Spending 2 Nights Alone in Arcata, Ca

I had to drive up to Arcata for a work trip. I spent 2 nights and 3 days. I didn’t have much of an expense budget to spend, so I ended up in a 2 star hotel in Arcata. Let me tell you, my first impression of this place was bad. I just didn’t have a good feeling. 

I arrived at the hotel to check in. The woman working was super friendly. I had to put a $100 deposit down for the room, which was fine. I got my key cards and went to find my room. I tried to enter through a door near the front desk, but my key card wouldn’t unlock it. I ended up having to drive to the other side of the building where a couple of questionable looking cars were. They had people just sitting inside of the cars looking around at people, which made me nervous. I’m pretty small, so I tend to be aware of my surroundings at all times. 

The lights flickered as I walked down the halls. That was a bit creepy and really set the mood.

I made I found my room, the beds were nicely made and the sheets looked clean. The room didn’t feel very clean though. The floor felt dirty and the light switch in the bathroom had questionable stains on it which I was able to wipe off with a piece of toilet paper… I was just a bit bummed. 

I spent the evening prepping for the meetings I had over the next two days. The room I got I guess had two queen sized beds, the second which worked as a perfect table.

Last night was awful. Whoever was staying above me was up all night. Moving the furniture around and dropping things on the floor. I was woken up every single hour from something slamming against the floor. I woke up around 7:30 am exhausted. I was pretty mad.

I then went to work. I visited a few stores, it was okay. I was just so tired.

After work I went and grabbed dinner at this adorable pie place. They make mini hand pies as well as mini regular pies. They had some unique flavors. I got the Sweet Potato and Black Bean Hand pie, as well as a mini chicken pot pie. They were both delicious! 10/10 recommendation.. I ate my pies sitting in the car. I wasn’t feeling ready to head back to my hotel room yet.

After eating I went to the receptionist desk to ask about changing rooms, due to loud upstairs neighbors. The girl asked if I wanted her to give them a warning for being too loud. She said due to COVID, she’d have to check with her manager first, but the manager was gone and would be back in half and hour or so, so she’ll ask when she gets back and let me know. 

I went back to my room and waited for a bit. I ate the rest of the chicken pot pie that I got as well as my leftover chocolate silk pie from the night before. Still just as delicious. I cleaned up a bit and decided that I should check out a bit of the area. Even though I was feeling uncomfortable, being in a new place alone. I should take advantage of being being in a new area. 

I pulled up Google maps and looked for satelight view. I had a meeting earlier, a the person I met with told me it’s beautiful if you just drive north a bit. So that’s where I went.

I packed some snacks and water and began on my solo journey. Nowhere in particular to be, felt nice. I kept driving till I found a parking lot overlooking the ocean. I parked and sat for a bit. Just taking in the surroundings and appreciating that I was here and able to do this. I decided that I wanted to head down to the beach, so I went back on google maps. "Moonstone Beach" yes. Perfect, my favorite stone. So I have to go visit this beach. 

It was a few more miles north. I made it in no time. I had to drive down a single lane road through an eight or to get down to the beach parking lot. The parking lot had plenty of space. I grabbed my backpack and headed down to the beach.

The beach had that really fine sand. Soft to the touch. It was windy, the wind was pretty chilly, but I had brought my puffy warm jacket and it did it’s job. I walked around on the beach for a bit, before finding a place to sit. I work boots with heels so it was a little difficult to walk through the sand.

It was so windy at this beach. The wind pushed the sand into these beautiful almost pyramid like shapes behind the rocks. It’s hard to explain. But it was really beautiful. You don’t see this at the beaches near where I live.

I found a place to sit against a rock that was still had some sunshine. I kept running my fingers through the sand. Writing my name and then replacing it with abstract swirls and lines. It was really nice. It’s been awhile since I’ve done anything alone like this.

I sat at the beach for awhile, the sun was starting to set. It was getting chilly so I headed back to the car and drove around to find a place to watch the sunset. It was going to be a pretty one with all of the lingering clouds still in the sky.

I found an empty parking lot that was perfect. I parked and watched the clouds turn for orange to pink. They were beautiful. The clouds seemed like they were moving so fast in the sky. You’d blink and all of them would look different. 

After the sunset I turned back in for an early night. I checked back in at the receptionist desk to follow up about changing rooms. She let me know that they people above me checked out, so now no one was above me. Yay! That was fantastic. I headed back to my room to get some rest. I fell asleep pretty quickly, I was pretty tired from the night before.

The morning came way too fast. I got up early and packed all my stuff and checked out. I stopped for coffee and breakfast at this drive thru coffee shop. It was okay. I headed to my last meeting before my journey home.

The drive home was just as beautiful. I took the Avenue of the Giants road South. It was magical. So many Giant Redwoods, with a road the winds in between. I stopped a few times to take some pictures. 

Everything was so green here. The mountains, the trees, the plants growing in between. It looked so different from home.

I stopped to check out the “Immortal Tree”. An huge Ancient Redwood in between the age of 950 to 1000 years old. That is amazing. Apparently it survived being struck by lightning, a forest fire AND a flood! Amazing.

I continued on my journey home, I pulled over on the side of the road and took some pictures of the river, it was beautiful and so peaceful. I relaxed for a bit before the rest of the drive home.

Overall it was a very neat experience. Especially since I’ve never traveled by myself before. Sure I’ve flown across the county alone, but never stayed anywhere alone. I’ve always had family or friends with me. So this was a different experience. I am glad that I was able to make it happen and would definitely travel alone again.