo and skywalk. Is it a small zoo and it was raining so we were probably only there for about 2 hours but we really enjoyed ourselves. In good weather it is probably a half day activity.
The sky walk is within the zoo so included in your admission price. We had ended up getting free tickets to the zoo but entry is $13-25/per person. The sky walk is about 1/4 mile so doable for little and bigs.
The zoo has some really cool attractions, we all agreed that the otters were probably the cutest, adorableness below in a video. They also have; spider monkeys, red pandas, bald eagles, donkeys and lots of well known animals you'll find in the barnyard like horses, sheep and goats.
This summer they are getting bears! I definitely recommend this stop and think all ages of kids and adults can find something to enjoy. They have a cafe on site as well so you can take your time. It was very clean and well taken care of. And check out these otters!
Downtown Eureka
We checked out "old town" both for dinner the night we got there and again after the zoo the next day. The kids wanted to swim as soon as we got to the hotel and then they showered and got dressed for dinner. We headed to the lobby to catch a ride in the limo. They gave us a great list of restaurants and recommended a couple that would have good options for kids. We got dropped off at a pizza/brewery but it turned out to be a trivia night and we felt like it wouldn't be a good fit so we.asked them where we could easily walk to and we took a short stroll to Lost Coast Brewery Restaurant. They had a great kids menu and they all chose fish and chips. I had shrimp tacos which weren't my fav but I was hungry so it did the trick.
After dinner we walked around and checked out the many murals and cool shops
, most were still open but some had closed for the evening and we hit up a few of those the next day. We stopped into a really cool pet store called the Sequoia Humane Society where all proceeds go to support the local shelter. The store featured ginnea pigs, cats and a turtle in it. Big hit naturally.
We walked by a fancy Italian restaurant called Gabriels and decided to get some dessert. We shared the creme brulee, cannoli and some ice cream. Kids all agreed that the cannoli was the hit. I also had a delicious chocolate martini! I would definitely recommend this restaurant for a great vibe and awesome service, they even have a dumbwaiter.
The streets were pretty empty as it was getting late, we tried to go to an ice cream shop for the last stop of the night as Kyleah didn't share the Italian desserts to hold out for it. So naturally she was very sad when they were closed (like I don't think they are open cause we tried to go the next day too). Sooo we ended the night in the Japanese restaurant next door which had some ice cream that made her feel satisfied.
Our second trip to downtown was after the zoo the next day. We checked out bunch of shops, they have SO many cute spots; plants stores, coffee shops, boutiques, vintage shops, restaurants it has a little bit of everything.
Ferndale
Are you ready to go back in time? Our last big stop was Ferndale, it's just is a few minutes off of Hwy 101 but seems like a whole other world. The main street is lined with vintage store fronts.
We stopped into the Ferndale Emporium where I got a super cute dress at a great price point, the fudge shop had all kinds of cool candy and I ended up being the only one who picked fudge, the shop is called Sweetness & Light and we also checked out the Golden Gate Mercantile for some browsing of toys and more.
I hope that you learned from this write up and I'd love to hear if you check out any of these spots or others. If you haven't yet please subscribe so that you can get future updates on adventures.
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