Saturday, October 6, 2007

Week 5: Arcata, California

For some reason I have been reluctant to leave the West Coast, and this week's entry is no different. Arcata has a population of 16,500 and is located in Humboldt County in northern California. The city is home to Humboldt State University, and is like Fort Collins and Eugene, a serious college town. As you can see from the picture, Arcata is on the Pacific coast and boasts some truly spectacular scenery. The city is quite proud of its "hippy reputation," various reggae festivals take place here every year and it seems as if one out of every two people is at least sporting some tye-die. I found a great description of the city by a group of self proclaimed hippies at: http://www.hippy.com/review-14.html. According to this website, the city in the last year passed a law that allows women to walk around the central plaza topless. The central plaza of which they speak is a grassy park-like area in the middle of town that is surrounded by shops and restaurants. So if after spending four year in college living under constant deadlines and pressure you just want to get away for a while and relax, I would certainly recommend Arcata, California to you.